Spectacular rock columns built by 'giant' gracing the coast of Northern Ireland - Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast 369
What and Why
The Giant's Causeway is the northern coastline along Northern Ireland where more than 40,000 interlocking basalt rock columns were formed and lined, forming a spectacular vista. These rock columns were formed due volcanic eruption some 50 to 60 million years ago, during the Paleocene epoch, and underwent slow cooling under a very hot base, or technically the Rayleigh–Bénard convection, to form these characteristic columns, which is an indication of the rise and hardening of lava. These columns are known as the Bénard cells.
Due to all these physical conditions, all these column formed are highly regular in size and shape, mostly of hexagonal shapes, especially when the flow is slow, or non-turbulent in nature. Around the site, most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are quadrilateral, pentagonal, octagonal or other shapes due to different physical conditions. Some of these columns are as tall as 12 m. Similar features exist all over the world, including the WHS in the blogged Jeju (제주) and Yellowstone | Northern Loop, but the Giant's Causeway is definitely the most famous.
Other than the columns, there are many other interesting rock features formed as a result of the geological activities and weathering lying along the coastline. The site is an extraordinary testament to Earth's natural processes, offering insights into the geological history of the region.
Toponymy
The name of the site comes from the legend that the rock columns were created by a giant. The myth goes that the site was resided by a giant named Fionn Mac Cumhaill, commonly anglicised as Finn McCool. Amongst his many legends, Fionn was competing with the Scottish giant, Benandonner, on who was a stronger giant. Both of them were shouting at each other across the sea and threw rock columns into the sea to show their respective strength, causing storms and waves in the sea. The rock columns eventually became an incomplete walkway across the sea between Scotland and the island of Ireland (Irish: Éire). The corresponding Scottish island with these columns where Benandonner was residing is Staffa. Fionn then walked along the causeway to reach Scotland to fight Benandonner. As he arrived at the middle of the sea he reckoned that Benandonner was a much bigger giant, and hence he retreated and went to his wife Oonagh (anglicised as Oona) for help. Oonagh then hid Fionn in a cradle to disguise him as her baby. When Benandonner arrived, he saw the baby and was scared to see the size of the baby, suspecting that the father Fionn might be even of a more gigantic size. He also gave his finger for the 'baby' to bite and Fionn bit him with all his might. Scared of the prospect of meeting the baby's 'father' Fionn, Benandonner ran back towards Scotland, and smashing the causeway along the way so Fionn could not follow him. Only when he reached Scotland then he realised he had been fooled.
Giant's Causeway is under the administration of the town Bushmills, which is named after the River Bush that runs near it, with the word 'bush' simply meaning 'stream' in Irish. With the river around, a number of mills were built for corn, flax and whisky production and hence the name of the town.
See
From the Visitor Centre, the best thing to do is to join the official guided tour, and the informative guide will lead one all the way to visit the causeway, with his narration ending at the main causeway columns at the Aird Snout. Apparently all the guides are very humourous which makes the 45 minute walk very enjoyabl and worthwhile. One can also take the shuttle bus to reach the main column site at Aird Snout.
There are multiple hiking trails along the coastlines to explore different parts of the site. From the Visitor Centre, it takes a 1.5 hour to walk to the Amphitheatre, although the trail is quite easy.
Giant's Causeway
The official tour starts at the ultra-modern, award-winning Visitor Centre located at the Portnaboe Bay. The centre is a well-designed and curated museum, documenting the many facets of the site. Local festivals and cultures including traditional Irish music, dance, and storytelling are showcased. Definitely worth a visit.
The area is a haven for many birds and the bay hosts a rare tiny snail Vertigo angustior. The snail measures only 2 mm in size and is considered endangered.
Almost all the geological features are found at Port Ganny. Apparently the site produces a lot of kelp.
The above feature is called onion weathering or exfoliation which produces smooth spheroidal rock formations.
The most prominent rock feature on the left of the bay is the Camel's Hump, as pictured above, with a phallus looking indent beside it. The camel is called Humphrey as there are three humps (hump-three) and it is the pet camel that Fionn rode home for tea.
The columns also show different colours along the bay. These colours indicate the geological content of these rocks, including golden / reddish quartz and greyish granite. Granite is known to come from Scotland and hence it also indicates the drift of sediments around the region.
As one reaches the Aird Snout, this is the main photospot of the causeway, the wishing chair. This is a natural throne with a tall back of three basalt columns and arm rests. When making a wish, it must be kept secret, and as one makes your wish one must wiggle your bum clockwise three times! As you can imagine, that particular piece of stone has become very smooth.
The main site holds the largest number of honeycomb columns, and one can easily climb onto them and use them like a staircase. Coincidentally the size of the column is slightly larger than a typical staircase step, so it was an easy climb for everyone.
This is also where Fionn was supposed to start his journey to Scotland.
Fionn's starting point, which looks like a honeycomb gameboard.
A panoramic view from the main causeway.
From the main causeway one can walk past a gate-like feature known as the Giant's Gate.
Many people, like us, will take a picture with the Giant's Loom. This is where the tallest columns are featured.
Passing the gate is the Noffer's Bay where one can see from afar the Giant's Organ, as below.
There is also a boot-like rock on the beach. Legend has it that this is Fionn's boot he left behind when he was running away from Benandonner. Apparently the boot is of size 93, extrapolating it suggests Fionn was at least 16 m tall!
The end of the bay is called the Amphitheatre. While it sounds like there is something prominent there, there is really nothing interesting to see. This marks also the end of the coastal trail.
Old Bushmills Distillery
In the town of Bushmills, one can visit the oldest licensed whisky distillery in the world, the Old Bushmills Distillery. It is actually an extremely popular tourist attraction. The distillery belongs to the whisky giant Diageo.
Buy and Do
There is a heritage narrow-gauge railway connexion between the Giant's Causeway to Bushmills, called the Giant's Causeway and Bushmills Railway, which was constructed for the purpose of malt and flax transportation in the area. The line is merely 3 km long and is now a tourist attraction only.
Eat and Drink
Bushmills Irish whiskey
From the distillery, get a bottle of the local Bushmills Irish Whiskey. It has to be warned that this blend is an acquired taste though. A small note is that whisky is spelt 'whiskey' in Irish.
Stay
We stayed in Holiday Inn Express Belfast City in Belfast. Clean, breakfast included and good value for money with a car park. No complaints.
Travel Suggestions and Logistics
We came from Belfast, which is the main transportation hub of the region. From Belfast it takes around 1.5 hours to reach the Giant's Causeway. There are many local tours or buses from Belfast to the site as well. If one joins the official guided tour, the fee is GBP £25 per person.
Technically it is free of charge to visit the Giant's Causeway, if one does not intend to join the guided tour or visit the Visitor Centre. However one will not be allowed to park the car at the car park, and the nearest legal car park is at least a few kilometres away at Bushmills town. There is hardly anything interesting to see in Bushmills, other than the distillery.
The site is an excellent day-trip away from Belfast.
Clearly one should spend some time in Belfast and use the city as a hub to travel around the island of Ireland, including visits to Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath). Along the way we can visit another WHS in the blogged Donore (Dún Uabhair). One can plan a proper week-long holiday with this itinerary.
By the way local road travels between Northern Ireland and Ireland is visa-free under the Common Travel Area (CTA) agreeement. There are no border controls between the two countries and one will not observe anything along the road to differentiate the two countries, except the subtle change from miles to kilometres when one crosses the invisible border.
UNESCO Inscription
The Giant's Causeway lies at the foot of the basalt cliffs along the sea coast on the edge of the Antrim plateau in Northern Ireland. It is made up of some 40,000 massive black basalt columns sticking out of the sea. The dramatic sight has inspired legends of giants striding over the sea to Scotland. Geological studies of these formations over the last 300 years have greatly contributed to the development of the earth sciences, and show that this striking landscape was caused by volcanic activity during the Tertiary, some 50–60 million years ago.
References
Comments
Please share your thoughts and comments about the blog. If you need suggestions to build a travel itinerary, please let me know. More than willing to help. I would also like to build a bespoke-in-depth travel community around UNESCO WHS and ICH.
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