Harty Oysters, trading as Dungarvan Shellfish Ltd, was founded in 1985 in Dungarvan Bay, Co. Waterford, Ireland. Our oysters were the first to be laid in Dungarvan or even County Waterford. After doing some research, we soon came to the conclusion that it could be possible to grow really good quality oysters in the Bay -  the equivalent of the 'speciale' standard recognised throughout France. 

In our early years, we were lucky to have the very successful French oyster company, S.A. Tafforet (based in Marennes), as our partner. We soon developed an excellent working relationship with the Tafforet family and benefitted greatly from their expertise and knowledge: it wasn't long before we were producing our own 'Speciale' oysters which we continue to do to this day.