Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast

• Official name: Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast
• Location: Northern Ireland
• Type: natural
• Year of inscription: 1986

The Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast is an area where thousands of rock columns interlock along 4 miles (6 kilometers) on the northern coast of Northern Ireland. It is a protected historical and geological landmark and one of the most popular attractions in Northern Ireland. The Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast was named a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 1986, and the area is protected by the National Trust.

The Giant’s Causeway is a rock formation along the Causeway Coast. It is comprised of more than forty thousand rock columns, which are polygons with five to eight sides that fit together to form what looks like a beehive pattern. The tallest columns are made of basalt, which is a type of igneous rock, and roughly 40 feet (12 meters) tall.

The rock formation looks like human-made stone pavement. The causeway’s unique appearance has also inspired myths, such as one about a giant mythical creature named Finn MacCool. The geologic formation, which scientists believe was formed by cooling volcanic rock, has attracted visitors for at least three hundred years.

The Causeway Coast has numerous other rock formations that attract visitors. One of the most popular is the Grand Causeway, which is the largest of the three parts comprising the Giant’s Causeway. The other two are the Giant’s Boot, a large rock that looks like an enormous boot, and the Wishing Chair, a basalt formation resembling a throne or a chair. The Causeway Coast also has clifftop trails from which visitors can view the Giant’s Causeway and other rock formations.

Although the Causeway Coast is protected because of its unique geological formations, the area is also safeguarded because of its rich biodiversity. The area’s clifftop vegetation is specifically protected because it is unique to the area. Plants, such as white sea campion and sea spleenwort, grow in the Causeway Coast. Numerous other species, such as wildflowers and ferns, also grow along the coast. Large trees do not grow along the Causeway Coast because of its harsh conditions. However, small ash, blackthorn, and hazel trees thrive there. The coast is also known as a haven for some types of seabirds, such as the kittiwake, guillemot, and fulmar. Tide pools form in numerous rocky areas along the coast and are home to seaweed, shrimp, and sea anemones. Whales, porpoises, and sharks are common in the waters along the coast.

History

The Giant’s Causeway formed roughly 60 million years ago during the Paleogene period. During that time, the area that is now Northern Ireland experienced a great deal of volcanic activity. The ancient continent of Laurasia began to break apart then, causing volcanic activity in the Atlantic Ocean. Numerous volcanic eruptions created large pools of lava that cooled slowly and formed rocks. Volcanic activity stopped for a time, and the igneous rock that formed from the lava weathered and eroded. Trees began to grow, and wide valleys developed in the area. Volcanic activity started again, and the large valleys filled with lava. The area that is now the Giant’s Causeway became a huge pool of lava.

Lava cools slowly, and as it cools and contracts, it usually cracks. The properties of the lava and the conditions while it cools influence the cracking. In the Giant’s Causeway, the cracking at the top followed the path of least resistance and cracked all the way down, creating individual columns or pillars. The result was the polygonal structure of the rocks. Eventually, the seawater exposed the basalt columns. This formation has remained for millions of years.

Humans most likely visited the eye-catching geological formation for as long as people lived in the area. People who first saw the unique formation tried to explain its existence using myths and other stories. In the most common myth explaining the formation is one of the most common figures in Celtic mythology, Finn MacCool. Many Celtic myths tell about Finn’s heroism as the leader of the Fianna Éireann, a group of warriors who protected Ireland. Multiple myths about Finn and the causeway exist, but the most famous is about Finn’s rivalry with a giant from Scotland, a country that is visible from the causeway. According to the myth, Benandonner was a giant living in Scotland at the time when Finn was protecting Ireland. Benandonner and Finn did not like each other, and Finn challenged Benandonner to a fight. Finn laid down the stones on the causeway to reach Benandonner in Scotland. However, when Finn reached Scotland, he saw that Benandonner was much larger and stronger. Finn again crossed the causeway to retreat to his home in Ireland, but still looking for a fight, Benandonner followed Finn back to Ireland. Finn’s wife disguised him as a baby and deceived the giant. She scared the giant into leaving by asking him to envision Finn’s size and strength because his baby was already huge. Benandonner was fooled by the couple and went back to his home.

According to another myth, Finn built the causeway from stones to reach a woman living on Staffa, an island off of Scotland’s coast, because he was in love with a woman there and wanted to bring her back to Ireland to marry her. Yet another myth has Finn building the causeway between Ireland and Scotland so he could travel between the two islands without getting his feet wet. These myths about the causeway developed over many years and existed before people understood the natural processes that formed the path.

The first recorded history of the rock formation comes from the 1600s. In 1693, Sir Richard Bulkeley wrote a letter about the rock formation, which was eventually published by the Royal Society, a scientific organization in the United Kingdom (UK). Bulkeley did not visit the formation himself and used the account of a scholar from Cambridge to describe it. According to Bulkeley, the scholar visited the site with the Bishop of Derry, William King. The next year, the Bishop of Down and Conor, Samuel Foley, submitted his own account of the rock formation to the Royal Society. An Irish physician named Thomas Molyneux also relayed information about the formation. Molyneux stressed his idea that the formation was a work of nature and criticized people who explained it through myths and superstitions. In the 1700s, people published paintings, maps, and other pictures of the formation. In the 1800s, the area became a popular tourist attraction. People traveled there to see the rocks and walk along the path. It was common at the time for people to take souvenirs from the area. The area drew so many visitors that people sold refreshments. The Giant’s Causeway and the Causeway Coast remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in Northern Ireland in the twenty-first century. However, visitors are no longer allowed to take objects from the site.

Significance

UNESCO named the Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast a World Heritage Site in 1986. It is the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland. The site received this status because of its geologic features, natural beauty, and wildlife.

The Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast is one of only a few World Heritage Sites in the UK that have been preserved because of its geologic features. The basalt columns comprising the Giant’s Causeway resemble paving stones because of their polygonal shape and how they fit together. Although similar rock formations exist in several other places on Earth, the basalt columns’ appearance has become associated with Northern Ireland. The area also has geologic formations that are much older—with some dating as far back as the Jurassic period (135 to 190 million years ago). Scientists also study those formations to understand more about the geological history and better comprehend the geologic process in general.

The Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast is also significant because of its unique beauty and protected wildlife. While the rock formations are the region’s most famous feature, visitors are also attracted to the area’s beautiful scenery and unique views. The area also has several nature reserves that protect rare flora and fauna. The sea spleenwort and frog orchids are rare plants that grow along the coast. Linnets, skylarks, and kittiwakes are birds that receive protection in the area.

Bibliography

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Delaney, Rachel. “The Legend of the Giant’s Causeway.” Cricket, vol. 44, no. 1, Sept. 2016, pp. 18–22, EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=117940507&site=ehost-live. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

“Giant’s Causeway.” National Trust, www.nationaltrust.org.uk/giants-causeway/features/giants-causeway-six-must-see-sights. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

“Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast.” UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org/en/list/369. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

“Giant Mystery Cracked.” Current Science, vol. 87, no. 14, 2002, p. 13, EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=6368003&site=ehost-live. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

Kennedy, Alasdair. “In Search of the ‘True Prospect’: Making and Knowing the Giant’s Causeway as a Field Site in the Seventeenth Century.” The British Journal for the History of Science, vol. 41, no. 1, 2008, pp. 19–41.

Lemon, Kirstin. “The Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast.” British Geological Survey, www.bgs.ac.uk/discovering-geology/maps-and-resources/office-geology/the-giants-causeway-and-causeway-coast. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

Marshall, Katherine. “Standing on the Boulders of Giants.” The Royal Society, 2 Feb. 2021, royalsociety.org/blog/2021/02/standing-on-the-boulders-of-giants. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

Phelan, Glen. “Weird Wonders.” National Geographic Extreme Explorer, vol. 6, no. 5, 2013, pp. 10–15. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=109092480&site=ehost-live. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

Trevino, Julissa. “How Giant’s Causeway Formed Its Spectacular Array of Columns.” Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Apr. 2018, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-reveal-how-giants-causeway-was-formed-180968806. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.