Survey Data
Reg No
15402026
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Social, Technical
Original Use
Water pump
In Use As
Water pump
Date
1860 - 1900
Coordinates
258261, 254307
Date Recorded
11/11/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding cast-iron water pump, erected c.1880, comprising banded cylindrical shaft with fluted head having fluted spout, ‘cow tail’ curvilinear handle, and fluted ogee-dome cap with finial over. Located adjacent to small bridge and close to a road junction to the northwest of Raharney. Concrete slabs and drain to front (east).
Appraisal
A typical late nineteenth-century water pump, of a standard design that is encountered throughout rural Westmeath. Water pumps played an important social role in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries by providing a communal water source before the development of mains water supply. Frequently, as in this case, water pumps were located at or near road junctions. This cast-iron pump now serves as an attractive piece of street furniture, aesthetically enhancing the rural landscape to the northwest of Raharney.