Whether it was created by volcanic activity millions of years ago or by a battle between Irish and Scottish giants, the Giant’s Causeway has been an awe inspiring piece of landscape on the Irish coastline. The journey to the Causeway began in the early hours on Suffolk Street. As it was an early start for all of us we rested for the first part of the journey then our driver guide, David, told us once we had crossed the border into Northern Ireland. with the rising of the sun we made our way into Banbridge for our first rest stop of the day. It was only from Banbridge that the tour really began as we were all wide awake now.
From Banbridge we made our way through Belfast and onto the coast road. The coast road on the Antrim coast was constructed in the 19th century by blowing the cliff face and building the road straight into the cliff face. We even drove over a part of the road that only collapsed two years ago! And thankfully we made our way over it no bother. David pointed out a number of imported New Zealand plants along the way and explained to us that the wool used in products such as Aran Island jumpers are made from Australian sheep wool instead of Irish sheep!
The journey continued though the Glens of Antrim until we reached the start of the Carrick-a-Rede Bridge. Out into the North Channel we could see Rathlin Island, the site of the first Viking raid on Ireland. Further out to sea we could spot the coastline of Scotland, less than 12 miles apart at one point. From the drop off point it was a 20 minute walk down to the Carrick-a-Rede Bridge, which hangs 100 feet above an extinct volcano! We were lucky that day because we got very little wind and were able to cross without any interference from the weather. It is certainly one of the things to tick off on a list of things to do in Ireland.
After the bridge it was onto the star attraction of the day, the Giant’s Causeway as well as a spot of lunch. Millions of years ago it was created by lava that had hardened and cooled on the coastline. The lava cooled at different stages on different levels so as a result this created the 42,000 hexagonal columns we see today. If you believe the folklore it was created by Fionn MacCumhail as a bridge to get to Scotland to fight the giant Benandonner, but when Fionn saw the size of him he ran back to Ireland with Benandonner in pursuit. Fionn fled to his house and when Benandonner burst through the front door he only saw a baby in a cradle and thought to himself, if that’s the size of the baby then what is the size of the dad? Benandonner fled back across the Causeway destroying it as he retreated so Fionn couldn’t follow him back.
Despite the lovely weather we had it was still very windy and there was a part of the Causeway that was closed off to the public. I never took so many panoramic photos in all the sites I have visited throughout Ireland, the Causeway is stunning to see with the waves crashing over the columns and the Causeway seeming to dip into the North Channel as if Benandonner had, in real life, destroyed it as he retreated back to Scotland.
After the Causeway it was a short photo stop at Dunluce Castle; a fortress on a cliff edge looking out over the North Channel. After Dunluce it was back to Belfast for an hour stop over. At this time of year the star attraction of the city is the Christmas Market in the grounds of Belfast City Hall. Once our hour was up it was back on board for the return trip to Dublin and home.