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 plinth adjacent to modern house. Located along rural road to the north of Abbeyshrule.

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. 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 to the north of Abbeyshrule.