This is a lime kiln, a type of industrial furnace once scattered across the Irish countryside in considerable numbers, used to burn limestone at high temperatures and produce quicklime for agricultural use. Farmers spread the resulting lime across acidic soils to improve fertility, making these kilns a quiet but essential part of the rural economy for centuries.

This particular example dates from the mid to late nineteenth century, a period when lime burning was still a common local undertaking before cheaper, industrially produced lime became widely available. The kiln's construction is straightforward and typical of the form: random-rubble walls, meaning stonework laid without regular courses or dressed facing, encase an earthen core. The front elevation, which faces northwest, retains an arched recess, the opening through which fuel was fed and the burnt lime eventually drawn out. It is this arched opening that most clearly announces the structure's function to anyone who pauses to look closely, even now that the whole thing has grown over with whatever the hedgerows of north Cork are inclined to produce.