PHOTO COMP 2023 | BUACÁN
'A wave that hits a cliff and bounces back out again'
In the Irish language, there are hundreds of unique words that describe all things to do with the sea. Among them are words that describe types of waves in the ocean. These words have been used on the islands off the coast of Ireland for hundreds, probably thousands of years and have been dying out over time.
In the 1960's and 70's, Cormac Gillespie travelled around the islands off Donegal meeting old fishermen and collecting these words before they were lost.
One of the words he collected 'BUACÁN', from Inis Bó Finne off the coast of North West Donegal has a remarkably similar meaning to a word that surfers use to describe a particular type of wave effect.
This and other words collected by Cormac were featured in Manchan Magan's book 'Sea Tamagotchi'.
The theme of this year’s photo competition aims to highlight the connection between users of the sea who create their own intricate analytical language to describe its characteristics.
WINNER: KEVIN DOYLE
photo competition
Kevin Doyle
Runner ups
(A-Z)
OFFICIAL SELECTION
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The Irish Surf Film Festival showcases the immense talent that is on offer both in terms of wave riding and the documenting of wave riding in Ireland.
