Lime Kiln

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Free-standing lime kiln, built c.1800, located to the west side of Rylagh Road. Square-on-plan, partially recessed within grassy bank and largely overgrown.

Roof is overgrown with vegetation. Walls are random rubble with ashlar sandstone quoins.

Principal elevation faces east and is dominated by a two-stage elliptical-arched-headed rebated opening; there is a square-headed draw hole with keystone detail at base.

North and south elevations are partially recessed within bank, and are largely obscured by vegetation.

Setting:-
The kiln has a roadside location with access from east; bounded to each side by wire fencing and vegetation.

Roof: N/A
Walling: Stone
Windows: N/A
Rainwater goods: N/A

Historical information

The kiln is captioned on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833, but may possibly be of late eighteenth century date, indicated by the masonry detailing and scale.

According to Rynne, “the lime kiln, in which limestone was calcined for a wide variety of uses, is Ireland’s most numerous and widely distributed industrial monument. The primary use of lime was agricultural, where it was employed as an alkali to neutralise acidic soils but it was also a key raw material for many industries”. It was used as lime mortar and lime wash, as a flux in blast furnaces, in the purification of town gas, in the production of bleaching powder and of soda from common salt and in de-hairing hides for tanning. Hydraulic limes that would harden underwater were ideal for engineering works such as bridges and docks.

“With the spread of improved agricultural techniques in the second half of the eighteenth century, the increased demand for quicklime as fertiliser led to the construction of larger…kilns. The vast majority of the lime kilns surviving in Irish rural areas are continuous draw kilns [fuel and limestone were continuously fed into and burnt in the kiln bowl, with quicklime drawn off at the base], which tend to be rubblestone structures, around 4-8 m wide and about 5-8 m high, with a square or rectangular…ground plan. The central body of the kiln has either a stone or brick-lined pot around 2m in diameter, in which the layers of fuel and limestone were burnt. As in blast furnaces, the sides of the pot are gently curved, to prevent the charge from settling or sticking to the sides. Immediately above the draw hole, at the base of the kiln, a poke hole was often provided through which the kiln workers could insert a stick to assist in the burning process by dislodging ash. The draw hole was set into an arched or lintelled recess…The kiln funnel was charged with stone and fuel…which was lighted from the recess at the base.”

“Kilns in rural areas were operated intermittently where the firing campaign (during which the lime burner added more fuel and stone over a period of up to 48 hours and temperatures of between 900-1,200ºC were reached within the kiln) was usually tied into the agricultural cycle…Lime kilns were commonly located in quarries, at the roadside or at coastal locations to facilitate transport. Many were either built into a slope or were provided with a ramp to assist the charging process”. (p.157-9)

Mitchell and Ryan point out that the lime-kiln “where small quantities of limestone had been burnt with peat or coal at least since the eighteenth century” is “one of the characteristic features of the Irish landscape”. The burnt limestone was primarily used as a fertiliser but, under the Marshall Plan following the second World War, ground limestone was made available at subsidised prices and this brought an end to domestic lime fertiliser production. Limestone is the principal bedrock over much of Ireland, although it is less usual in Northern Ireland, being most prevalent in Fermanagh and Tyrone. (p.123, 345)

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/6/26/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1833)
2. PRONI OS/6/6/26/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1854)
3. PRONI OS/6/6/26/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1906)
4. PRONI OS/6/6/26/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1936)

Secondary Sources

1. Mitchell, F and Ryan, M “Reading the Irish Landscape”, Dublin: Town House, 1997
2. Rynne, Colin. “Industrial Ireland 1730-1930: An Archaeology.” Cork: The Collins Press, 2006.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Free-standing lime kiln, built c.1800, located to the west side of Rylagh Road. The structure remains largely unchanged, and its function can be clearly seen in the arrangement of openings. The kiln, probably used for agricultural purposes, represents the development of agriculture in the area and such structures are an important element of the historic landscape. However, the kiln is overgrown and the setting compromised. There are other better examples listed.