This small pool, formed by a tributary of the river Maigue, was the traditional place for the women of Adare to wash their family clothes. It was also used as a watering place for animals.
[Illustration captions, counterclockwise from top left, read]
· Groups of women used to gather regularly here to wash clothes and talk about life in the village. Before the days of washing powder and detergents, these hardworking women did their washing on spittle stones in the stream bed, or by pounding the clothes with wooden beetles.
· The stream flows under a two arched bridge called the Droichidín (pronounced drehideen) - from the Irish for small bridge.
· The land for the Town Park and the thatched wooden gazebo were presented to the town of Adare by the Dunraven family in 1975.
· This avenue of chestnut trees is all that remains of an old entrance into the Dunraven estate. The avenue, which once led up to Adare Manor, is now part of the Town Park.
· The pool was restored and the banks paved by Limerick County Council and the Adare Tidy Towns Association during European Architectural Heritage Year in 1975.
· Across the road from the washing pool is the fountain erected by Caroline, Countess of Dunraven, in 1844. It has since been a favourite meeting place for the people
of Adare.
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