Words by Sharon Amos. Photographs by Caroline Gavazzi

In the remote north-west corner of County Clare, on Ireland's Atlantic coast. an extraordinary landscape of limestone pavements and unique wild plants has inspired a remarkable business and tourist attraction - the Burren Perfumery

The curious limestone terraces and cliffs that make up the Burren on the west coast of Ireland have intrigued scientists for years - its extraordinary plant life features both tough Artic species and tender mediterranean blooms. it was this unique flora and landscape that inspired an idiosyncratic Irishman called Brian Mooney. Back in the 1960's, he studied perfumery in Grasse, provence, returned to his homeland, restyled himself "Vincent" and decided to create his own fragrances based on the scents and plants of the Burren.

He set up Ireland's first working perfumery in a cottage near Carron, Co. Clare, and was reasonably successful, but it was far from the visitor attraction it is today, bringing badly needed income into this remote area. " If people turned up he might keep the door firmly closed or else feel sorry for them and give them tea and a bottle of rose water," recalls Edward Biggs, now co-director of the perfumery. Edward became involved in 1995 when his parents, who lived nearby, told him that Vincent wanted to retire.

The perfumery, basically a distillery and packaging centre, was then barely ticking over; there were rusting cars outside and the buildings were overrun with wild cats. But as a business with a flair for spotting new opportunities, Edward didn't hesitate at buying the company.

His first task was to reformulate the existing fragrances. While keeping their essence and character, he felt they needed to be lighter and more floral to appeal to a new generation of younger buyers. It was at this point that Edward discovered that he had a rare gift, what is known in the trade as a "nose" - the ability to smell a fragrance and break it down into its components parts by smell alone.

To make fragrance, distilled oils are mixed according to each perfume's unique formula, using an alcohol base and distilled water, before being left to mature for six months in big glass bottle. But it's not always that simple: the strength of plant oils can vary sometimes so the formulas may need to be adjusted. Then Edward's "nose" is indispensable.

Once Edward had re-invented the perfumes he turned his attention to making the perfumery itself a tourist destination. The name Burren comes from the Irish word bhoireann, or place of rocks, an accurate description of the limestone pavements criss-crossed by great cracks or grykes and riddled with caves and underground rivers that flood unexpectedly.

Alpine gentians grow alongside Mediterranean rock roses - more than 700 species of plant thrive in this region. This flora depends on the farming practice of winterage - grazing sheep and cattle in these uplands over the winter, which keeps the coarser grasses down and allows rare plants time to set seed in the summer. As well as wild flowers, there are plenty of signs of prehistoric human presence - Megalithic tombs, forts, Celtic crosses and traces of ancient roads.

Visitors to the perfumery , who number more than 300 a day in high summer (impressive when you consider they don't take coach parties) can learn about the area from a permanent exhibition explaining the flowers and landscape. Then they can peer into the traditional stone-built still room, where the massive shiny stainless steel still holds up to 100 kilograms of dried plants and herbs for steam distillation. it amy be extracting anything from lavender oil for the aromatherapy bath range to birch bark oil to be blended in a cologne.

Racks of herbs are stacked to dry in the open airy building and behind the still Yvonne Naughton, still-room manager, can usually be seen at work stirring a batch of handmade soap or pouring it to set in wooden moulds lined with greaseproof paper. Since joining the perfumery, she has revolutionised the soap-making process so that it takes far less time. She can't reveal how, of course, as it's a trade secret.

Even so, it still takes six weeks from mixing the soaps to selling them: it's two days before the slab of soap can be lifted from the tray, then the lye - used to make the oils saponify - has to be scrapped off daily as it rises tot he surface. The bars are traced onto the slab while it is still soft, then cut and left to dry before wrapping.

All the soaps are made from vegetable oils - palm, coconut and olive - and, except for the more exotic ingredients such as cassia and orange, all the herbs that scent them are grown in the perfumery's own herb garden. Designed and maintained by local gardener Sarah Casey, it has raised stone-built beds , sheltered corners to sit in and flowers alive with bees, making it a favourite with visitors. It is also educational: many of the plants growing are native wild flowers that people wouldn't ordinarily consider giving room to in a garden until they see how effective they look here.

Co-director Sadie Chowen joined the perfumery four years ago. She was taking a break from running a pony-trekking business while her daughter Fionn was small. "When I met Edward, he said, "Do you want to work?" and I said "Well, maybe". I told him I could spare two days a week. Within a year I was working full time" Sadie has brought a feminine touch to the business, introducing lavender bags and pot pourri, as well as giving the whole place a cottage-garner look by growing roses over everything and planting up beds around the buildings with irises and poppies, rosemary and delphiniums. "Edward is an entrepreneur, he's dynamic, he has plans. I like to things to be running properly and to make sure everyone's okay.," she says.

She has also found new ways to capitalise on the Burren's unique wild flowers. "I gathered plants particular to the area then sat down with a herbalist and worked out how their different qualities could be combined." The result is a range of five herb teas packed in old-fashioned wooden boxes. "Their scents are very mild compared to the harsh fruity blends you buy in supermarkets," She explains. The morning blend, for example, uses herb Robert, lady's bedstraw, spearmint, marigold and lady's mantle, hand-picked from the hedgerow or herb garden.

Herbs and plants are traditionally gathered in the morning. "It's tricky to time it," Sadie says. "The dew must have dried - they shouldn't be wet - but it should still be early in the day." There are a few exceptions: mint, for example, is picked on a hot day when the leaves contain more oil.

The teas are sold in the shop alongside soaps in every shape and size - cut in wedges like cheeses, rolled into long cylinders or simply wrapped in a rainbow of handmade papers. there are frosted blue glass bottles of organic lavender, dead sea salts, bath oils and gels, open sacks of lavender and pretty wicker baskets to fill with your own gift selection. Behind the counter Christina McGuane, who is the fount of knowledge on the Burren, bottles the perfumes, decanting them from great carboys into the elegant and distinctive bottles that characterise each fragrance. The shelves behind the counter are lined with brown bottles containing samples of every oil or essence distilled or blended at the perfumery: "It's our database of smells," Sadie says. "It's hard to keep these types of products high quality and stay within budget. So many soaps and oils are cheap and chemical - I can't buy them because I know what they're made from.

Christina's two daughters, Louise and Siobhan, also work at the perfumery. In a rural area like the Burren, there's very little choice of employment for young people - it's either the pub or the perfumery.

The business reputation and sales are spreading. It supplies 150 shops in North America and has stockists throughout Europe and in Australia, as well as loyal mail-order following. And there is always new developments: organic aromatherapy based bath oils and gels and a new range of bath salts. "The seaweed version is my creation and taking a bath in it is like jumping into Galway Bay.," Sadie says. And this year, the perfumery will reopen it's refurbished tearooms to serve organic produce.

For the future they are planning a new fragrance, flower and herb pot pourris as well as a bigger range of aromatherapy oils. Both Sadie and Edward are adamant: "We would never sell anything that we wouldn't want to use ourselves. We want to become a byword for high quality natural fragrances."