KNOW YOUR MONUMENTS

O'Sullivan and Liam Downey continue their series on knowing your monuments by
describing a long-standing feature of Irishagriculture

CORN-DRYING KILNS

Corn-drying kilns were a key element of Irish agriculture for at least a thousand years.
are mentioned in early texts, medieval have been excavated
They examples along
motorway routes, and identifiable kilns have survived in certain parts of the
to the present day.
countryside
These kilns were used for a number of purposes, mostly related to the drying of cereals
and other crops. In Ireland, the two basic purposes for which they were constructed seem to

have been to dry grain and to harden it prior to grinding. Up to the mid-1800s virtually
every townland seems to have had a drying kiln. The emergence of drying kilns in Ireland

Archaeology Ireland Autumn 2005

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 Fig. 1 (left): Photograph of the kiln at Haynestown (also illustrated in
built of and sometimes has a stone-built
drystone walling
Fig. 2). The stoke-hole (with large boulder) is located in the lower
surrounding its top.
centre platform
of the photograph; the covered flue runs uphill from there to
A flue, sometimes tapering, and defined also by
the and a ditch runs out of the long, straight
drying chamber; stoke-hole in the lower
with a lintelled roof, extends out from the
drystone walling
right corner. Note the evidence of burning on the floor of the barn.
bottom of the bowl. The flues are of varying length, ranging from

1.8m in some cases to 3.6m in others, and both the width and

stretches back to early historical times, but the essential are in the of 40cm. The flues tend to be about
technology height region longer
changed little from one century to another, at least until the advent two and a half times the length of the base of the bowl They are
of mechanised systems in modern times. sometimes wider at the outer end than at the junction with the

bowl, and often run slightly uphill to facilitate the flow of the
Structural components draught.
As illustrated in Figs 2 and 3, the small corn-drying kilns found in the A stoke-hole (either a natural
depression
or a cut feature), in
Irish countryside are in keyhole- or dumb-bell which the fire was burned to effect the occurs at the
plan frequently drying,
shaped. The basic kiln was inserted into the ground and comprised mouth of the flue. Kilns were often sited to take maximum
four main structural components, a bowl, a flue, a stoke-hole of the wind and were used on
namely advantage prevailing mainly days
and a when the wind direction assisted the convection of air
drying platform. through
While kilns vary in size, the typical bowl is a curvilinear drystone the flue to the drying platform. A kiln functioned somewhat like
built chamber, with a diameter of some 1.5-2m. It is usually a
typical large tobacco-pipe.
The drying platform, overlying the bowl, typically consisted of
heavy timber supports overlaid with wattles, carrying a layer of
straw and/or straw mat, through which the heat was able to pass

quite easily from below to the grain, which in more recent times
was placed on a sheet of cloth lying on of the straw. Some
top
kilns are reported to have had conical or sometimes flat roofs.
These were placed over the bowl when had to be
grain-drying
carried out in wet or damp conditions. The roof had a
usually
small door, which was located over the of the flue,
position
presumably to control the draught.

Corn-drying kilns were frequently built into banks or for

slopes
stability. In these cases, a of the structure was below the
large part
ground surface, with just the stone or a few courses of
platform
the wall of the bowl above level. However, on
protruding ground
flat ground, built-up kilns were erected, especially in situations

where the land was shallow and where there were no steep slopes
or hill banks into which the kilns could be excavated.

Drying process
Kilns were for communal use. They were presumably
usually
worked the individual owners of the corn as and when the
by
occasion demanded, and cooperatively when it was necessary to
a of grain, such as for In more recent
dry large quantity malting.
times the fuel used seems to have been mainly turf, which was

the owner(s) of the corn.

supplied by
shovelfuls of red-hot turf embers were inserted
Well-lighted
into the flue and withdrawn when quenched. The suction
inwards and upwards through the flue drew the heat into the
bowl and up through the drying platform on which the corn was

placed. An even, moderate heat over an extended was

period
to dry the corn. This was a slow and could take
required process
up to 24 hours. However, a new type of kiln, which dried a

hundredweight of corn in one hour, came into use in the early

1800s. It required the corn to be burned more
frequently.
eleventh- or twelfth-century corn The removal of the dried corn from a kiln in County is
Fig. 2: Plan of a dumb-bell-shaped Mayo
kiln and associated barn, Co. Louth, excavated in described as follows. 'When the malt was hardened a
drying Haynestown, sufficiently,
1993. man went down into the kiln with a quilt and it all around
spread
the bottom of the kiln, and up along the sides, and the straw

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 KNOW YOUR MONUMENTS

X ^=::X::^^^ _5m
0_

Fig. 3: Plan of a keyhole-shaped kiln at Kilferagh, Co.

corn-drying Time-span
Kilkenny (illustration by kind permission of Maurice Hurley). In Britain kilns seem to have been of the rural
corn-drying part
economy since Roman times, and examples of a general keyhole
shape have been dated to between approximately AD 900 and
under the malt was then and the malt fell it on to 1600.
separated through
the quilt. The quilt was then tucked around the malt and lifted up Few Irish corn-drying kilns have been definitively dated. A
and brought home to be ground.' keyhole-shaped kiln in the bank of a ringfort at Rathbeg, Co.
Because of the distance between the fire at the outer end of the Antrim, may have dated from the thirteenth or fourteenth
flue and the drying platform over the top of the kiln, and also because century. A late thirteenth- or early
fourteenth-century date is also

peat, the commonly used fuel, burns with a fairly low flame and with suggested for the period of use of a keyhole-type kiln excavated in
a minimum of the risk of accidental was reduced 1981/2 at Kilferagh, Co. Kilkenny (Fig. 3). A dumb-bell-shaped kiln
sparks, burning
(references in the annals point to the fire hazards associated with (Fig. 2) and associated barn excavated (by Muiris O'Sullivan on
kilns). Only red peat embers, rather than fresh burning peat, were behalf of Valerie J. Keeley Ltd) in 1993 at Haynestown, Co. Louth,
shovelled into the flue. Furthermore, a baffle stone at the bowl were constructed in the eleventh Various
placed century. ditches,
end of the flue would have prevented hot embers from being swept including
one associated directly with the kiln, were cut into the

up the flue by the wind and coming too close to the drying platform. hillside at this time. Two human burials found in one of the
A baffle stone was still in place in a corn-drying kiln excavated near ditches appeared to date from this phase in the establishment of a
Castleisland, Co. in 1991; are also known from a medieval at Haynestown.
Kerry, examples agricultural complex
number of sites in Britain.
Corn-drying kilns similar to the later Irish types, and often
excavated into a hillside, were in use in parts of Highland Scotland

Geographical location and the Hebrides in the twelfth century. The distinctive
The distribution pattern of corn-drying kilns revealed by the 1830s characteristic of this type of kiln is the long flue. Linguistic
Ordnance Survey maps is predominantly one of survival in the north evidence points to the possibility that this type of kiln was known
west and west. This may be a reflection of the fact that the rural in both countries at about the same time. It has been suggested
economy of which the kiln was an survived that kilns of the late thirteenth or fourteenth
corn-drying integral part corn-drying early
longest in the northern and western parts of Ireland. The small have a to the climatic
century may represented response
number found outside these areas may be due to the earlier loss of the deterioration that took in that
place period.
socio-economic system to which kilns were, of course, a feature of Irish
they belonged. Corn-drying agriculture

34 Archaeology Ireland Autumn 2005

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 in Early Christian times and are referred to in early laws and the lives Checklist of diagnostic features
of the saints. narrow, occasionally tapering flue, usually
Long, straight,

running slightly upslope and built of closely set walling, and

Wider uses often with considerable evidence of burning at the outer end.
While the kilns in Ireland seem to have been constructed primarily Bowl frequently built into a bank of sloping ground, with the
for the drying and hardening of grain, they also fulfilled a number of curvilinear top above ground, surrounded possibly by a stone

other functions. platform.

In Britain kilns were used to dry grain prior to threshing, following Sometimes found on flat ground as a built-up structure.
a damp harvest or a short growing season, and to reduce moisture found in the north-west
Surviving examples predominantly
levels in grains before storage. They also seem to have been used (i) to and west of Ireland.

fumigate for insect infestation, such as grain weevil, (2) to prepare seed

grain for winter sowing, and (iii) to facilitate removal of the tight Further information
fitting glumes of hulled wheat, emmer and spelt. Kilns In this article, extensive use was made of the sources
particularly preparing
were also used for other crops that had to be dried during processing. listed below. The invaluable information Dr M.F.
provided by
Flax kilns were used, in Tyrone for instance, to dry flax, which was Monk, of UCC, and Mr M.F.
Dept. Archaeology, Hurley,
extensively grown in the nineteenth century. Following retting, the Archaeologist, Cork County Council, is gratefully acknowledged.
flax had to be kilns were
absolutely dry before scutching. Corn-drying
also converted to lime kilns by disconnecting the flue and Byrne, M. 1991 A report on the excavation of a cashel at
a furnace box at the bottom of the corn bowl (for further near Co.
constructing Ballyegan Castleisland, Kerry. Journal of the Kerry
details on lime kilns see the Summer 2005 issue of Archaeology Ireland). Archaeological and Historical Society 24, 6-16.
Such conversions?which seem to have been fairly widely carried out, Gailey, A. 1970 Irish corn drying kilns. Ulster Folk Life 15/16,
for instance in north-west Donegal and south Tyrone, and presumably 52-71.

the failure to find more of the old corn M.R 1987 Co. In R.M. M.F.
elsewhere?may explain Hurley, Kilferagh, Kilkenny. Cleary,

drying Idlns. However, another extensive use to which they were put, Hurley and E.A. Twohig (eds), Archaeological excavations on the

namely the illicit distillation of poitin, is said to be responsible for the Cork-Dublin gas pipeline (1981-82). Cork Archaeological
survival of much knowledge about the construction, method of Studies No. 1. Department of Archaeology, University College

working and terminology of small corn-drying kilns. Cork.

The RPG-7 Soviet origin (circa 1961)

Anti-tank grenade launcher. One of the most common and effective
t*.t H/8/05 ^506 infantry weapons in contemporary conflicts.

-
Some were put beyond use by the IRA in 2001 all were decommissioned

by 2005.
The typical life of an RPG-7 began in Russia, was bought by Libya
who sold it to the IRA who then sold it to the PLO who used it
on the Israelis who then captured it from the PLO and sold it to
Armscor who sold it to MI5 who gave it to the UDA who then gave it
to the FRU who sold it to Czechoslovakia who sold it to Croatia who
-
sold it back to the IRA. Which begs the question whose RPG was

really decommissioned in 2005?

RPG-7 Specimen found

bhannon River 2005

Fig. 40.4

Fig. 40.3

95.? cm
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