Episode 3 – Seaweed

8.30pm, RTÉ One, Monday 15th November

Seaweed Tryptich

With over 1,450km of rocky shoreline, Ireland’s coast is surrounded by hundreds of species of seaweed. For centuries, this seaweed has been harvested by coastal communities and used by farmers for fertilising their fields, as a home remedy for bronchitis and chronic coughs, and is even said to be one of the two foods that St Colmcille survived on.

Recent research has indicated that supplementing seaweed into the diets of cattle and sheep could significantly reduce the associated methane emissions and help us combat climate change, so could that be part of a sustainable solution for Ireland? In this episode, Kathriona meets the researchers monitoring and preserving the health and biodiversity of our beautiful seaweed forests, and Aoibhinn and Jonathan head to the farm to investigate whether seaweed could be a potential game changer for the farming industry.

And in ‘Curious Chronicles’, Fergus recounts a fascinating tale that combines historic sea battles, the explosive power of kelp, and the accidental discovery of a brand new element…

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