Watch: Ireland's Most Fearsome Wave Revealed
Mullaghmore Head in Ireland is one of those places in the world that nobody would have ever heard of if it hadn’t been for a few crazy surfers tempting fate in some of the Atlantic’s most foreboding waters. A whisker under 150 miles northwest of Dublin, the spots only been surfed for about the last decade, and it wasn’t until the “Black Swell” of 2020 did the world get a true appreciation for just how psycho the wave is.
Cold and exposed to all the elements, it may be one of the least inviting, yet most interesting waves on the planet. A heavy, slabbing wave the has no problem doling out punishment, it's as intimidating as spots like Shipsterns Bluff in Tasmania or The Right in Western Australia. This winter Australian big-wave cinematographer and filmmaker Tim Bonython stationed himself in Ireland for a run of swell and has just released a new short film about the experience entitled “Tonnta Leanúnacha,” which translated from Irish means “continuous waves.”
What’s so captivating about the film is the juxtaposition between the countryside’s exquisite pastoral beauty and the rawness of the North Atlantic power. Couple that with Irish surfers’ innate knack for downplaying the seriousness of the waves they’re charging, and you get a new appreciation for just how special list little corner of the surf world is. You either commit to surfing Mullaghmore or you pay the price, there’s really no middle ground. The wave and environment demand total commitment. It’s only once they’re safely back at the pub with a pint in hand that things start to relax … and warm up.
Watch: Why Are The Biggest Waves In The World Ridden At Nazare?
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.