Who discovered the Causeway

Who discovered the Causeway? The discovery of the causeway has widely been attributed to the Bishop of Derry (Londonderry) who visited there in 1692 and subsequently brought word of its existence to the 'learned' circles in Dublin and hence to the courts of London. A year later in 1694, a fellow of Trinity College, Sir Richard Bulkeley, presented a paper to the Royal Society in Dublin which outlined this 'amazing' discovery and so started the debate on how it was formed. Also in 1694, contributing in depth to this debate were The Reverend Dr. Samual Foley and Dr.Thomas Molynuex. At that time theories abounded about its formation - from it being created by men with tools, a natural occurrence or by the giant 'Finn MacCool'. While the Bishop may have brought knowledge of its existence to a wider world, the first witnesses to this natural phenomenon were surely the hunter's and gatherer's who settled at Whitepark Bay after the last ice age (10,000 years ago). They would have traveled around the then densely forested north coast by boats and would have come across the causeway in their travels and perhaps from there the enduring myth and legends of Finn MacCool may have evolved.

Scientific facts - The causeway was formed during the early Tertiary period some 62-65 million years ago over a long period of igneous activity. Three lava outflows occurred known as the Lower, Middle and Upper Basaltic. Lulls occurred between the outflows as is evident in the deep inter-basaltic layer of reddish brown 'lithomarge' which is rich in clay, iron and aluminum oxides from weathering of the underlying basalt. The causeway area would have been situated in an equatorial region at that time, experiencing hot and humid conditions. This came about due to the fact that the earth's crust is floating on moving plates known as 'tectonic plates', these move slowly but over millions of years they can travel thousands of miles. The hexagonal columns of the causeway occur in the middle basalt layer, the same formations can be seen at Staffa in Scotland (Fingal's Cave) and they also occurs in the surrounding landscape of North Antrim.

The fascinating pattern in the causeway stones is formed as a result of rock crystallization under conditions of accelerated cooling. This usually occurs when molten lava came into immediate contact with water, as happens today in Hawaii. The resulting fast accelerated cooling process causes the cracking.

Finn's Story - There are many heroic legends surrounding Finn MacCool. Comparisons have been drawn between him and the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Finn was reputed as being the leader of the Fianna, the guardians of the King of Ireland. However, in this section we will concentrate on his role in the building of the Giant's Causeway - the story goes -

Finn MacCool was going about his daily duties on the north coast when one of his adversary, a Scottish giant, started shouting and ridiculing Finn's fighting prowess. This angered Finn who lifted a lump of earth and pelted it to Scotland as a challenge to this giant. The Scottish giant retaliated with a rock back to Finn shouting that if he could get his hand on him, he would make sure Finn fought again but adding that unfortunately he could not swim the short distance across the Channel, so Finn would be spared that fate. Finn got enraged by this and tore large pieces from the cliffs, he pushed them into the ocean bed and made a sturdy causeway to Scotland, when he had finished he shouted 'Now you'll had no excuse'.

Fearing to lose his own reputation and pride the Scottish giant had no alternative but to come over the causeway. Finn was tired, he had not slept for the week he worked on the causeway and did not feel ready for fighting. He thought to himself and came up with an ingenious plan. Quickly he made a large cot, climbed inside and waited. The Scottish giant arrived at Finn's house shouting, 'Where is that coward MacCool', he noticed the crib and the baby inside it and his eyes widened in fear, he thought to himself, my goodness if this is the size of the baby? What size is the Father? Finn climbed out of the cot and towered above the Scottish giant, this terrified him even more and in fear of meeting the father of this child he turned on his heels and ran like he had never ran before, back across the causeway to Scotland destroying the Causeway as he went. Well, that is one version of the story. There are many more to choose from including one of love and romance.