water pump

Freestanding cast-iron water pump, erected c. 1885. Comprising banded shaft, moulded spout on fluted neck, fluted cap with finial over, and with curved pumping arm. Set on concrete base in rectangular enclosure with low rendered boundary walls, open to road-frontage to the south. Located adjacent to rural road junction in the rural landscape to the west of Keenagh.

A typical late nineteenth-century water pump, of a standard design encountered throughout rural Longford. This is one of the better surviving examples of its type in rural County Longford, and is one of a number of examples still extant in this part of County Longford. The banding and fluting are well-executed and, along with the elegantly curved handle, add artistic interest to this utilitarian object. Water pumps played an important social role in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries by providing a communal water source before the development of the mains water supply. This cast-iron pump now serves as an attractive piece of street furniture, aesthetically enhancing its rural location. It is located adjacent to a rural road junction, which is a common location for water pumps for obvious reasons.