Motorcycle Explorer Jan 2016 Issue 9 | Page 22

Giant's Causeway. This is not a manmade sea defence structure as some may think! It’s a natural reaction from a volcanic eruption some 50 to 60 million years ago that created some 40,000 columns of basalt. Now with anything worth anything Ireland there comes a legend with it and it’s a good one, actually there are a few variations on the story but one worth listening to over pint I’m sure. It was about a fight (of course) and the giant of Ireland was going to have a dust up with the giant of Scotland. Therefore, the giants built the causeway to meet up for the showdown (there is an identical set of columns in Scotland at Fingal’s Cave on the Isle of Staffa, part of the same lava flow). The Irish giant (Fionn) hears that the Scottish giant (Benandonner) is much bigger than him and Fionn’s wife (Oonagh) dresses Fionn as a baby and puts him in a cradle. Benandonner finds the ‘infant’ and thinking this is the child of Fionn promptly heads back to Scotland at Mach 3 destroying the causeway as he goes so that ‘Fionn’ cannot follow him!