Situated opposite the Heritage Center, this small pool is contained in a triangular space, bounded on two sides by masonry walls and, on the road side, by a coursed stone parapet wall, with access to a local stream (a small tributary of the river Maigue) on either side. This was used, in bygone days, by the women of Adare as a laundry washing pool, as well as a watering place for horses. Groups of women used to gather regularly at the pool to wash the family clothes and talk about life in the village. Before the days of washing powder and detergents, these hard-working women did their washing on "spittle stones" in the stream bed or by pounding the clothes with wooden beetles. The stream flows under a small two-arched bridge (the droichidin). The pool was restored during the European architectural heritage year, in 1975. |