Situated in Cleggan, Co. Galway, where the tumbling waves of the Atlantic meet the rugged west coast of Ireland, the simple surroundings of the Kings of Connemara seafood ponds belie their rich history.

Cathal King, the founder of the business, is a Cleggan native who grew up with a love of the sea and a yearning to work within the fisheries industry.

His passion for fishing led to a 15 year career as skipper on his own trawler. During this time he developed strong links within the fishing industry, up and down the west coast of Ireland, links which would later be critical in the development of Kings of Connemara.

In 2006, Cathal formed the business, starting slowly in order to learn his trade and selling initially to large continental buyers.  In 2008, he purchased his first vivier truck and began exporting directly to the continent. In 2011, he began to operate from the “lobster ponds”, tidal facilities which were originally developed in the 1930s and allow for the secure, long-term storage of large quantities of shellfish in their natural environment.

Today, these extremely rare seafood ponds, located on the most westerly point of Connemara, contain the wild, untamed produce of the sea.

His experience, coupled with these unique facilities, has allowed him to realise his goal of exporting the finest quality, sustainably-sourced shellfish around the world.