Mullaghmore Head Alert Guide

County Sligo, Ireland · part of the Mullaghmore Head spot guide

Mullaghmore is forecast-only — no buoy within roughly 240 km, with the M4 buoy as an offshore sentinel — so this is a model-swell alert. The height below is an open-ocean reading; the ledge jacks it into a face several times larger. This is an extreme-consequence, expert-only, rescue-supported wave.

The forecaster's checklist

1. 1.Look for a deep Iceland Low or North Atlantic depression with a long west-to-northwest fetch at Donegal Bay and give it a couple of days.
2. 2.Need big and long-period together — roughly a 13-to-20-foot open-ocean height at 15-to-20 seconds from about 280–310°; period matters as much as height.
3. 3.Use the M4 buoy offshore as ground-truth for rising height and long period.
4. 4.Want a southeast or easterly offshore, or a light-wind lull behind the front — the peak often comes as the low pulls away and the wind backs offshore.
5. 5.This is extreme-consequence, expert-only, rescue-supported terrain — a jet-ski tow, impact vest and organised safety are effectively mandatory on the big days.

Local winds & tide

Best wind: SE–E offshore (or a lull behind the front) — from 90° to 180° (E–S).

A shallow slab that is tide-influenced rather than tide-locked; sources conflict, so treat tide as a check-on-the-day factor, not a fixed gate.

Dial it in