Quilty

Dilisk, Kilkee, Co. Clare

Dilisk is a type of seaweed common on Ireland's western seaboard.

© M.D. Guiry; www.species.ie

Dilisk, Kilkee, Co. Clare
© M.D. Guiry; www.species.ie

Dilisk, Kilkee, Co. Clare

Dilisk is a type of seaweed common on Ireland's western seaboard.

© M.D. Guiry; www.species.ie

Enlarge image

Quilty is a small coastal village in West Clare. At the turn of the 20th century, locals made a living farming and fishing. Fishermen travelled four or five miles out to sea in their currachs to bring home catches of haddock, ling, cod and mackerel. Mackerel were very plentiful and the pier was busy place with local women cleaning, salting and packing the fish for export.

As well as fishing, harvesting seaweed provided income for families in Quilty. Edible seaweed was known as 'sleabhacan'. Sleabhacan grows in the winter time and in the past when cabage was scarce in the winter months, sleabhancan was eaten instead. Another type of seaweed, carrageen, was also harvested by the people of Quilty. It was sold for use in beer brewing and making ice cream and toothpaste.

Implement used for gathering seaweed

A seaweed crook. Used for gathering seaweed.

Courtesy Clare County Library

Implement used for gathering seaweed
Courtesy Clare County Library

Implement used for gathering seaweed

A seaweed crook. Used for gathering seaweed.

Courtesy Clare County Library

Enlarge image

Kelp seaweed was harvested in the summer. It was burned in long, stone lined trenches in the ground. It took a day or two until the kelp was reduced to ash. It was packed in bag and taken to Quilty train station where it was transported away on the West Clare Railway.