Keep It A Secret recounts the inspiring true story of the dawn of Irish surfing and how the sport’s brave pioneers found peace in the surf during the most violent years of The Troubles conflict.
In 1972, every international sporting event in Ireland was cancelled, except for one. Teams from around the world were terrified to travel to Ireland amid the height of The Troubles, the conflict between Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland that had plunged the island into chaos and violence.
The only group of athletes bold enough to risk traveling in Ireland at this turbulent time were surfers. Surfers from around the globe descended upon the coastal village of Lahinch for the 1972 Eurosurf Championship, the largest surfing event in all of Europe and the competition that would put Irish surfing on the map. Here surfers from both sides of the divided island would forget about the civil strife and celebrate their shared love of the sport by riding Ireland’s majestic waves. Even surfers from England would defy their government’s intense pressure to boycott the event. For these surfers, there were no borders, only the endless freedom of the ocean.
Keep It A Secret recounts the inspiring true story of the dawn of Irish surfing and how the sport’s brave pioneers found peace in the surf during the most violent years of The Troubles conflict.
In 1972, every international sporting event in Ireland was cancelled, except for one. Teams from around the world were terrified to travel to Ireland amid the height of The Troubles, the conflict between Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland that had plunged the island into chaos and violence.
The only group of athletes bold enough to risk traveling in Ireland at this turbulent time were surfers. Surfers from around the globe descended upon the coastal village of Lahinch for the 1972 Eurosurf Championship, the largest surfing event in all of Europe and the competition that would put Irish surfing on the map. Here surfers from both sides of the divided island would forget about the civil strife and celebrate their shared love of the sport by riding Ireland’s majestic waves. Even surfers from England would defy their government’s intense pressure to boycott the event. For these surfers, there were no borders, only the endless freedom of the ocean.