What Are Giants Doing In Ireland?

Have you ever seen a giant? Let me take you on our journey along the Antrim Coast where I saw castles, cute towns and where I heard about a giant named Finn McCool……

After an interesting day in Belfast, we headed north along the Causeway Coastal Route. Our first stop was Carrickfergus Castle which was one of the biggest castles we have ever seen!

From there we went to Carrick-a-Rede which is a rope bridge that connects the mainland to Carrick Island which is in Larrybane Bay. The bridge is 30 meters above the water and 20 meters long. When I walked across it, i didn’t feel scared or nervous even though it was so high up.

Next we took a short ten minute drive to The Giants Causeway. There is an Irish legend that says that The Giants Causeway was created by a giant named Finn McCool…..

One day a giant named Finn McCool, who lived in Ireland, heard a mean insult coming from Scotland nearby. He saw another giant named Benandonner and insulted him back. They kept insulting each other to the point where Finn McCool became angry and picked up a large amount of earth and threw it at Benandonner. He missed but got the idea to make a causeway so he could run to Scotland and attack Benandonner. Finn McCool spent the rest of the day and night building the causeway from Ireland to Scotland just like he planned.

The next day Finn McCool went across the causeway to Scotland to attack Benandonner. When Finn McCool saw Benandonner, he knew it was a mistake because Benandonner was not only a lot bigger but also ugly and bad tempered.  Finn McCool decided to run back home but his boot fell of and Benandonner saw him and chased after him.

When Finn McCool got back home his wife had a plan. She told Finn to go into the crib and put on a baby bonnet. When Benandonner got there the wife said Finn McCool was out and it was just her and the baby. When Benandonner saw the “baby” he thought if the baby is that big, how big is Finn McCool?! Then Benandonner ran away. As he was running away he broke the causeway. So there is no causeway that goes to Scotland anymore, but we could see what remained of the causeway after Benandonner broke it.

Here is the National Geographic’s version, but we like the Finn story better!

Another story is the Legend of Humphrey the Camel.

One day Finn McCool was out and lost track of time. He remembered that his wife said that if he was not home to tell his son a story she would feed his stew to the animals. He wanted to get home fast and looked for an animal he could ride home on, but all the animals were too small for him. Then a villager offered to lend him a huge camel. Finn McCool got back just in time to tell his son a story. Humphrey the camel liked their house so much he decided to stay.

You can still see him lying there, captured in stone.

Before going home we stopped at PortRush which is a lovely town with a beautiful beach and a fun park. Mikhaila and I ran ahead to the park while my parents walked along the beach.

Northern Ireland is a beautiful place to be.