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Giant footsteps

Photo of Londonderry and the British Army controlling rioting in the streets of Derry during The Troubles

Foto: © Aitormmfoto/Shutterstock

Giant footsteps

Giant footsteps

Once upon a time there were giants living in Ireland. At least that’s what people believed. According to legend, an Irish giant called Fionn mac Cumhaill was challenged to a fight by Banandonner, a Scottish giant. Fionn decided to build a causeway, a kind of footpath, between Ireland and Scotland so that they could meet and see who was the strongest.

Is there any trace left of this footpath today? Some people think so. In the northeast of Northern Ireland, at the edge of the North Atlantic Ocean, you will find the Giant’s Causeway. There is a similar rock formation in Scotland. The causeway consists of 4,000 stone columns, some as high as 39 feet. They look like gigantic stepping stones. They are interesting shapes, too. Some have four, seven or eight sides, but most of them are hexagonal. One of the rock formations even looks like a giant boot. Perhaps it’s one that Fionn or Banandonner left behind?

Geologists tell a different story, of course. About 50–60 million years ago there used to be volcanoes in parts of what is now Ireland. A number of volcanic eruptions led to this strange rock formation. The Giant’s Causeway is now the most popular tourist attraction in Northern Ireland and is a world-famous UNESCO Heritage Site.

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