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Periwinkles - the animals, not the flowers - are molluscs, more specifically sea snails.  They are commonly eaten as "winkles" in England and Ireland. I found them, de-shelled, in the frozen food section of the Asian grocer and had to try them out for myself.

One thing about these - you cannot cook them for too long or they turn tough. That happened the first time I sauteed them in garlic butter. However, when I boiled them lightly - bring water to a rolling boil, then dump the thawed periwinkles in and boil them for three minutes - and served them with the same garlic butter (Melt a few tablespoons of butter over medium low heat, then add two cloves of finely minced garlic. When the garlic softens, mush it up with the back of a spoon. Let simmer for a few more minutes, then serve.) they came out fine. Really, they would have been fine when I sauteed them if I hadn't left them on the heat as long as I did.