The Giant's Causeway

Take your mind back to the third century A.D. It’s probably a little difficult to remember, but try. You live near the coast of northeast Ireland, in what is now known as County Antrim. It is a land of verdant hills and bogs. The weather is rainy and grey more times than not, and wind blows feverishly in the winter. The trees are sturdy and strong. The cattle are large, strong, and stubborn. The terrain, weather, and livestock often require some battling. You must also possess some of these traits to survive here.

Consider what you think if you stumbled upon steep embankment and found a river of rocks separating the land from the sea? What’s more, what would you think if you ventured down to that river of rocks only to find that its waves were frozen in time in the shape of tall solid columns – both long and narrow… columns that each had five or six sides… columns that locked together into what looks like a huge stone honeycomb sprawling into and out of the sea?

Today, we know that this wonder, known as the Giant’s Causeway, is made up of basalt (solidified lava) that cooled and cracked over a period of two million years, forming columns of interlocking stone. But what might you think if you were here over 1,000 years ago? You might come up with the creation myth below. This version of the folktale of Finn MacCool comes from the National Trust of Northern Ireland.

Legend tells of Finn MacCool (Finn mac Cumaill) wanting to do battle with a rival giant in Scotland, known as Benandonner. The two giants had never met, so Finn built enormous stepping stones across the sea so that the Scottish giant could cross to Ireland to face the challenge. However, when Finn saw the great bulk Benandonner approaching, he fled home in fear and asked his wife, Oonagh, to hide him.

Oonagh disguised Finn as a baby, and put him in a gigantic cradle. When Benandoner saw the size of the infant in the cradle, he assumed that the father must be even more gigantic than he. Benandoner fled home in terror, ripping up the Causeway in case he should follow.

This is the reason that the Giant’s Causeway exists in north Antrim, along with similarly shaped columns of stone at Fingal’s Cave on the Scottish island of Staffa to the north. These are the two surviving ends of the Causeway built by Finn MacCool.

This legend entertains us today and provides insight into ancient Irish beliefs and imagination. The name Finn is etched into place-names throughout Ireland and Scotland, and in the surnames of people around the world.