Giant's Causeway facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast |
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| Native names Irish: Clochán an Aifir/Clochán na bhFomhórach Scots: Tha Giant's Causey |
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The Giant's Causeway
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| Location | County Antrim |
| Official name: the Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast | |
| Type | Natural |
| Criteria | VII, VIII |
| Designated | 1986 (10th session) |
| Reference no. | 369 |
| State Party | United Kingdom |
| Region | Europe |
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
The Giant's Causeway is a famous natural area in Northern Ireland. It has about 40,000 columns that fit together like puzzle pieces. These columns are made of a rock called basalt. They were formed a very long time ago by a volcanic eruption.
You can find the Giant's Causeway on the northeast coast of County Antrim. It is so special that UNESCO has named it a World Heritage Site. This means it's important for everyone in the world to protect it. In 1987, it also became a National Nature Reserve. Many people think it's one of the greatest natural wonders in the United Kingdom.
The tops of these columns look like stepping stones. They start at the bottom of the cliffs and go right into the sea. Most of the columns have six sides, like a hexagon. But you can also find some with four, five, seven, or eight sides. The tallest columns are about 12 meters (36 feet) high. The solidified lava in the cliffs can be 28 meters thick in some places.
Today, the National Trust takes care of the Giant's Causeway. It is the most popular place for tourists to visit in Northern Ireland.
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The Legend of the Giant's Causeway
There is a famous old story about how the Giant's Causeway was made. It says the columns are what's left of a path built by a giant.
The legend tells of an Irish giant named Fionn mac Cumhaill, also known as Finn MacCool. He was a hero from old Irish stories. Finn was challenged to a fight by a Scottish giant named Benandonner. Finn agreed to the fight. He started building a causeway, or a path, across the sea to Scotland. This way, the two giants could meet and fight.
In one version of the story, Finn wins the fight against Benandonner. But in another, Finn realizes that Benandonner is much bigger than him. So, Finn decides to hide. His clever wife, Oonagh, helps him. She dresses Finn up like a baby and puts him in a cradle.
When Benandonner arrives and sees the huge "baby," he gets scared. He thinks, "If the baby is this big, imagine how enormous its father, Finn, must be!" Terrified, Benandonner runs back to Scotland. As he flees, he rips up the causeway behind him. He does this so Finn cannot follow him.
Interestingly, there are similar basalt columns across the sea in Scotland. You can find them at Fingal's Cave on the island of Staffa. It's possible that this real-life connection inspired the legend.
In most Irish mythology stories, Fionn mac Cumhaill is a hero with special powers, not always a giant. Over time, old Irish gods and heroes changed in people's minds. The gods became smaller, turning into fairies. The heroes became bigger, turning into giants. There are no very old stories about the Giant's Causeway before Christianity. But it might have been linked to the Fomorians. These were supernatural beings in Irish myths, sometimes described as giants. The Irish name for the causeway, Clochán na bhFomhóraigh, means "stepping stones of the Fomorians."
How the Giant's Causeway Formed
The Giant's Causeway and Fingal's Cave in Scotland are actually parts of the same huge volcanic eruption. They were separated over millions of years as Earth's plate tectonics moved the land apart. This happened when the ancient supercontinent called Pangaea broke up.
About 50 to 60 million years ago, during a time called the Palaeogene period, the area of Antrim had a lot of volcanic activity. Hot, melted rock called basalt flowed up through the ground. It spread out to form a large flat area of lava. As this lava cooled down very quickly, it began to shrink. This shrinking caused it to crack in a special way.
The speed at which the lava cooled mostly decided how big the columns would be. The many cracks created the unique columns we see today. These basalts were once part of a massive volcanic plateau. This plateau is called the Thulean Plateau. You can still find parts of this ancient plateau in places like the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Norway.
Cool Features to See
Over millions of years, wind and rain have shaped some of the columns. They now look like different objects. Here are a few examples:
- The Organ: This looks like the pipes of a giant organ.
- The Giant's Boot: This looks like a huge boot.
- Giant's Eyes: These are reddish, low columns that look like eyes.
- The Shepherd's Steps
- The Honeycomb
- The Giant's Harp
- The Chimney Stacks: These are tall, thin columns that look like chimneys.
- The Giant's Gate
- The Camel's Hump
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The Giant's Boot
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Basalt columns
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The Chimney Stacks
Plants and Animals
The Giant's Causeway is a safe place for many kinds of seabirds. You can see birds like:
The unique rock formations are also home to many interesting plants. Some of these include:
- Sea spleenwort
- Hare's-foot trefoil
- Vernal squill
- Sea fescue
- Frog orchid
In 2011, scientists even found a colony of stromatolites here. Stromatolites are very old forms of life. Finding them at the Giant's Causeway was unusual. They usually grow in warmer, saltier waters.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Red basaltic prisms
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Giant's Causeway at sunset
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See also
In Spanish: Calzada del Gigante para niños
