It is easy to pass without a second glance, but what looks like a retaining wall is in fact an early twentieth-century lime kiln, a structure that once played a quietly essential role in the agricultural economy of North Cork.

Lime kilns were used to burn limestone at high temperatures, producing quicklime that farmers spread on acidic fields to improve soil fertility. This example is built into the hillside in the typical way, with the earthen core banked behind a facing wall that measures 7.1 metres across and 5 metres high, orientated to face east. Workers would have loaded raw limestone and fuel into the stone-lined funnel at the top, lit the fire below, and drawn the burnt lime out through the arched opening at the base, an aperture 1.76 metres high and 2.86 metres wide. A ledge above that recess on the front elevation likely served a functional purpose during the drawing and loading process. The rear of the kiln is now filled with the collapsed remains of its own core, and the funnel, though still stone-lined, is heavily overgrown.