“Keep It a Secret” uncovers how surfing in Ireland went from turbulent to thriving
Today, it’s a well-known fact (at least amongst diehard surfers) that Ireland is home to world-class surfing. The island nation boasts 2,000 miles of coastline with slabs, big-wave spots, and hollow barrels breaking in the country’s trademark emerald green.
But that wasn’t always the case. In the early days of Ireland’s surf history, there were only a handful of local surfers on the scene – let alone outsiders coming to the country for a surf trip. And it wasn’t just because word hadn’t gotten out yet about the waves. This was also the 1970s, when The Troubles, a violent ethno-nationalist conflict, was raging in Northern Ireland.
A new documentary, titled Keep It A Secret, seeks to shine a light on this period of Irish surfing history; check out the trailer below.
“Three years ago, I set out to track down the pioneers of Irish surfing,” says director Sean Duggan in the trailer. “I would meet a colorful group of trailblazing surfers, who discovered the ultimate secret spot: an island of almost 2,000 miles of coastline that was completely unknown to the outside surfing world.”
Kevin Naughton, legendary surf traveler and pioneer of the modern-day surf adventurer, makes an appearance in the documentary to talk about his travels to Ireland during those early days.
“The waves there were as good as I had surfed in Central America or anywhere in the world,” Naughton says in the trailer. “But there were no crowds. There would be nobody, not even other surfers.”
Then, The Troubles came along. Director Sean Duggans continues:
“They [Ireland’s early surfers] came together during the late sixties and early seventies, when the island was beginning to be torn apart by the Northern Ireland conflict known as The Troubles, which would deeply divide the people of Ireland for 30 years. Surfers on both sides of the conflict would find peace and escape in their secret surfing paradise.”
And as most surfers do, the local Irish surfers later struggled with whether or not they wanted to share their waves with the world; Duggans adds:
“But eventually, they would wrestle between their own conflict – one between those surfers who were determined to put Ireland on the international surfing map, and those who were determined to defend their surfing paradise.”
Keep It A Secret will premiere in North American television as part of WORLD Channel’s Doc World series on April 9 at 10pm ET.
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