The story of Burton Bindon and the Burren's famous oysters with Kathleen Fawle

In Aughinish Bay, between the townland of Munnia in New Quay and Doorus, there is a strip of land which is only exposed at low tide. This strip of land with a reddish hue is known as Trá Rua, the Red Strand or, more famously the Red Bank, origin of the renowned oysters of the same name. The appeal of the Red Bank oysters stretches back to the Cistercian monks in nearby Corcomroe, whose desire for oysters was one of the reasons that drew them to make their home there from the 11th/12th century to Lord Inchiquin whose 18th century leases stipulated that as well as paying rent the local leasee had to make annual deliveries of wagon loads of Trá Rua oysters to Dromoland.
But the history of the Red Bank oysters is predominantly the story of Burton Bindon, 19th century landowner in the Burren and Clooney, who put his money and energies into developing the land, shorelines, oyster beds, quay, roads, and oyster restaurants. So much so that in the 19th century Dublin’s finest taverns, frequented by the gentry and nobility, oysters sourced from the Trá Rua, Red Bank, were regarded as the most coveted items on the menu.
Kathleen Fawle is a native of New Quay in the Burren, where her family have farmed since the 1820’s. Kathleen has studied history at U.C.D. and archaeology at N.U.I.G. and at Oxford University and she has a keen interest in the local history of the Burren. She recently published a local history book on New Quay and one of the topics covered is the story of the Red Bank Oysters, the subject of this webinar.