The Irish myth of the Giants Causeway

Ever planning to visit Ireland..don’t miss to watch out the infamous Giant Causeway.

Contents

What is it ?

The Giant’s Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalts columns.It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Northern Ireland. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea.

Formation

According to science scholars this structure has been formed due to the contracting and fracturing of molten lave as the consequence of volcanic eruption.

But there is also a very interesting myth poular regarding the formation of this Causeway.

The Legend

According to legend, the columns are the remains of a causeway built by Irish giant Finn Macool. Finn lived happily with his wife Oonagh on the North Antrium coast . But he was always challenged by the Scottish giant Benandonner.

In order to show their strengths they use to throw huge rocks at each other. Once finn took a huge clump of land and heaved it at his rival. But that land fell short of reaching the other side and instead became the Isle of Man. And the crater left got filled with water to become Lough Neagh.

Later on Benandonner demanded a face to face confrontation.  So the Irish giant started tossing boulders in the sea in order to make a bridge to reach the other end. But when he got on the other side and saw the Scottish giant approaching him , his courage faltered. The scottish giant was much bigger in size than him. He ran back to his side and nervously shared all his fears with Oonagh. His wife Oonagh came up with a plan. They needed to create an illusion of size. So while Benandonner was on the way, Oonagh stuffed Finn as an enormous baby in a huge cradle.

When Benandonner break into the house , Oonagh seated him and informed him that her husband wasn’t at home. Benandonner ate a piece of cake placed in front of him and shattered his teeth due to the metal inside the bread. To sow the seeds of doubt Oonagh said that this was the favourite dish of her husband.

Then came a cry of a baby from the craddle. As soon as Benandonner saw the hefty infant he was shuddered at the thought of thinking about kid’s father. He ran as fast as he could and on the way back tore all the rocks forming the causeway.

The conclusion

In this way what remains today are two identical rock formations- one at the North Antrim coast of Ireland and another at Fingal’s cave in Scotland right across the sea.

So on your trip to Ireland , make sure to be a witness to this Great legend of the Giant Causeway .

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