When mixed up, low pressure systems and Mullaghmore Head mean big waves. The combination of weather patterns and geomorphological characteristics result in epic surf in Ireland's capital of extreme water sports.
Gabe Davies, Andrew Cotton, Tom Butler, Eric Rebiere and Richie Fitzgerald have battled the grey skies, rain and wind to catch the last good bombs of the 2011/2012 winter swell.
In most cases, it was only possible to take-off on these giant wave faces with the helping hand of jetskis. Al Mennie, the experienced waterman, drew the motor lines along the powerful lefthanders.
Watch the big wave surfing session.
Windsurfer Finn Mullan was the craziest rider at Mullaghmore Head. Wave sailing in these conditions is definitely harder than defying Jaws in a double-to-triple overhead wave day.
Still, Al Mennie believes this was not the best swell ever to hit the coast of Ireland. The red-haired surfer thinks that 2011 was one of the best years of all time for Ireland's big wave surfing history books.
At the time, twenty-foot waves have been surfed in light offshore wind conditions, during the first annual Billabong Monster Energy Mullaghmore Head.