Technology and the Big House in Ireland, c. 1800–c.1930 By Charl ...

1860 to October 1863.¹⁵ Data extracted from this source and compiled in table 3 provide a revealing example of the long-term labour requirement necessary to keep a big house supplied with water by manual pumping.¹⁶ An elevated water tank was installed on masonry piers at the house offices at the end of 1860. The subsequent frequency of pumping and the labour involved to keep it topped up can be followed on the table. On average, in 1861, there were just less than two men, in 1862, just less than three men, and, in 1863, again, just less than two men, employed on water-pumping duties each week. The number of men and the time they spent filling the tank would have depended on such factors as whether the family were at home, the number of guests staying, and rainfall. The reason for the nine-week gap, except for week forty-four of 1861, in the chart is unknown. Possibly, the house was closed whilst the owners were away. In any case, work associated with the water supply involving the carpenter and plumber took place in weeks forty-three and forty-five of 1861. A further gap, when no pumping occurred, in week forty-two of 1862 is explained by the carpenter repairing the pump.¹⁷

Installing a water supply in the big house was expensive. In one unusual case, the installation of an elaborate supply system in Riversdale House at Lucan in County Dublin resulted in the owner, Richard Clarke, losing his house.¹⁸ He had installed a water closet on the bedroom floor, a water pipe in the scullery, and a force pump to supply the house with water. There were also water stands in the servants' hall connected with two large tanks on the west side of the house that were supplied with spring water. The contractor, John Hackett, petitioned the Incumbered Estates Commission for help when he was not paid for the work. As a result, Clarke appeared before the Commission in 1853. As Mary C. Lyons put it, the owner of Riversdale “had quite literally been hoist by his own force pump”.¹⁹ The property was put up for auction on 8 July in that same year.²⁰

Installation of a water supply system and its appurtenances was expensive, but there were also the additional long-term costs of wages—where manual pumping was employed—and the maintenance costs of pumps that were worked hard on a daily basis. Repairs to the pumps by the carpenter at Lough Rynn have already been noted, and