Water pump in Mullaghcloe

Freestanding cast-iron water pump, erected c.1880, comprising banded cylindrical shaft with fluted head having fluted spout and a ‘cow tail’ curvilinear handle. Original cap now missing. Located on path to the north side of a single-arched bridge (15315016) to the centre of Ballymore village. Rubble limestone wall to the north having a square-headed recess adjacent to the pump.

A typical late nineteenth-century water pump, of a standard design that is encountered throughout rural Westmeath. Water pumps played an important social role in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries by providing a communal water source before the development of mains water supply. This cast-iron pump now serves as an attractive piece of street furniture, aesthetically enhancing the streetscape of Ballymore. This pump is unusually sited adjacent to a stream and adds character to the setting of the bridge (15315015).