Persistence and risk: salt production in post-medieval Ireland

Abstract

Salt was a common trading commodity in a post-medieval Europe of expanding horizons and populations. It was, however, expensive and laborious to produce in northern Europe and foreign supplies were vulnerable to disruption. Its importance was especially pronounced in countries such as Ireland, which failed to industrialise on the scale of Britain, and relied on its agricultural produce and exports. This paper explores the changing fortunes of salt in Ireland by examining a complex of sites at Ballycastle. In operation for three centuries, it was one of the more enduring and resilient sites of manufacture. It identifies individual agency, innovation and legislation as key factors for its relative success. Conversely, the business was periodically jeopardised by social and political unrest, factionalism and incompetence. As part of the wider Atlantic world Irish salt and salted provisions exploited emerging colonial networks of trade, however these market forces perpetuated social inequalities with attendant risks to food security.