Street · Dublin
Why Does Rafferty Doyle Fall Before Every Trick?
The skater who hits the ground on purpose was asked to land one clean without it. Nine minutes on a car park roof followed.
By Beatrix Callender · Saturday, 31 October 2026 · 1 min read
Rafferty Doyle hits the tarmac on the top deck of a car park off Pearse Street at 9:40 on Saturday morning. Hip first, board skittering away. He gets up and lands a kickflip down four steps.
I ask what he has dodged for three years. Why fall first?
"Warming up."
Warming up what?
"The trick."
So I ask for one without the fall. He rolls up, stops, rolls back. Nine minutes of this. A gull watches. Then he goes, and it is perfect.
He says nothing. He picks up the board and looks at it.
"That one doesn't feel like mine."
Then he lies down on the ground and tries again.