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Many rich traditions have grown around the Giant’s Causeway over the centuries to explain this natural phenomenon, and legend tells of the 52 feet tall giant ‘Finn McCool’ who occupied the sea of Moyle, and his battle with the Scottish Giant, Benandonnar, on the site.

The legend of Finn McCool

Finn McCool (Fionn mac Cumhail) an Irish Giant lived on an Antrim headland and one day when going about his daily business a Scottish Giant named Benandonnar began to shout insults and hurl abuse from across the channel. In anger Finn lifted a clod of earth and threw it at Benandonnar as a challenge, the earth landed in the sea.

Benandonnar retaliated with a rock thrown back at Finn and shouted that Finn was lucky that he wasn't a strong swimmer or he would have made sure he could never fight again.

Finn was enraged and began lifting huge clumps of earth from the shore, throwing them so as to make a pathway for the Benandonnar, Scottish giant to come and face him. However by the time he finished making the crossing he had not slept for a week and so instead devised a cunning plan to fool the Scot.

Finn disguised himself as a baby in a cot and when Benandonnar came to face him Finn's wife Una told the Giant Benandonnar, that Finn was away but showed him his son sleeping in the cradle. The Scottish giant became apprehensive, for if the son was so huge, what size would the father be?

In his haste to escape Benandonnar sped back along the causeway Finn had built, tearing it up as he went. He is said to have fled to a cave on Staffa which is to this day named 'Fingal's Cave'.

Other versions of the legend include Finn throwing a huge piece of earth which then became the Isle Of Man and the hole which it left behind became Lough Neagh.

It is told that Finn was building a Causeway pathway to Scotland using the hexagonal rocks, much to the upset of Benandonnar. A battle ensued. To this day, there remain hexagonal rocks for all to see at the Isle of Staffa, however, the main breathtaking formations are situated at the Giant’s Causeway, World Heritage Site, with over 38,000 basalt columns on display.