Lime Kilns

Lime Kilns were a regular feature in Meath Fields and give their name to many fields all around the County. In some fields there are ruins of the old lime kilns to be seen while in many others, the field name and people’s memories are the only indications remaining of the former activity in the field. Lime kilns burned stones to make lime for use in farming and also to create quicklime to be used as mortars and stabilisers in traditional buildings. For the workers at a limekiln it was a hard and dirty job. The survey has yielded up to 200 field names ‘Lime Kiln’ or ‘Kill Field’.

Limekiln at Moore’s Field, Keenaghan, Kilmainhamwood (photo by John Corbally)
Limekiln at Moore’s Field, Keenaghan, Kilmainhamwood (photo by John Corbally)
Photo of limekiln at Boltown near Kilskyre (photo by Sean Smyth)
Photo of limekiln at Boltown near Kilskyre (photo by Sean Smyth)
Restored Limekiln at Nobber (photo by Joan Mullen)
Restored Limekiln at Nobber (photo by Joan Mullen)

Brick fields

There are almost 100 fields identified in the survey that are either called names like ‘The Brick Field’, ‘The Brick Yard’, ‘Brick Hill’ or ‘The Brick Meadow’ or where there is some reference to brick making or brick clay extraction in the past.