Water pump in Tully

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 to the east of Athlone and surrounded on three sides by a rubble limestone boundary wall (open to road).

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 example is in excellent condition and is surrounded by an attractive rubble limestone wall. This cast-iron pump now serves as an attractive piece of street furniture, aesthetically enhancing the rural landscape to the east of Athlone.