Kiln in Newtown

Freestanding limestone limekiln, c. 1820, having segmental-headed opening with roughly dressed voussoirs above kiln furnace. Now disused. Situated to the south of Newtown House.

The survival of a former limekiln, possibly built in the early nineteenth century, is of technical merit. It is well built using local limestone and is an appealing and unsassuming element of the agricultural/idustrial and social heritage of Limerick. Limekilns appear to have come into popular use in Ireland during the eighteenth century and were once quite a common feature in the rural landscape. They were used to burn limestone to produce lime, which was used in construction and building as a mortar, as a render and to produce fertilizer, which was spread on the land. Lime was used for lime-washing buildings, particularly farm buildings, as it was regarded as a cleansing agent at the time. Some rural limekilns 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.