‘Good stories reach into rich pasts to sustain thick presents to keep the story going for those who come after’ Donna Haraway

In collaboration with the West Clare Currach Club, Kilkee & West Clare Heritage Group and the West Clare Wildlife Club we propose a ‘Kelp Meitheal’ - to gather, prepare and dry seaweed on the shore. To burn kelp and harvest the materials derived as done 100 years ago by the coastal community of Coosheen who provided this raw material for commercial sale for the processing of iodine which was the only method of obtaining it before chemical production.

This assembly of shore people and seaweed fieldwork will take place from May until October 2024. The initial meeting will take place on Wed 8th May 2024 at 8pm where we will collectively share the existing documented coastal knowledge, social memory and stories of the seaweed harvesting industry and kelp burning methods.

Shore meetings with invited community members, local historians, folklorists, artists, writers, ecologists and more
will proceed each stage of the meitheal. We will document and capture together these ‘stories of transformation' through audio records and soundscapes, micro films, field notes, written word, stories, speculative imagination, creative ecologies and our materials hard earned from our kelp burning meitheal for a visual display and exhibition.

For more information contact Frances Bermingham Berrow on 087 23 88 433 or francesbermingham@gmail.com

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.