Surfing in Ireland was once considered little more than a fringe & slightly lunatic pursuit. The treacherous coastline & ice waters of the Atlantic did not sit comfortably with the stereotype of surfing as the favoured pastime of the bronzed & privileged. But with the discovery in the past few years of the gargantuan Aileen`s wave at the Cliffs of Moher & other heavy waves, the Irish coast has become one of the worst kept secrets in world surfing. In ” Cliffs of Insanity”, the ” Irish Times” sportswriter Keith Duggan tells the story of a dedicated group of surfers in County Clare whose lives revolve around the pursuit of Ireland`s wildest waves. The book traces the evolution of Fergal Smith, the young Mayo man whose intuition for big waves has earned him a serious reputation & explores the world of Mickey Smith, the roving Cornish man who discovered Aileen`s & whose breathtaking surf photography has caught the Irish landscape in an entirely new & original light. Bitter cold days, broken bones, busted boards, scars, near drownings & countless hours in the freezing water trying to read the ocean is the price they pay for those few transcendent seconds when they master a wave. ” Cliffs of Insanity” is about the importance of pursuing what matters in life but it is also about community & friendship, & the passionate pursuit of a way of life that flies in the face of everything championed in Ireland over the last decade.