The Giant's Causeway
It
is thought that the Giant's Causeway was formed some 60 million years
ago. As a result of a series of underground volcanic eruptions a vast
amount of molten basalt was pushed through the surface. As it cooled, the
basalt shrank and cracked into the 37,000 largely hexagonal columns that
are found today, extending from the cliffs right into the sea. It is such
a weird and wonderful place that it is the stuff of many legends, the
most common of which tells of the giant warrior, Finn MacCool, who laid
the causeway across the sea to the Isle of Staffa in Scotland, where his
lover lived. Today it is the only UNESCO World Heritage site in Northern
Ireland and attracts a great many visitors.
The Causeway
coast is a fascinating area in its own right, with spectacular caves to
be visited, some on foot and some by boat, ruined castles, and lovely
sandy bays. The thirteenth-century Dunluce Castle is perched on a rock
that is connected to the mainland by a bridge that spans the yawning
chasm down to the sea.
Dunseverick
Castle is an even earlier fortification lying to the east of the Giant's
Causeway, and further east still you can find the sixteenth-century
Kinbane Castle. Rathlin Island lies five miles off Ballycastle and can be
reached daily by boat in the summer. Its main interest lies in Bruce's
Cave, where, in 1306, Robert Bruce, king of Scotland, was inspired by a
spider to win back his kingdom.
