water pump

Freestanding cast-iron water pump, erected c.1885, comprising banded cylindrical shaft with fluted head having fluted spout, ‘cow tail’ curvilinear handle, and fluted ogee-dome cap with finial. Located adjacent to rural cross road junction within a rectilinear enclosure having ashlar limestone posts with ball finials over to the corners, linked by sections of ashlar limestone plinth walling having cast-iron railings over. Cast-iron arch over entrance to the southwest face. Located to the southwest of Mullingar.

A typical late nineteenth-century water pump, of a standard design encountered throughout rural Westmeath. 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 mains water supply. This particular pump is unusual in that it is surrounded by an enclosure with good quality ashlar limestone posts and cast-iron railings, which elevates it above most other examples of its type with Westmeath. Due to its location, adjacent to the former entrance of Gaybrook Park (demolished), and given its elaborate decorative nature it is likely this pump may have been erected under the patronage of the Smyth family of this once fine country house. This cast-iron pump now serves as an attractive piece of street furniture, aesthetically enhancing the rural landscape to the southeast of Mullingar.