The Farnaught lime kiln in Mohill was carefully restored by local craftsmen and can be found on the grounds of the Lough Rynn Estate. It is one of the finest examples of a lime kiln in Ireland.
The kiln, which was originally built in the middle of the 19th century was one of the last of its kind to function in Ireland before it eventually shut down in the 1950s after approximately one hundred years of use.
Lime kilns were structures in which limestone was heated to a high temperature to produce quicklime, a substance of great importance to agricultural communities. Quicklime would have been used primarily to improve the quality of the land by breaking up heavy clay soil, neutralising highly acidic soil or ‘sweetening’ the grass for livestock. Other uses included using quicklime as a mortar, whitewashing houses, disinfectant, pest repellent or even as a medicine.
The kilns were once common features of rural landscapes throughout Ireland in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. But now most have been destroyed or have faded into the landscape, making restorations like the Farnaught Lime Kiln even more significant as a link to our history and foregone communities.
