A Young Boy’s Baptism In Proper Irish Power

Ireland is so hot right now. 

Nathan Florence got rag-dolled at trechorous Mullaghmore. An Aussie expat deftly handled underground Irsh lefts in a new Stab Edit of the Year contender. Russell Bierke drops another Celtic hammer with us on Nov 27.

Today, we also add Robbie Goodwin’s ‘The Lore’ to the list. Robbie probably isn’t a name you’re super familiar with unless you follow the New England surf scene. I sure wasn’t. But I was thoroughly impressed by the teen’s humility and ability in thumping Irish kegs. 

Robbie checks a lot of boxes in this six-and-a-half-minute reel while weaving in quality storytelling. He gives Mullaghmore an honest crack. He takes sets on the head at Aileen’s. He rips a delightfully solid left. At age 19, he’s already clearly interested in developing a relationship with the people, the waves and the culture — a nod to Ireland’s “underlying powerful energy.”

One particular wave stands out to me — his first sketchy backside airdrop at 1:14. It was from a session at Mullaghmore that included only him, Nathan and Tom Lowe. He detailed the moment and the session eloquently on his Instagram: 

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“This wasn’t a good wave by any means, but it’s a special one for me. This was kind of a weird session. I saw (Tom) and (Nathan) out by themselves at Mully, it looked pretty ragged and disorganized but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to surf with those guys, both of them being absolute heroes to me.

“I suited up and made the long and arduous paddle out, but by the time I made it out to the line-up, the wind had switched to straight sideshore and Nate told me they were going to get a wave in. That was frustrating, but I was going to stay out as long as they did and try and get a wave because there were still a few throaty ones coming through, and despite not being at all comfortable in waves that size yet, I was hungry to ride one.

“After letting quite a few go by, a meaty-looking double-up came straight to me and the boys called me into it, so obviously I had no choice but to go. I’ve never been so scared on a wave before — the thing totally tried to kill me with a step in the face. Despite being a relatively small wave for this spot, and for big wave surfers like Lowey and Nate, it felt like I was on top of a building when I got to my feet. Falling was simply not an option in my mind, too scary. If my ankles had a chance to argue my decision to commit to the airdrop, they certainly would have. The wave didn’t grab the reef right and just sort of mushed out, but I’ll certainly never forget that drop, and being called into that wave by the two guys I look up to the most didn’t even feel real, like a dream. I can’t wait to lock into a real one out there, hopefully one with an easier entry!”