Last Friday we left off at the beginning of the actual Giant’s Causeway. It dawns on me that maybe people don’t know the story about the Giant’s Causeway. Why is a collection of the most unique looking rocks extending into the Atlantic Ocean called the Giant’s Causeway? Don’t worry I’ll feed you baby birds!
The making of the Giant’s Causeway
The Giant’s Causeway formed just under 60 million years ago, and at that time Ireland was still attached to North America. Europe was starting to rip away from North America, and as it did so it created huge rifts in the earth’s surface. Those rifts produced cracks, and up through those cracks came lots of molten rock and lava.
Much later, erosion then caused rivers to form in the basalt. Then more lava came, which flowed through the river valleys. In this river valley, the Giant’s Causeway we think of today was formed.
Why is it called the Giant’s Causeway?
A giant legend
Legend has it that an Irish giant named Finn McCool created a causeway to get across the Irish Sea to face his rival, the Scottish giant Benandonner.Following their fearsome meeting, Benandonner ripped up the causeway as he fled back to Scotland, leaving what you see here today.
Finn McCool’s giant boot also lies fossilised at the Giant’s Causeway in the bay locals refer to as ‘Port Noffer’ or ‘bay of the giant.’
Built for love
However, a little-known fable provides an alternative version of the story. This lesser-known story was told by Causeway guides in the 1700s and early 1800s – of Finn building the Causeway for love rather than battle.A poem found in a library in Norway by Eva Hov recounted the tale they told. Written in 1830 by Mary Anne, the poem gives the version of events told by the Causeway guides.
‘Finn had fallen in love with a Scottish maiden. Sad that he couldn’t reach her, he walked along the shore, skimming stones out across the sea. Seeing the splash they made, Finn suddenly hit upon a plan – he would build a Causeway in order to see his love.
Finn laboured all day, and made good progress in his task, extending the Causeway nearly halfway across the sea. Tired, he went home to rest, confident he would finish the job the next day. But sadly his grandmother had other ideas.
Afraid of losing him forever to Scotland, she used her magic to call up an enormous storm. The waves and wind lashed the partly-built Causeway and the rocks were torn apart. Finn awoke the next day to see his handiwork had disappeared.
Undaunted, he began to build a new Causeway. Once more the stones stretched out into the ocean, but that very night his work was destroyed. Finn tried again and again: the harder he laboured, the more violent the storms. Worn out, he made one last attempt, building on through the night.
The storms rose up around Finn, tearing at him with thunder and lightning, while wild waves beat at every rock he tried to lift. At last he reached the other side, but the trial was too much, even for a giant. Exhausted, he fell down and died in the arms of his beloved.
Behind him the Causeway he had built slipped below the waves for a final time. A mighty thunderclap sounded and Finn’s Granny climbed to the top of a hill to see what had happened. Horrified by what her magic had done, she turned to stone. She stands there to this day.’– Mary Anne, 1830
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/northern-ireland/giants-causeway/history-of-giants-causeway
Here are some more pictures of the beautiful basalt columns known as the Giant’s Causeway:
These are called the Organ Pipes.
There are still plenty more pictures from the Giant’s Causeway to share and even more pictures from Day 2 to share!