The Irish are also known for telling great stories, be they of leprechauns, fairies or giants. Let's explore the facts and fiction surrounding the legend of Finn McCool and the magnificent basalt structures that make up the Giant's Causeway and the Scottish Isle of Staffa.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1401093319/1707134900/articles/0KMdNsW6A1707212701798/5651212164.jpg]
THE LEGEND
There are more versions of this story than there are ways to spell Finn McCool…Fin MacCool…Fionn MacCumhaill…Fion macCumhal. Here is just one of those tales.
There were two rival giants, Finn McCool from Ireland and Benandonner, from Scotland. Finn decided to build a bridge to the nearby coast of Scotland to get a look at his opponent before challenging him to a fight. He completed the causeway in just two days and quickly crossed over to Scotland for a peek at the Scottish giant.
After discovering that Benandonner was much larger than he imagined, Finn returned home to ask the advice of his wife, Oonagh, even as he could hear Benandonner’s heavy footfalls following right behind him. Oonagh quickly came up with a plan. She dressed Finn like a baby and put him in a huge cradle by the fireplace.
OONAGH COOKS UP A PLAN
When the Scottish giant knocked on Finn and Oonagh’s door, Finn pretended to sleep in the cradle while Oonagh invited Benan donner into her home. She explained that Finn had gone hunting in a nearby county and that she was making his favorite meal of griddlecakes for his return.
Now, some of the cakes Oonagh made contained chunks of the griddle iron while others did not—all part of her plan. She offered one of the iron-laced cakes to Benandonner and when he took a bite of it, he broke a tooth. She apologized and asked if he would like to see their baby who was sleeping in the other room as she wanted to give the infant one of the cakes as well. Of course, the cake that Oonagh took to the baby (Finn) had no iron in it and the baby ate it with no problem.
When Benandonner saw the size of the infant, he was filled with fear of just how large Finn might be if his child was so big and how strong he might be if his baby could eat the tough griddlecakes with ease.
The Scottish giant quickly returned home to the Isle of Staffa and is said to have thrown a chunk of the causeway back across the sea creating the Isle of Man. Finn destroyed the remaining bridge he had built to Scotland. And everyone lived happily ever after.
FUN FACTS
It may be fun to point out a few flaws in this story.
First, the distance, on a straight line from the Giant's Causeway to Fingal's Cave on the Isle of Staffa, where Benandonner supposedly lived, is approximately 82 miles. That straight line crosses two pieces of mainland Scotland before reaching Fingal's cave. A long walk for either giant.
Also, the Isle of Man is located in the Irish Sea, approximately 162 miles from either of the locations in the story-more than a stone's throw away!
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1401093319/1707134900/articles/0KMdNsW6A1707212701798/3153356527.jpg]
HOW DO COLUMNS FORM?
Both the Giant's Causeway and Fingal's Cave on the Isle of Staffa, are made up of basalt columns that formed 50 to 60 million years ago during a volcanic period when cooling lava contracted and fractured into regular hexagonal patterns perpendicular to the cooling surface.
Basalt is an igneous rock, low in silica, but rich in iron and magnesium. It is formed deep inside the earth and is spread on the surface as molten lava. The rate at which the lava cools determines the rock structure.
Not all basalt forms into columns, only when the conditions are right.
Under those perfect conditions, as the lava cools, it starts to shrink and the surface starts to crack. If the parts of the lava that start cooling first are evenly spaced, forces pull inward toward the coolest spots and create chunks that are mostly hexagonal.
Although the description of the basalt columns says they are hexagonal, a closer look shows that some columns have four, five, seven or even eight sides-not always six.
The more uniform the lava, the more uniform the columns. The columns form because of the quick cooling lava. Some scientists believe that this process is accelerated by the presence of water.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1401093319/1707134900/articles/0KMdNsW6A1707212701798/1435314735.jpg]
NOT ALL COLUMNS ARE CREATED EQUAL
Columns form from the top down and as lower levels cool, they are pulled into this same columnar structure. Columns can vary in size from as large as nine feet to smaller than an inch in diameter and as high as 90 feet tall. If they form straight and parallel, they are called colonnades, like those present at the Giant's Causeway and Fingal's Cave. In other locations, they can be pushed and morphed into a structure called entablature, abstract or irregular zones or tiers of jointed columns.
Basalt structures can be found all over the world, even as close to home as the Devil's Postpile National Monument in California.
Scientists have even found them as far away as Mars. But let's take a closer look at the columns that make up each of our giant's homes in this Irish tale.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1401093319/1707134900/articles/0KMdNsW6A1707212701798/2714064576.jpg]
THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY A UNESCO
World Heritage Site since 1986, the Giant's Causeway is managed by the British National Trust. The site can be visited free of charge if you choose to walk both directions from the parking area at the top of the nearly 300-foot cliff.
There is a fee to enter the new Visitors' Center, completed in 2012, as well as to ride the motorized tram that takes visitors down the cliff to the sea. Tickets for each can be purchased separately, including on...
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1401093319/1707134900/articles/0KMdNsW6A1707212701798/5651212164.jpg]
THE LEGEND
There are more versions of this story than there are ways to spell Finn McCool…Fin MacCool…Fionn MacCumhaill…Fion macCumhal. Here is just one of those tales.
There were two rival giants, Finn McCool from Ireland and Benandonner, from Scotland. Finn decided to build a bridge to the nearby coast of Scotland to get a look at his opponent before challenging him to a fight. He completed the causeway in just two days and quickly crossed over to Scotland for a peek at the Scottish giant.
After discovering that Benandonner was much larger than he imagined, Finn returned home to ask the advice of his wife, Oonagh, even as he could hear Benandonner’s heavy footfalls following right behind him. Oonagh quickly came up with a plan. She dressed Finn like a baby and put him in a huge cradle by the fireplace.
OONAGH COOKS UP A PLAN
When the Scottish giant knocked on Finn and Oonagh’s door, Finn pretended to sleep in the cradle while Oonagh invited Benan donner into her home. She explained that Finn had gone hunting in a nearby county and that she was making his favorite meal of griddlecakes for his return.
Now, some of the cakes Oonagh made contained chunks of the griddle iron while others did not—all part of her plan. She offered one of the iron-laced cakes to Benandonner and when he took a bite of it, he broke a tooth. She apologized and asked if he would like to see their baby who was sleeping in the other room as she wanted to give the infant one of the cakes as well. Of course, the cake that Oonagh took to the baby (Finn) had no iron in it and the baby ate it with no problem.
When Benandonner saw the size of the infant, he was filled with fear of just how large Finn might be if his child was so big and how strong he might be if his baby could eat the tough griddlecakes with ease.
The Scottish giant quickly returned home to the Isle of Staffa and is said to have thrown a chunk of the causeway back across the sea creating the Isle of Man. Finn destroyed the remaining bridge he had built to Scotland. And everyone lived happily ever after.
FUN FACTS
It may be fun to point out a few flaws in this story.
First, the distance, on a straight line from the Giant's Causeway to Fingal's Cave on the Isle of Staffa, where Benandonner supposedly lived, is approximately 82 miles. That straight line crosses two pieces of mainland Scotland before reaching Fingal's cave. A long walk for either giant.
Also, the Isle of Man is located in the Irish Sea, approximately 162 miles from either of the locations in the story-more than a stone's throw away!
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1401093319/1707134900/articles/0KMdNsW6A1707212701798/3153356527.jpg]
HOW DO COLUMNS FORM?
Both the Giant's Causeway and Fingal's Cave on the Isle of Staffa, are made up of basalt columns that formed 50 to 60 million years ago during a volcanic period when cooling lava contracted and fractured into regular hexagonal patterns perpendicular to the cooling surface.
Basalt is an igneous rock, low in silica, but rich in iron and magnesium. It is formed deep inside the earth and is spread on the surface as molten lava. The rate at which the lava cools determines the rock structure.
Not all basalt forms into columns, only when the conditions are right.
Under those perfect conditions, as the lava cools, it starts to shrink and the surface starts to crack. If the parts of the lava that start cooling first are evenly spaced, forces pull inward toward the coolest spots and create chunks that are mostly hexagonal.
Although the description of the basalt columns says they are hexagonal, a closer look shows that some columns have four, five, seven or even eight sides-not always six.
The more uniform the lava, the more uniform the columns. The columns form because of the quick cooling lava. Some scientists believe that this process is accelerated by the presence of water.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1401093319/1707134900/articles/0KMdNsW6A1707212701798/1435314735.jpg]
NOT ALL COLUMNS ARE CREATED EQUAL
Columns form from the top down and as lower levels cool, they are pulled into this same columnar structure. Columns can vary in size from as large as nine feet to smaller than an inch in diameter and as high as 90 feet tall. If they form straight and parallel, they are called colonnades, like those present at the Giant's Causeway and Fingal's Cave. In other locations, they can be pushed and morphed into a structure called entablature, abstract or irregular zones or tiers of jointed columns.
Basalt structures can be found all over the world, even as close to home as the Devil's Postpile National Monument in California.
Scientists have even found them as far away as Mars. But let's take a closer look at the columns that make up each of our giant's homes in this Irish tale.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1401093319/1707134900/articles/0KMdNsW6A1707212701798/2714064576.jpg]
THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY A UNESCO
World Heritage Site since 1986, the Giant's Causeway is managed by the British National Trust. The site can be visited free of charge if you choose to walk both directions from the parking area at the top of the nearly 300-foot cliff.
There is a fee to enter the new Visitors' Center, completed in 2012, as well as to ride the motorized tram that takes visitors down the cliff to the sea. Tickets for each can be purchased separately, including on...
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Rock&gem (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 2024