Survey Data
Reg No
40909814
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Social, Technical
Original Use
Kiln
Date
1840 - 1880
Coordinates
175673, 374779
Date Recorded
26/11/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding single-bay lime kiln on circular-plan, erected c. 1860. Now out of use. Constructed of coursed and roughly-squared rubble stone masonry. Square-headed opening to front (west), the former oven aperture, having squared stone surround and roughly dressed stone lintel over. Dry stone revetments to site joining kiln to natural rock. Earthen embankment to rear. Possible flight of stone steps to site, now overgrown, giving access to roof. Built into rock outcrop adjacent to coast overlooking McSwyne’s Bay to the west. Located to the south-west of Dunkineely.
Appraisal
This interesting former lime kiln, probably erected during the second half of the nineteenth-century, survives in good condition and retains its early character. It is well-built using local rubble stone masonry and is an appealing and unassuming element of the agricultural/industrial and social heritage of County Donegal. Its circular-plan is unusual, lime kilns being more commonly built on a square-plan. The curved detailing to the oven opening aperture is an interesting feature. The embankment to the rear was built/modified to allow for the easy loading of stone through an opening in the roof structure, while the aperture to the front was used to fire the oven to burn the stone and produce lime. Lime kilns appear to have come into popular use in Ireland during the eighteenth century and were a very common feature in the rural landscape up until the first decades of the twentieth century. They were used to burn limestone to produce lime, which was used as an agricultural fertilizer and spread on agricultural land, or in construction as a mortar and a render. Lime was also used for lime-washing buildings, particularly farm buildings, as it was regarded as a cleansing agent at the time. This small-scale kiln was probably in use by a local farmer and probably provided lime to small farmers etc. in the immediate environs. Small rural lime kilns started to go out of common usage during the late nineteenth-century with the advent of industrial-scale lime production facilities and improvements in the transport network, particularly the development of the railways. This simple feature is an interesting feature in the picturesque coastal landscape to the south-west of Dunkineely, and is an integral element of the built heritage of the local area.