Water pump in Kill East, County Kildare

What is recorded here

Water pump in Kill East still wears fancy leaf decoration, despite having lost its cap. There’s a wedding guest after a fierce night: buttonhole intact, hat missing, standing inside a little stone enclosure insisting the taxi knows where he is.

Freestanding cast-iron waterpump, c.1905, comprising cylindrical shaft with raised horizontal banding, fluted upper section with fluted spout having acanthus leaf motif and 'cow-tail' handle having pierced finial. Now disused with cap missing. Set back from road in rubble stone enclosure on a concrete base.

This waterpump is of some historical and technical interest, dating to a period before mains water supply when a communal source of clean drinking water was deemed sufficient. The survival of the waterpump in its original location is of importance - elsewhere removed and re-instated as ornamental features, the example at Kill survives as a reminder of early cast-iron work. The waterpump is attractively sited on the side of the road and is of artistic importance, having been conceived as an aesthetic, as well as functional, piece.

From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 11815004

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