Kiln - corn-drying

The National Monuments Service's description

This kiln, excavated by Ó Ríordáin and Foy (1941, 98-9), is situated in elevated, rocky pasture close to Cooncrome Harbour. The following description of the site is based on the report of this excavation. It consisted of a lintelled flue which opened into a stone-lined circular bowl. The flue measured .48m high x .63m wide at its SE facing entrance, but decreased to .4m square towards its inner end. It was 1.78m long and its sides were constructed of small upright slabs overlain in places by horizontal slabs. The central strip of its floor was paved, leaving a yellow clay exposed on either side. The bowl measured 1.22m in diameter. It was lined with upright slabs overlain by three to four horizontal courses of small stones, held in position by a clay mortar. Most of the orthostats at its W half were missing, and there was no indication that the bowl had been covered. A charcoal deposit covered the floor of the flue and another was discovered just beyond the entrance area. The excavation produced no evidence for the date of the structure.

The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 1459. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 1 August 2013