BOURKE HOUSE DRINKING FOUNTAIN

EXCELLENT PUBLIC ART

BOURKE HOUSE DRINKING FOUNTAIN


SORRY FOR THE DELAY
Bourke House drinking fountain, Athlunkard Street; installed 1860.

Framed by a Gothic arch, this drinking fountain bears the inscription ‘Protect what is erected for your benefit’. It was funded by the Malcomson family, the founders of the Limerick Shipping Company, for the benefit of the people of the locality. The Malcomsons were a Quaker family.

The sponsorship and provision of free public drinking facilities was a popular cause in Victorian times among Quakers, evangelical Christian religious groups and the temperance movement concerned with promoting a healthy, orderly and sober society.