It is the kind of structure that vanishes into the landscape so completely that most people pass it without a second glance, yet its presence speaks to a period when burning limestone was fundamental to Irish rural life.

Lime kilns were industrial features of the countryside from at least the seventeenth century onwards, used to produce quicklime by heating limestone at high temperatures. The resulting material was spread on acidic soils to improve agricultural yields, and also used in mortar and whitewash. This example at Dromavrauka dates to the mid or late nineteenth century, a period when such kilns were commonplace on farms and along roadsides across Kerry. The kiln is constructed from random rubble, an informal style of stonework using unshaped or only roughly shaped stones laid without a regular course, and its front wall stretches 4.2 metres across, facing north toward the road. The central recess, framed by a lintel stone across the top, measures 1.35 metres wide and 1.8 metres deep; this is the draw arch, the opening through which burnt lime was raked out once firing was complete. The rear of the recess has sloping slabs, and at some point iron reinforcing bars were inserted, suggesting an attempt to stabilise the structure after the stonework began to shift or settle. The recess is now partly infilled, and vegetation has taken over much of the front face.