Giant’s Causeway

GIANTS Footsteps of in the Follow

The Giant’s Causeway in Co Antrim is a place that really needs to be seen to be believed.

The natural wonder is fl anked by the wild North Atlantic Ocean and a landscape of dramatic cliffs. For centuries, it has inspired artists, stirred scientifi c debate and captured the imagination of all those who gaze upon its treasures.

Along the Atlantic Ocean coast, thousands of basalt columns lay alongside and in the sea. Staring at these 40,000 hexagonal-shaped pillars, it seems impossible such symmetry, such design could occur naturally in nature. In fact, legend has it the Giant’s Causeway was the work of a mythical Irish hunter-warrior.

According to folklore, the columns are the remains of a causeway built by a giant – hence the name. The story goes that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (or Finn MacCool), from the Fenian Cycle of Gaelic mythology, was challenged to a fi ght by the Scottish giant Benandonner. Fionn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two giants could meet. In one version of the story, Fionn defeats Benandonner. In another, Fionn hides from Benandonner when he realises that his foe is much bigger than he is. Fionn’s wife, Oonagh, disguises Fionn as a baby and tucks him in a cradle.

In the second version, when Benandonner sees the size of the ‘baby’, he reckons that its father, Fionn, must be a giant among giants. He fl ees back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Fionn would be unable to chase him down. Across the sea, there are identical basalt columns at Fingal’s Cave on the Scottish isle of Staffa. It is possible that this take on the story of Fionn was infl uenced by this.

There is, however, a more scientifi c explanation for the natural wonder. Between 66 and 100 million years ago, there was the Cretaceous period. This was a time of signifi cant global tectonic change, resulting in the breakup of the supercontinents Gondwana and Laurasia and the formation of the Atlantic Ocean.

Around 50 to 60 million years ago, this rifting continued. Extensive fi ssures opened up in the earth’s crust, resembling those seen in Iceland or Hawaii today. They allowed highly fl uid molten basalt to intrude through the crust to form a massive lava plateau.

The Giant’s Causeway is comprised of these basalts. Successive lava fl ows erupted onto the surface, pooling in natural hollows in the landscape. The renowned hexagonal

pillars of the Causeway were then formed from the cooling of these immense pools of lava.

As they cooled, they lost heat to the atmosphere at their top, and to the colder country rock through their base. These cooling fronts moved towards each other to the centre as the lava solidifi ed. As it did, the resulting basalt contracted laterally and cracked into mostly fi ve and six-sided columns.

Nowadays, you can walk to the stones for free. However, the best way to experience The Giant’s Causeway is through The Giant’s Causeway Visitor Experience. Costing £11 for adults and £5.50 for children online, tickets include an offi cial guided tour, outdoor audio guides helping to explain how the Causeway was formed in 11 languages and an audio guide available for visually impaired visitors.

Guests, meanwhile, also have access to a grab and go café, local and unique gifts for sale in the on-site gift shop. a Tourist Information Centre, a Bureau de Change and three car parks.

For the month of February, The Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre is open from 9am to 5pm, with last admission one hour before closing. See www.nationaltrust.org.uk/giantscauseway for more details.