One day seven foals emerged from the caves and, frightened by the bright sunlight, they bolted. Galloping along the edge of the cliffs they met their awful fate at a spot known as Aill Na Searrach, or the “Leap of the Foals” in English. In protest at the arrival of Christianity and the loss of the magical rituals, the Tuatha turned themselves into horses and hid in caves for centuries. Closer to hand a great sea stack juts up beneath the cliffs and humpback whales frequently break the surface within sight of the cliffs.Like a viewing platform for primordial giants who wish to peer over the edge of Europe, the Cliffs of Moher provide an unrivalled view across the vast boiling wildness of the Atlantic Ocean, a world unchanged since the pre-Celtic masters of magic, the Tuatha D?anann ruled Ireland. Paddling in is like entering a scene from The Lord of the Rings, says McCarthy.

Off in the middle distance the three Aran islands lie low and black in the water like great basking sharks. Big-wave surfers who head out in sub-zero conditions cover themselves up in 6mm wetsuits, hoods and gloves, and have to combine the endurance of a mountaineer and the athleticism of a ballet dancer to survive the conditions.The setting for the Cliffs of Moher could not be more dramatic. And it has only been surfed about 10 times since.Bloggers and podcasts have done a lot to get the word out and now the west of Ireland is suddenly centre stage in the world of big-wave surfing. The weather is a bit different from Hawaii’s; the wind-chill factor in winter makes the sea unbelievably cold. In certain conditions – usually a deep depression far out in the Atlantic and an offshore south-easterly, the perfect wave will come in regular sets of seven for hours at a time. When Aileen’s arrives it is a most elusive phenomenon, beautiful to behold but with the capacity to kill or maim the unwary surfer.Big-wave surfers dream of catching giant waves, but it is only in the past six months that any have dared to attempt to surf Aileen’s. Now Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, enthusiastically lists Aill Na Searrach (or Aileen’s) as one of the world’s famous tow-in surf spots, along with Jaws in Maui, Teahupoo and the giant Belharra off the Basque Country.Within half an hour of showing me the wave, McCarthy, and his boyhood friend Dave Blount, will be charging out across the ocean on a jet ski with their special Hawaiian surfboards.

These are designed to be towed into enormous breakers at high speed – the surfer takes off just as the wave is cresting. Aileen’s, as the local surfers affectionately call this monster, is a new discovery and until last October had never been surfed. A similar, but larger barrel-shaped wave occurs off Tahiti called Teahupoo – the holy grail of big-wave surfers. Moving towards the cliff face, the lip of breaking water is suspended some 20-30 feet above the surface of the sea as it races forward. As it passes over a submerged reef, the wave suddenly jacks up, its leading edge curling into a perfectly rounded C – as though pushed upwards by a giant hand.
“That’s our wave; the most perfect wave you will find in Europe,” says McCarthy.