The Giant's Causeway

I had visited the Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim during my childhood in Northern Ireland. I clearly remember being enthralled by its strange and magical shapes, so on a return trip almost fifty years later, it became first on my list of things to revisit.

The Causeway
is renowned for its polygonal columns of
layered basalt, the result of a volcanic eruption 60 million years ago. Lava welling up through fissures in the chalk bed and quickly cooling formed the famous amphitheatres of hexagonal columns in the Causeway.

Today, the Giant’s Causeway is UNESCO’s only World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland and it is managed by the National Trust. A very special memory for me: my sister on one side, my husband on the other, and the North Atlantic crashing loudly into the rocks around us! This is a moment in time I will hold in my heart forever.

(Photo by Troy Bell)

Of course, this is Ireland we’re talking about, and science is not the only possible explanation for this curious landscape! Legend has it that the giant Finn McCool lived on these shores many years ago, and repeatedly tossed insults across the sea with another giant called Benendonner. One day Finn decided to go to Scotland and destroy the foul-mouthed Scot once and for all. He tossed huge columns of stone into the water to build a Causeway, (which also appears on the coast of Scotland). In this way, Finn approached his opponent quietly…and then just as quietly, turned and rushed home once he saw that the other giant was so much bigger than him.

Finn MacCool

Benandonner noticed the Causeway and, in turn, decided to go to Ireland to take care of his haughty opponent. When Finn saw him approaching he was terrified, but his wife Oonagh had a brilliant idea. She dressed Finn as a baby and put him down as if to sleep. When Benandonner arrived and declared his intentions, Oonagh asked him to wait around until Finn returned from a supposed hunting trip. In the meantime she asked him to help her feed “the baby”. When Benandonner saw the size of “the baby” he was terrified as he wondered how big the father would be. He therefore excused himself and in horror hurried back to Scotland tearing up the Causeway on the way to ensure his safety. Henceforth the two giants lived happily ever after in their respective lands and never again hurled abuse at each other.

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Believe whichever story you wish, but should you get to Northern Ireland, I guarantee you too, will fall under the enchantment of the Giant's Causeway!

I'm linking this post to Watery Wednesday! For more photos that are damp, doused and drenched check out the link

below.

http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/