Water pump in Mountcharles, County Donegal (40847002)

Water pump

What is recorded here

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Freestanding cast-iron water pump, erected c. 1875, comprising tapered cylindrical pedestal shaft having moulded base and with band in low relief, cylindrical drum over having fluted spout to base and rounded cap over with two hooped metal finials, and having five spoke turning wheel to the south side, and possible remains of turning wheel to the north side. Located at the north-west end of Main Street, Mountcharles, at road junction. Set on stepped modern rubble sandstone plinth having cut sandstone coping over. Commemorative plaque to the south-east elevation commemorating Seumas MacManus (1869 – 1960), a local author and seanachai.

Located at an important road junction to the north-west end Main Street, Mountcharles, this pump forms a focal point in the streetscape and is an important part of the historic fabric of the town. It represents an attractive piece of mass-produced late nineteenth-century cast-iron ware/street furniture, and is of a type that is rarely encountered in County Donegal (having a wheel mechanism). Water pumps such as this once played an important social and functional role providing a communal water source. The unusual form of this pump suggests that it may have been originally erected by the local landlords the Conyngham family of The Hall (see 40847028). The appearance of this functional but distinctive object is enlivened in its detailing such as moulded base, fluted spout, and the turning wheel. There was possibly another turning wheel to the opposite side of the pump, now removed/damaged. Water pumps with wheel mechanisms tend to be c. 1875, making this pump among the earliest surviving examples of its type in County Donegal. This pump has been re-erected on a modern sandstone plinth with a plaque commemorating Seumas MacManus (1869 – 1960), a noted local author and seanachai, which adds a subtle historical element to this distinctive item of street furniture.

From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 40847002

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Official building number: 40847002

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Photo credits

Kenneth Allen, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
P L Chadwick, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Donegal GAA; photographer not stated, donegalgaa.ie
N Chadwick, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
louise price, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
David Dixon, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Ronnie Nijboer, Wikimedia Commons · CC0
Golfing in Ireland; photographer not stated, Source publisher
Eric Jones, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0

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