The seaweed bath house on the seafront at Enniscrone, County Sligo

Enniscrone/Ireland

Kilcullen's Seaweed Baths

An Edwardian seaweed bath house on the Sligo coast, working since 1912.

Owen Doody

Baignade: Intérieur
Fondé en: 1912

Kilcullen's stands on the shore at Enniscrone with its original 1912 interior largely intact: private cubicles, deep porcelain baths, brass taps and cedar steam cabinets. Hot seawater is poured over freshly cut serrated wrack, which releases its oils until the water turns amber and slippery.

Le regard Balnevia

Pourquoi y aller

It is the most complete surviving example of Ireland's Victorian and Edwardian seaweed bathing tradition, still run by the same family and still using seaweed cut from the rocks nearby.

Recommandations

Hôtels à proximité

Découvrez où dormir près de Kilcullen's Seaweed Baths.

L'eau

Eau thermale

Source: Atlantic seawater with Fucus serratus
Minéralisation: Heated seawater infused with hand-cut serrated wrack
Caractère: Seawater is heated and poured over fresh seaweed, whose alginates and iodine turn the bath amber and gel-like.

Histoire

Seaweed bathing was widespread along Ireland's west coast in the nineteenth century, with hundreds of bath houses serving working people. Kilcullen's opened in 1912 and, unusually, never closed or modernised away its fittings, surviving the near-disappearance of the tradition elsewhere.

Informations pratiques

Baths are private and booked by the hour; the steam cabinet is taken before the bath. Seaweed oils will condition skin and hair — bring nothing you mind getting slippery.

Site officiel