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 with a fluted ogee-dome cap with finial over. Set in rubble limestone enclosure, open to road to the north, with cut stone slab to the front (north) with a carved drainage groove. Located adjacent to road junction at the west end of main street running through Rathwire village.

A typical late nineteenth-century cast-iron 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 cast-iron pump now serves as an attractive piece of street furniture, aesthetically enhancing the streetscape to the west end of Rathwire village. This water pump is located adjacent to a road junction, a common site for water pumps.