Galway's New Factory — Reviving a Profitable Irish Industry

Galway Observer, February 2, 1931

During a recent visit to Galway this correspondent of the Irish Times says that he learnt something of the advances which have been made towards solving one of the most acute of the Western problems — that of supplementing the ordinary harvest of the sea when it provides an inadequate return to those who toil alternately on the waves and upon the poor holdings of land by the Atlantic. Here the floating seaweed carried to the land is dried and burned, after which it changes it's name to kelp. Many years ago kelp was made in much the same way, after which it was taken to Scotland for the extraction of Iodine and potash. Cheaper sources of these two materials wrecked the industry.

It has now been resuscitated by the Department of Lands and Fisheries, and carried a stage further. The kelp is transported by Galway City and brought to the newly erected factory at the mouth of Galway Harbour, where it is deprived of its iodine content. With the iodine the average farmer is little concerned, though — in almost infinitesimal quantities it is a vital substance for both land and stock.

What is important to the farmer is the residual material from the kelp after the extraction of the iodine. This contains in readily available form about 20 per cent of pure potash and up to 2 per cent of nitrogen, and I understand that nearly 2,000 tones will shortly be on sale. I have no doubt that this fertiliser will be highly valued by agriculturists around Galway, who are the most advanced users in the country of artificial manures.

When it is borne in mind that kelp returns about £6 10's to the seller — farmer or fisherman — and that iodine represents not much more that one half per cent of the bulk of kelp, it will be observed that not alone does the sale of iodine pay for its extraction and provide ordinary commercial profits but gives a profit bounty or subsidy of about £3 in respect of every ton of potash fertilizer brought by the farmer. Not only, therefore, is the industry purely an Irish one, but even the factory is altogether homemade. The equipment is comparatively simple. From Irish timber, the huge frame work of stands and vats and the greater part of the apparatus has been constructed.