Lime kilns were once commonplace across the Irish countryside, stone-built furnaces used to burn limestone at high temperatures, producing quicklime that farmers spread on acidic land to improve fertility, and that builders mixed into mortar. This one has survived in enough detail to read clearly as a working structure, even if part of it has given way to time.

The kiln was constructed directly into a quarry, using the natural slope of the ground as a structural advantage, a common approach that reduced the amount of masonry needed and made loading the kiln from above far more practical. The north-facing front wall stands approximately seven metres high and six and a half metres wide, with an arched recess at its base where the burnt lime would have been raked out. That recess, measuring roughly one and a half metres high and two and a half metres wide, has partially collapsed at the rear. Above, the funnel through which limestone and fuel were loaded narrows towards its base, channelling heat and material downwards through the burn. The top of the kiln is enclosed by a stone wall with a doorway opening to the south, and a ramp to the east provided the means to bring loaded carts or barrows up to the charging platform, where material could be tipped directly into the funnel from above.