GREAT OUTDOORS:Big-wave surfer Al Mennie has travelled the world looking for the biggest and best waves - and he found them off the west coast of Ireland, writes FIONOLA MEREDITH

ALISTAIR MENNIE is the Finn McCool of Irish big-wave surfing. Tall, powerfully-built, with a shock of ginger hair and a bone-crushing handshake, the 29-year-old Co Antrim man is driven by his passion to seek out the biggest, darkest, most brutal waves around. In the depths of winter, when most people are huddled up inside against the bitter cold, Mennie sets off into the harsh waters off the west coast of Ireland in search of these 30- and 40-ft monster waves - and all for the thrill of speeding down them, narrowly avoiding being eaten alive in their massive jaws. It's the most extreme and lonely test of a surfer's courage and skill, far away from the blaring horns of mainstream surfing contests.

Although he's a big man, Mennie looks tiny and vulnerable on his board as he races ahead of the surf. It is, he confesses, utterly terrifying. "Often I'm frozen with fear rather than the cold. But you can't deny the fear, it's part of the experience," says Mennie. "Sometimes you're full of butterflies, you're shaking, you have to coax yourself to do it. It's like going to the top diving board and looking over: if you take too long about it, you're not going to do it. And there are so many factors against you - the wind, the cold - it puts you on the back foot. But I go ahead in defiance of all that."

Mennie describes the feeling of having conquered a wave as "a mix of excitement and relief" that comes from "being so close to disaster but riding out of it and into safety. That's what keeps me hooked."

As he describes in his new, self-published book, Surfing Mennie Waves, the defining moment in his passion for big waves was a conversation he had with his father the day before he died in 2003, when Mennie was 22. Having won surfing competitions in Ireland and England, including the British University Student Championships, Mennie was considering whether to travel to the US, in search of bigger and fiercer waves. His sights were set on Mavericks, a surfing location just north of Half Moon Bay in northern California, where one of the heaviest cold-water waves on the planet can be found. "Dad told me to go for it," says Mennie, "and that gave me the impetus, the drive. I knew I had his blessing to surf one of the most deadly places on Earth. He thought I had it in me, that I was capable."

Mennie's tussle with Mavericks proved decisive, despite a close encounter with a shark, and the taunts of American surfers, who were surprised at the novelty of a 6'5" ginger Irishman in the water. "My fire was fully raging," he says, "and I was fuelled by that to find the same kind of waves back home in Ireland." Mennie had noticed the bathymetric and geographical similarities between top international big-wave spots and the unsurfed waters off the Irish north and west coast. So he borrowed money, bought a boat and, using nautical survey charts, set off to mark out the offshore reefs where, given the right conditions, these almost mythical giant waves might come alive.

Duncan Scott, chair of the British Tow Surfing Association, says that "driven only by self-determination, Alistair headed out . . . leapt overboard and paddled into many of these spots alone, and to date remains the only surfer to have surfed several potentially world-class breaks far off the beaten surfing track".

Some of the waves he found were so mighty - 30ft and more - that Mennie couldn't physically paddle in. Instead, he had to get a partner on a jet ski to tow him on a rope and catapult, or "whip" him into the maw of the wave. "Surfing is normally a solitary pursuit, but this is about teamwork," Mennie says, paying tribute to his surfing partner Andrew Cotton. It was a technique that served Mennie well when he took part in a ground-breaking Aileens surfing session on September 30th, 2006, riding vast waves generated by Hurricane Katrina under the Cliffs of Moher in Co Clare. But his real international breakthrough came on December 1st, 2007, when he surfed the biggest swell ever recorded in Irish waters. On that day, he rode a 60ft wave off Mullaghmore Head in Co Sligo. It was a moment he will never forget.

"There was no doubt that the wave coming was a monster. It was coming out of a black ocean beneath a lightning-forked angry sky. It had my name on it. I remember tilting my head back and closing my eyes momentarily and thinking of my dad before focusing on the wave. It stood like a six-storey office block. As I got to about half-way down it, it just lurched on the reef and grew massively above me. I thought I was a goner. It tried to suck me up the face with it and I felt like I wasn't going to be able to make the rest of the drop . . . I tightened down into a low crouch and took the rock boils at high speed, and I made it out without falling. I couldn't calm down, I was ecstatic, screaming like a girl."

After that day, says Mennie, it was clear that Ireland had become "the new Hawaii of big-wave surfing", and that the international big-wave surfing map had been redrawn.

There are moments, though, when the sheer riskiness of big-wave surfing is impossible to ignore, even though Mennie kits out in a heavy duty wetsuit, a helmet and two impact vests.

Last winter, he fell on a 40-foot wave at Mullaghmore. "I fell in the worst place possible, and the violence under the wave is unbelievable. You are so rag-dolled, you feel like your limbs are being pulled off. It's like being whipped round by King Kong. The guy who towed me in couldn't get there in time, and I couldn't surface properly. My helmet was cracked in two, and I suffered concussion."

Still, he says, "it just makes you want to go back for more. I rode another two that day."

It sounds like pure foolishness. But Mennie is no adrenalin junkie; rather, he seems like a man unusually at peace with himself. His mother and girlfriend might worry themselves witless about him, but he's doing the thing he loves best. "Big-wave surfing?" he says, "It's who I am."

Surfing Mennie Waves (€14.95) is out now, almennie.com

Big Al's best surf spots

LOCAL

1 Causeway Coast, Co AntrimThere are so many great beaches here suitable for all abilities. The beaches from Portstewart along to White Rocks produce great waves all year round, with no crowd problems. Most of the beaches have parking, toilet facilities and lifeguard services in summer.

2 Bundoran, Co DonegalBundoran has a great variety of surf spots along a very short stretch of coastline to suit all levels and abilities. A couple of spots have lifeguards, parking and facilities but many of them do not. The surf can get crowded, though.

3 Lahinch, Co ClareA great beach for beginners, right in the centre of town. A variety of breaks nearby suit different levels of ability. Some spots can get crowded.

4 Co CorkCork has a large population of surfers and there are numerous surf spots around this area, from beaches to newly discovered offshore spots. A city near the beach means crowds in the water but with so many surf spots to choose from, there is always somewhere to sneak away to for a solo session.

5 Tramore, Co WaterfordDespite facing into the prevailing winds, which reduces the number of good days a year, this area has some great waves, from river-mouth breaks to reefs and beaches. It is home to one of the biggest surf clubs in Ireland and has a great beach for learning on.

GLOBAL

1 IrelandYes, it is at the top of the list and no, I'm not biased. I have travelled the world chasing surf to all the apparent best spots on the globe and I still come home content that Ireland has the best waves on the planet. We don't have hassle with crowds in the water, we have rural settings for most of our breaks and the coasts are unspoiled.

2 South AfricaSouth Africa gets the rawness of the Atlantic complemented by the perfection of the Indian Ocean, with warm and cold water in different areas.

3 PortugalThe coast here is dusty and rugged and around every sand-coloured headland lies another unspoilt bay or cove. It is great to go there in a van and drive up the coast from Sagres towards Lisbon, exploring the fisherman's tracks to the cliffs and finding deserted spots to camp and surf.

4 CaliforniaLots of the greatest surfers in the world have come from this state. In the Santa Cruz/San Francisco area the road runs close to the coast and there is a rugged feel to it. Further south around San Diego and San Clemente there is definitely a more city feel to the surf.

5 MadeiraMost people know Madeira for its tranquil environment. This, though, is a serious surf spot in winter. It is surrounded by extremely deep water, which allows big open ocean swell to plough into the island and create huge perfect waves.