Old Yellow Walls

A Local History of Yellow Walls, Malahide, County Dublin

The Salt Works

“It is situated on the shores of the bay, which takes its name, and contains several good shops, two or three public houses, a church, and chapel, a salt work, and a small silk manufactory.”1

On the eastern boundary of Cave’s Marsh, close to the wall running along Sea Road, are the part remains of what was once an elaborate system for producing salt on a large scale ( “a considerable salt-work”).2 In the days before refrigeration, large quantities of salt were needed to preserve perishable foods through salting, drying and pickling and the production of salt in ‘salterns’ was, at one time, a common activity in Ireland and Britain.3

The Yellow Walls’ saltern existed from 1770 to 1837 and was located on the far side of Sea Road on a site now largely occupied by Pope John Paul’s National School.4

The production process involved channelling salt water from the estuary into a lagoon at the estuary end of the green and, after extraction of the salt, routing it back to empty into the estuary. The channels or ‘canals’ are prominent on maps from the late 19th/early 20th century as shown below.

 

Salt Works' channels shown in late 19th/early 20th century map. © Ordnance Survey Ireland/Government of Ireland.5

Salt Works’ channels shown in late 19th/early 20th century map. © Ordnance Survey Ireland/Government of Ireland.5

No trace of the lagoon or saltern itself remains but the channels are still identifiable today.

Remains of Saltern Supply Channel

By closing the lagoon off and trapping the water, it could in theory evaporate off leaving the salt behind. The Irish climate, however, is not warm enough to produce the degree of evaporation needed and so the practice of evaporating the sea water in heated iron pans was used. The final stages of drying involved putting the wet salt into wooden moulds which were placed in a warm room until the salt dried and set in hard blocks.3

Saltworks_Channel_Sea_Road

Sources

1. Fraser, James. A hand book for travellers in Ireland:descriptive of its scenery, towns, seats, antiquities, etc. with various statistical tables also outline of its mineral structure, a brief view of its botany, and information for anglers. W. Curry, Jr., 1844.

2. Reports from Commissioners: Eighteen Volumes, Irish Fisheries; Herring Fishery, Vol XXII, 1837.

3. Muir, Richard. Landscape Encyclopaedia. Windgather, 2004.

4. Malahide Historical Society Newsletter, December 1994.

5. Ordnance Survey Of Ireland 25″ Map: online. Reproduced under licence from Ordnance Survey of Ireland; Licence No. NE 0000414.

 

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

  • Content

    • At the Village of Yellow Walls
    • Map of Sites
    • The Townland of Yellow Walls
    • Why “Yellow Walls”?
    • At the Crossroads
    • Band Room & Memorial
    • Gaybrook Stream
    • Inbher Domnainn
    • Cave’s Marsh
    • The Old Sea Road
    • A Norse Longphort
    • A Lost Ark?
    • The Tide Mill
    • The Salt Works
    • Barrack Bridge
    • Talbot’s Cotton Mill
    • Talbot’s Canal
    • The Garristown Railway
    • La Mancha
    • Millview & the Kettles
    • Men of 98
    • Hanging of Henry Downes
    • Life in 1835
    • At Home in Old Yellow Walls
    • National Folklore Collection
    • Stormy Weather
    • Ancient Larnians
    • Old Names, Familiar Places
    • Today at Yellow Walls
    • About & Sources
  • Site Stats

    • 88,887 views
  • Most Viewed Today

    • Gaybrook Stream
      Gaybrook Stream
    • La Mancha
      La Mancha
    • At the Village of Yellow Walls
      At the Village of Yellow Walls
  • Location

    Yellow Walls

  • Contact

    oldyellowwalls@gmail.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


    • Old Yellow Walls
    • Customize
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • Manage subscriptions
 

Loading Comments...
 

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    %d bloggers like this: