Water pump in Ballymacward, County Galway

What is recorded here

Water pump in Ballymacward has retired behind three walls, still wearing leafy decoration round its spout. That’s a fierce commitment to retirement: dressed for company, room for company, and absolutely nothing in the house to offer them.

Freestanding cast-iron water pump, erected c.1870, now disused. Comprises cylindrical shaft with moulded horizontal banding, fluted upper section, fluted domed cap with pointed finial, foliated decoration to spout neck and cow's tail pumping arm. Set back from the road and enclosed on three sides by rendered boundary wall.

Water pumps were important to nineteenth and twentieth-century social life as they provided a communal water source. The artistic detailing makes this functional object visually attractive. Though now disused, this water pump provides an attractive feature to Ballymacward.

From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 30407308

This does not grant access. Most recorded buildings are privately owned; view them only from public ground unless the owner allows entry.