Set into a steep slope on the western side of a rough trackway north of the Deenagh River, it was constructed with the land itself doing much of the structural work, the earth behind it acting as insulation and support. The front wall, faced in random rubble and oriented to the southeast, presents a central arched recess with a second inner arch beyond it, and a horizontal ledge running across the face of the kiln above that opening.

Lime kilns of this type were once scattered across the Irish countryside in considerable numbers. The basic principle is straightforward: limestone and fuel, usually turf or coal, were loaded from the top while the burned lime was drawn off through the lower arch, the arched recess at the front serving as the draw hole where workers could rake out the quicklime. The double-arch arrangement here, with an outer and inner arch, is a detail that suggests some care in the construction, providing a measure of protection for the working space at the base. Quicklime produced in such kilns was spread on agricultural land to reduce soil acidity, and the rural economy of Kerry depended heavily on it through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The position of this kiln, tucked against a slope near a trackway, would have made practical sense: the incline allowed easy loading from above, and proximity to a route meant the finished lime could be moved without great difficulty.