Cut into the keystone above the arched recess are the initials G.P.B. and the year 1837, a quiet act of authorship on a purely functional structure. Lime kilns were industrial workhorses of rural Ireland, used to burn limestone at high temperatures to produce quicklime for soil improvement and mortar. Most were built without ceremony and left without attribution, which makes this inscribed keystone quietly unusual.

The kiln was constructed directly against the natural slope of the quarry, a common approach that used the hillside as both structural support and a convenient way to load raw limestone from above into the stone-lined funnel at the top. The arched recess at the base, standing roughly 2.4 metres high and just under 2 metres wide, is where the stoking hole sits, the opening through which fuel was fed to maintain the burn. Sloping slabs line the rear of the recess. The funnel above, which would have channelled material down into the burning chamber, is now almost completely infilled, leaving only the lower portion of the structure in any kind of legible condition. The 1837 date places it firmly in a period of active agricultural improvement across Cork and the wider south of Ireland, when landlords and tenants alike were investing in lime production to treat acidic soils.