A SEAWEED bath when first encountered is not a reassuring sight. Clumps of brownish-green foliage lurk in murky-brown water and a heavy smell of seaweed pervades the steamy air.
Reluctant newcomers at Kilcullen's Seaweed Baths in Enniscrone, Co Sligo, fed on a diet of TV-commercial images of foamy-white bubble baths, have been heard to say: "There's no way I'm getting into that." Yet in all but the most extreme of cases they do, and come back for more.
Kilcullen's Baths have been open in the Sligo seaside village since 1912. On a winter's day in the last year of the century, people are still queueing up to lie in the same porcelain baths installed by the present owner's grandfather in that year of the Titanic.
The original Edwardian decor has been retained in the private bathrooms and a new extension is now being planned to cater for increased demand.
What your sceptical eyes don't tell you is that the slinky, oily water leaves your skin feeling like silk, and floating weightless in hot seawater does wonders for tension and aching muscles.
As you immerse yourself - more enthusiastic bathers drape themselves with the seaweed to get the full benefit - you breathe in fresh Atlantic air from the open window, and hear the sound of the waves washing onto the beach just yards away.
Edward Kilcullen, who has been running the baths for 10 years, says he doesn't make any claims about their healing qualities, although traditionally the centre has been used by older people suffering from arthritis or rheumatism.
He says customer numbers have increased tenfold in the last 10 years to more than 10,000 last year. Many of the younger users are health-conscious people "who like a bit of indulgence".
The process used at the baths is simple and completely natural. To extract the iodine from the seaweed (which accounts for the colour of the bath-water), it is first blasted with steam. This softens the seaweed and changes its colour from brown to bottle green. Fresh seawater, at piping hot temperatures, is used to fill the baths, which bathers can top up as they wish, using the original brass taps.
The eight baths currently in use were made with four-inch-thick porcelain and retain the heat like old-style stone hot water bottles. Each one weighs over half a tonne, and to buy a similar bath now would cost about £17,000.
A full treatment begins with a steam bath, again a unique experience. Unlike a modern sauna, you sit in a specially designed wooden box with only your head uncovered. This allows you to breathe fresh air as you use a hand lever to blast hot steam all over the rest of the body. Then, with the pores open, it's into the seaweed bath for a soak.
To finish off, and to prove you really are a hardy, close-to-nature type, you pull the chain over your head and blast yourself with a shower of ice-cold seawater. You emerge invigorated and rosy-cheeked. Therapeutic massage is also available and food is served in the adjoining tea rooms.
In addition to the authentic oldworld charm of the baths, it is also a place which truly rewards openness and transparency. Couples or friends who opt to "double up" in a single room, alternating between steam and seaweed bath, pay only £5 each instead of £8! The bath house is open at weekends until May 1st, when it will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. until the end of October. There is no booking and towels are supplied. For information, phone (096) 36238.