EIS - The Giant's Causeway

Giant's Causeway

From the visitor center for the Giant's Causeway, you must either walk a mile down and around the corner to the sea or take one of the shuttles (which cost £1 each way).  We walked, and just below the visitor center is a group of rocks below the cliff which is called the camel hump, as you can see.

When we got to the bottom of the roadway, we went on the back side of the hill.  As you can see the basalt columns here are quite tall, about 25-30 feet high.

The Giants Causeway, in Northern Ireland, has remarkable geological features formed by volcanic activity and cooling lava.  The columnar basalt is a unique formation and the sea level location where the tops form a walkway, makes it an exceptional feature. 

It earned the title of the eighth wonder of the world.  First documented in 1693, the Causeway and cliffs of the Causeway coast have attracted thousands of visitors. 

The myth says that the famous Irish giant, Finn MacCool, built it.  Finn lived on the north coast of Ireland and had a rivalry with the giant, Benandonner, in Scotland.  The two had words across the sea boasting about their fighting ability and after Finn threw a rock as a challenge, Benandonner threw one back saying he could not swim.  Finn then tore slabs of volcanic rock from the land to pave a causeway.

Finn went across the causeway at night to fight Benandonner while he slept but saw how big he was.  The next morning Benandonner came running across the causeway to fight Finn.  Finn's wife dressed him in baby cloths and tucked him into bed.  

When Benandonner got to the house, Finn's wife said that he wasn't home and to not bother his baby since he was sleeping.  Benandonner saw how big "Finn's baby" was and imagined how big Finn really was and went running back to Scotland, tearing up the causeway as he went.

What is left of the causeway in Ireland is this section. 

From the end by the sea looking back towards the cliffs above the Causeway, you can see the length of the causeway.  Also, you can see the "hill" in the background and the drop off.

As we headed back up the road to go back to the coach, we took a picture of the hill.  You can see the size of the hill by the people climbing around.  The back side is a drop off as seen in the second picture above.

Just before rounding the corner and heading up the hill, we turned and looked back at the full length of the Causeway.  You can see the hill on the right and the end that goes into the sea.  In the far back, you can see the formation called the chimney.