How the tide turned for surfing in Ireland

SURFING began in Hawaii, as a form of worship to the gods. However, Calvinist missionaries attempted to eradicate it in the 19th century and by the turn of the 20th century, the sport was close to extinction. Novelist Jack London’s chronicles of talented young surfer George Freeth revived the sport. But it was another native of Hawaii, Duke Kahanamoku (left), Olympic gold medalist in 1912 and 1920, who prompted a renaissance with his surfing displays bringing the sport to United States and Australia.

Surfing was first documented in Ireland in 1949 when a 14year-old boy called Joe Roddy took to the water on his homemade paddle-board near his native Dundalk. However, it was in 1962, when Kevin Cavey came across an article on surfing in

Reader’s Digest that the sport started to take off.

He quickly formed his own surf club – Bray Island Surf Club – and put notices in newspapers to see if he could catch like-minded people. Soon, clubs sprouted up in Tramore, Strandhill and Antrim. In 1966, Cavey was invited to become Ireland’s first representative at the World Surfing championships in San Diego.

The first national surfing championships were held the following year in Tramore and in 1968, the first inter-counties championships were held in Rossnowlagh where Down beat Wicklow in the final. By 1969, Ireland had enough competitive surfers to send a team to the inaugural European surfing championships in Jersey.

Ireland have hosted the Europeans four times since then, in Lahinch in 1972, Rossnowlagh in 1985 and Bundoran in 1997 and 2011. From such small beginnings, there is now believed to be more than 20,000 resident surfers in Ireland and, despite the chilly conditions, the country is continuing to grow as a destination for surf tourists.