GIANT’S
CAUSEWAY
North Ireland’s Famous Tourist Spot and The Giant’s Wife
The pillars
of basalt rock on Ireland’s northernmost
coast have been fascinating visitors and attracting tourists since the
1700s. The Irish Isle’s most recognized natural attraction was
named a World Heritage site in 1986. Someone counted the hexagonal columns
of uneven height as numbering 38,000, stretching like stepping stones
along the coastline of
north Antrim County. Officially formed by the cooling and contraction
of a volcanic rock pool
60 million
years
ago,
the Giant’s
Causeway gets its name from the mythic legend of Finn MacCool, Ireland’s
version of Paul Bunyan or Robin Hood. MacCool was a giant with a macho
ego married to a woman with a good deal more sense than he. He could
see the shoreline of his enemy giant, Banandonner, in Scotland across
the sea and built a causeway across the water to take him on, only to
discover that the Scottish giant was much larger than his distant view
had suggested. Finn McCool ran home to his wife, Oonagh, beside himself
what to do. His clever wife had the idea to disguise her husband as a
baby and put him in a hastily made cradle. When Benandonner came a-pounding
on the door, she invited him in for tea. On seeing how large was the
infant, and imaging how large a giant the father must be, the Scottish
Giant now ran home and ripped up the causeway after himself, to keep
Finn MacCool from following him.
The Visitors center
of the Giant’s Causeway is located about 2
miles from the village of Bushmills. Access to the causeway is free,
but parking at the visitor center lot is £6. There is other legal
parking along some of the country roads, but check carefully for signs
and the walk is farther. The Visitor's Center has been refurbished with a 12 minute film,
presented in 5 languages, tells the story of the causeway and the surrounding
Antrim coastal area, including some of its other attractions. The Causeway
Coast consists of 15 miles of trails over about 5 miles of coastline.
From the visitor’s center a shuttle bus service runs to the Grand
Causeway every 15 minutes for £2 round trip. Or you can walk the
sloping path a half mile down to the Grand Causeway rocks.
There are several
distinctive features of the causeway in three major sections, Grand,
Middle and Little Causeways. The stovepipe hexagons
with the “wishing chair” are located in the middle causeway.
The “camel” is to the west, the “Granny on the Sookans’ is
in the Grand Causeway on the point nearest the visitor center, the “Chimney
Tops” are on the headlands to the east of the stones, the “Giant’s
Boot” is just to the west in the Port Noffer cove and “the
Organ” is a wall of the hexagon stone on the cliff above. The causeway
coast path walking trail takes you both above and below. Walking out
on the causeway stones takes some sensibility. The dark stones are always
in reach of waves and should be avoided. The lighter stones in calm weather
can be explored in fair weather, but are still slippery and watch for
rocks occasionally falling from the cliffs. Guided walking tours are
available for £2 offered in groups.
The Giant’s Causeway
can be a stop along the Coastal Causeway Route, the coast road which
follows the rugged
Northern Ireland coastline all the way from Belfast to Lough Foyle at
Londonderry. The route passes the green Irish glens of Antrim, rugged
cliffs and a few castles. A visit to the Giant’s Causeway can be
combined with a tour of the Old Bushmills Distillery in the village of
Bushmills (see Old
Bushmills Whiskey Tour) and the Carrick-a-Rede Rope
Bridge is a short distance down the coast (see Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge). The
Causeway Heritage Railway makes a run from Bushmills village to the parking lot.
Where to Stay
The Causeway Hotel is located directly next to
the visitor’s center, built in 1836, the
hotel has been hosting tourists to the causeway since the Victorian Age,
though a little past its glory days. The Smugglers Inn overlooks the
causeway with 12 rooms, some with Atlantic views, a little touristy.
In Bushmills, the upscale Bushmills Inn Hotel offers a bit of history,
with a turf
fired kitchen
and a Victorian
Bar still lit by gaslight. All around the rolling hills near the coast
can be found numerous guest houses, many of them modern homes, and self-catering
cottages. But wherever you decide to stay, be sure and ask the wife if
she’s got any ideas. © Bargain
Travel Europe
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Causeway
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SEE ALSO:
ST. COLUMB'S CATHEDRAL - DERRY
TOWER MUSEUM DERRY - THE SPANISH ARMADA
25 FREE THINGS TO DO IN IRELAND
LONDONDERRY
ARMS HOTEL – CARNLOUGH
