The excavation, conducted by Declan Moore and his team from IAC between 28 June and 3 July, revealed a fascinating piece of rural Irish heritage that had been built directly into a natural peat ridge. Though the exact age of the kiln couldn’t be determined from the archaeological evidence, its construction methods and location offer insights into traditional agricultural practices in this part of Donegal.

The kiln itself was a carefully constructed circular bowl with sloping sides, built from small to medium rectangular stones laid in random courses, with two rows of larger stones forming a sturdy base. A flue extended from the bowl in a north-west to south-east direction, originally constructed with upright stone slabs and roofing lintels, though only one lintel survived to the time of excavation. The entire structure was surrounded by a stone surface that had been laid directly on the peat ridge, creating a working area around the kiln. At some point in its history, the bowl had been deliberately filled in with stones, perhaps when the kiln fell out of use.

Unfortunately, the south-eastern end of the flue had been badly damaged by more recent construction works; first by the railway embankment to the south, and later by the building of the N15 road embankment. Despite this disturbance, the excavation provided valuable documentation of this rural industrial feature before it was lost to the new road development. Drying kilns like this one were once common features of the Irish countryside, used for drying grain before milling or storage, and this example at Keadew Upper stands as a reminder of the agricultural heritage that lies beneath Ireland’s modern infrastructure.