“As a child, they could not keep me from wells And old pumps with buckets and windlasses.” (Seamus Heaney, Personal Helicon, 1966)
A little while ago, someone in our community raised a very relevant question with our group: why had the old water pump at Little Beach, so familiar to generations of Kilmore Quay villagers in its green coat, suddenly been painted white?
While the reason for the change is perhaps a question best put to those responsible for the village’s upkeep, it certainly sparked our curiosity. How old was the pump? Who had made it? And had it always been green? Kilmore Quay Conservation Group decided to do a little digging into its past. And, as it turns out, this modest little pump has rather more of a story to tell than we first imagined.
Historical significance
The old cast-iron water pump at Little Beach has stood quietly through generations of village life, a familiar landmark that holds more stories than its weathered appearance might suggest. Long before water flowed freely from household taps, it was a place people visited every day, buckets in hand, to collect the water they needed. Some may still remember balancing two full buckets on a bicycle, only to arrive home at the top of the hill with half the water lost along the way!
But the pump was more than a place to fetch water. It was a meeting point, a little social hub where neighbours crossed paths, news was exchanged, stories were told, and conversations lingered. There was nearly always someone to stop and have a chat with, young or old. In its own modest way, the pump was woven into the rhythm of everyday life in Kilmore Quay.
Today, although its working days are long behind it, the old pump remains a quiet reminder of those times. It may not carry any formal heritage designation, but its value lies in something that cannot always be measured or recorded: the memories it holds, the people it brought together and the small but meaningful part it played in the life of the village.
Manufacturer: Jessop Davis, Enniscorthy
A closer look at the old pump reveals a little piece of Wexford’s industrial history. Almost hidden beneath layers of paint, the words “Jessop Davis, Enniscorthy” are still visible, a reminder that this familiar feature of Kilmore Quay has its roots not far from home.
The name takes us back to St John’s Ironworks and Foundry in Enniscorthy, where Jessop Davis was associated with the making of cast-iron pumps and other pieces of street furniture from the late nineteenth century into the twentieth. In an age when craftsmanship was as much about beauty as practicality, even something as ordinary as a village water pump was given a touch of elegance.
And our little pump was no exception. Its slender cast-iron column, decorative bands, beautifully fluted dome and pointed finial were all carefully fashioned, while its projecting spout and long, gracefully curved handle — known rather charmingly as a cow-tail handle — gave it a character all of its own.
Kilmore Quay was not the only village to benefit from the work of the Enniscorthy foundry. Other Jessop Davis pumps have survived in places such as Adamstown, Ballygarran and Ballydaniel, where they too stand as reminders of a time when the local foundry helped shape the everyday landscape of rural Wexford. It is rather lovely to think that something made in a foundry in Enniscorthy all those years ago should still be standing here in Kilmore Quay, quietly connecting our village to the craftsmanship, industry and daily lives of generations past.
Estimated age
Just how long has our old village pump been standing at Little Beach? We cannot say for certain but ld postcard of Kilmore Quay (below: from Wexford genealogy Archives) offers us a tantalising glimpse into village life more than a century ago. Believed to date from around 1900–1910, the image takes us back to a time of unpaved roads, horse-drawn carts and thatched cottages, before telegraph poles and electricity wires became familiar features of the landscape. And there, among the scenes of everyday village life, appears to be a wooden water pump
Wooden water pumps were once a common feature of rural Wexford, and their construction was a craft in itself. One name associated with this tradition was , who reportedly made and erected pumps throughout County Wexford from the late nineteenth century into the early 1960s. The timber used for these pumps may have come from larch trees growing at Tottenham Green, near Taghmon, another lovely connection to Wexford’s local history. (leftt: photo of the wooden pump / source: John Power’s article in Wexford Free Press, May 25th, 2023, p.10)
Perhaps, as the years passed, the old wooden pump began to show its age. Even strong, carefully chosen timber could not withstand the effects of water and weather indefinitely.
It is quite possible that, as the old wooden pump began to deteriorate, it gave way to a more durable cast-iron replacement. Just when that change took place, however, remains another little mystery in the history of our village pump.
Original colour of the cast-iron pump
But back to the inital query: what colour was the cast-iron pump originally? It might have been black, or perhaps a deep green, both colours having been used on cast-iron features over the years. Dark green was certainly fashionable during the nineteenth century. Interestingly, the Enniscorthy firm of Jessop Davis also manufactured postboxes, and green would later become the familiar colour of Irish postboxes following independence. But that is another story, and it offers no proof of what colour our pump might once have been.
We can, however, turn to a much more recent photograph for a little certainty. On 5 September 2013, photographer Kenneth Allen captured the Kilmore Quay pump in its familiar dark green, a colour many villagers will remember fondly.
Perhaps somewhere in an old family album, tucked away in a drawer or a box of treasured photographs, there is another picture of the pump waiting to be rediscovered. It might be standing quietly in the background of a family gathering, a photograph of children playing, or an ordinary village scene captured decades ago. We would love to hear from anyone who has an older photograph, or even a memory of the pump and how it looked in years gone by.
And while we rather liked the old green finish, which seemed so much at home among the traditional features of the village, we cannot yet say that green was its original colour. Perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn’t. For now, that remains one of the little mysteries of Kilmore Quay’s past, and one that an old photograph, a forgotten memory or another small discovery might someday help us solve.
Present condition and conservation considerations
Time and the salty sea air have inevitably left their mark on our old village pump. A closer look reveals patches of rust around its handle and lower column, while layers of paint, added over the years, have begun to hide some of the delicate details and even the name of the Enniscorthy foundry that made it.
Like so many familiar features of our village, the pump has quietly weathered the passing decades. And while a fresh coat of paint may brighten its appearance, caring for something with such a long history is perhaps about more than simply making it look tidy. It is also about preserving the craftsmanship beneath the paint, protecting the old cast iron from further deterioration and ensuring that future generations can still appreciate the details that make it special.
This little enquiry has also prompted us to think about the many other modest pieces of Kilmore Quay’s heritage that we pass every day, often without giving them a second glance. They may not be grand monuments or officially protected buildings, but they are part of what makes our village recognisable, familiar and loved. Each has its own story to tell, and together they help preserve a sense of place and a connection with those who came before us.
Perhaps the story of the old pump is also an opportunity to start a wider conversation about how we look after these small but meaningful reminders of our past.
UPDATE (15/10/2026): A little more light on the old pump mystery!
Well, it seems our little village pump has a few more stories to tell!
Since publishing our article, a wonderful old photograph dating from 1966 has surfaced, showing the Little Beach pump sporting a rather splendid coat of white!
So, we now have photographic evidence of our pump dressed in white in 1966 and green in 2013. What colour it wore before that remains a mystery.
And while our little enquiry appears to have inspired a touch of “parish pump politics”, we are delighted that it has also brought another piece of Kilmore Quay’s history to light! After all, we were never trying to settle a colour debate, merely to discover the story behind the pump and its paint. And thanks to this photograph, we now know a little more than we did yesterday.
Who knows what other colours, stories or memories might yet emerge? Keep those old photographs coming!
It seems our old pump is still bringing the village together for a chat, just as it did all those years ago!
