At the Giant's Causeway, Everything is a Story

If you've never heard of it, The Giant's Causeway is a geological feature in Northern Ireland consisting of several hexagonal rock formations that were formed by volcanic activity thousands of years ago. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a National Nature Reserve of the UK, and I'm making it sound tremendously boring when it is anything but.

In actuality, the Causeway is absolutely stunning in its natural beauty, and despite the crowds of tourists clambering all over it, it remains incredibly distinct amidst the other cliffs of the Emerald Isle. Now, these times of columns are not entirely unique per se, with similar formations in Mexico, Russia, and China, just to name a few places. However, the Causeway is most definitely unique in its cultural background and history.

I love fables and fairy tales. There's something about the method of storytelling that speaks to a rich oral history, with families handing down the legends of their country to the younger generations verbally, until finally one day someone took the time to write it all down. The written version reads conversationally, like someone is speaking it in your ear when you read it. It's a sensation I've tried to replicate before in some of my own stories, with varying degrees of success.

There's just something wonderfully magical about people making up stories to explain their extraordinary surroundings. It suggests a wonderful depth of imagination that is often lacking from our own modern, cynical age.

The legend surrounding the Giant's Causeway is a charming one. Very simply, it tells of a feud between two giants, one Irish - Finn MacCool (Fionn Mac Cumhaill), and one Scottish - Benandonner. One day, Benandonner challenged the braggart Finn to a fight, and, with Finn's acceptance, Finn took it upon himself to bridge the gap between Ireland and Scotland with a huge causeway. However, when Finn caught a glimpse of Benandonner coming down the causeway, he realized the Scottish giant was much larger and fled for his home. Once there, Finn asked his wife to hide him, and she did just that...by dressing Finn as a baby and placing him in their crib. When Benandonner arrived at the home looking for Finn, he instead saw the "baby" and said "If that's the size of the baby, imagine the size of the father!" With that proclamation, he fled back to Scotland and - just to be sure - tore the Causeway up behind him.

That explains the causeway. But the Irish take it even further, and have named several of the notable features in the area to reflect more aspects of the story.

There's the Giant's Boot, left behind by Benandonner as he fled:

Pictured here with the Giant Goof.

The Camel (in centre of frame), which Finn used to help him in his chores:

The Pipe Organ, which some people say you can still hear on Christmas Day if you wake up first thing in the morning and head straight to the Causeway (pictured from a distance and then up close):

The Chimney Stacks, which sadly you can't get close to at the moment because the trail is closed due to weathering (pictured here at top right):

And there's so many more features of note: the giant's gate, the windy gap (which really is TREMENDOUSLY windy) the onion skins...the list goes on. The best part? They actually LOOK like the things they're meant to represent in the story context (at least in my opinion). The more I looked around myself, the more I found myself feeling caught up in the magic of it all. It sounds silly, I know, but there's something to be said for childlike imagination.

And now, some stray thoughts...

Room of Note:

This is where I stayed in Belfast. It was pretty much the coolest.

Wildlife:

So I feel like the birds in the UK are way more prone to flying off (except gulls and pigeons. Yay) and this is the closest I've got to one in the "wild." Don't know what he is, but there you have it. The wildlife is out there!

Pro-Tip for Day Tours (recycled to emphasize a point):

I mentioned before that you should bring cash, and mentioned that the day tour to the Cliffs of Moher wasn't an issue. This one was a huge issue. We made stops at Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Bushmills Distillery, and of course the Giant's Causeway itself. All of these were paid admission, and some were cash only. Luckily, I had fair amount on me and had packed a lunch, so I was able to afford everything without issue. Also...it is risky to attempt a tour at Bushmills when you're ostensibly supposed to use the break on the day tour to grab food, but it is totally worth it.