It is the kind of structure that most people would pass without a second glance, yet it represents a technology that quietly shaped the Irish rural landscape for centuries.

Lime kilns were used to burn limestone at high temperatures, reducing it to quicklime that could then be spread on fields to sweeten acidic soils or used as a binding agent in mortar. The kiln at Creggannacourty is a fairly substantial example: the front elevation stands around 4.5 metres high, and the lintelled recess at its base, the opening through which the burned lime was raked out, measures roughly 2.2 metres tall and 2 metres wide, narrowing as it rises. Siting the kiln within the quarry itself was a practical choice, keeping the raw limestone close to hand and reducing the labour of cartage.