27 Oct The Giants Causeway
Ireland’s most celebrated natural landmark is without doubt the Giant’s Causeway, situated on the North Antrim coast in Ulster. Not to be missed on any Ireland tours.
Truly the stuff of which legends are made, this unique geological feature was named so because the ancient Irish were convinced that it was the work of, if not ordinary man, a form of superman, due to its geometrical regularity.
Their tales told that it was the handiwork of the legendary giant-king Fionn MacCumhail (anglicised as Finn MacCool) and in true Irish fashion, the story is a romantic one. The fellow was so enamored of a lady who lived in the Hebrides Islands off the Scottish coast that, the story goes, he laid the stones as a walkway over which to cross the sea to her. The legend is borne out by the fact that a similar formation rises out of the sea on Staffa, the island where his lover had her home.
it was in fact the product of volcanic action some 60 million years ago. Molten basalt flowed over chalk bedrock, crystallising as it did so into a huge number of mainly hexagonal columns spread along the coast for a distance of some five miles.
Many of the formations have fanciful names such as the Giant’s Organ and the Lady’s Fan. Quite why no-one knows.
Come and see it on tours of Ireland and Belfast tours with Ireland Luxury Tours.
If your cruise ship is in Belfast we can make a very special tour of the North coast suit your time in port.
