DAY OF REST – Our contact, Rocheanne gave us a day off to get a chance to experience more of Ireland. He asked us what we would expect to see in Ireland. Our list included: Castles, Giants Causeway, Green Pastures, and Sheep. So with Rocheanne as our tour guide/driver, we set out on a hunt to find these very things.
Our first stop was Giant’s Causeway (located in Northern Ireland). This area of interlocking basalt columns, was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder of the United Kingdom. Most of these columns have a hexagonal shape and the tops of them form stepping stones that disappear into the sea. These columns are a result of a volcanic eruption but there is also a legend about this as well……
Legend has it that the Irish warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Benandonner. One version of the legend tells that Fionn fell asleep before he got to Scotland. When he did not arrive, the much larger Benandonner crossed the bridge looking for him. To protect Fionn, his wife Oonagh laid a blanket over him so he could pretend that he was actually their baby son. In a variation, Fionn fled after seeing Benandonner’s great bulk, and asked his wife to disguise him as the baby. In both versions, when Benandonner saw the size of the ‘infant’, he assumed the alleged father, Fionn, must be gigantic indeed. Therefore, Benandonner fled home in terror, ripping up the Causeway in case he was followed by Fionn.
Giants Causeway – Check. Next was the Causeway Coast (our “green pastures”)……
Last but not least ……CASTLES, more specifically the Dunluce Castle (translated as: Hill fort of the fairy fort)
And for all of those wondering – “What about the sheep?” We did see those as well, in fact a whole flock, but unfortunately I didn’t capture any photos. If you are dying to see Irish sheep I am sure my teammate, Madeline will have one 😉 All in all it was fun to get out of the city for a day, rest, and see a beautiful place.
