Giant's Causeway#Notable features

{{Short description|Interlocking basalt columns in Northern Ireland}}

{{Infobox historic site

| name = Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast

| native_name = Clochán an Aifir/Clochán na bhFomhórach{{cite web |url= http://www.logainm.ie/en/118031 |publisher= Placenames Commission |title= Clochán an Aifir / Giant's Causeway – Placenames Database of Ireland |access-date= 8 September 2014 |archive-date= 8 September 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140908111539/http://www.logainm.ie/en/118031 |url-status= live }}

| native_language = Irish

| native_name2 = Tha Giant's Causey[https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-78939500 "The Crack: Yin giant step for mankind"] The News Letter. Retrieved 16 October 2011.

| native_language2 = Ulster Scots

| image = Causeway-code poet-4.jpg

| caption = The Giant's Causeway

| locmapin = Northern Ireland

| coordinates = {{Coord|55|14|27|N|6|30|42|W|region:GB-CCG_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| location = County Antrim, Northern Ireland

| designation1 = WHS

| designation1_offname = The Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast

| designation1_date = 1986 (10th session)

| designation1_number = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/369 369]

| designation1_criteria = (vii), (viii)

| designation1_type = Natural

| designation1_free1name = Region

| designation1_free1value = Europe

}}

The Giant's Causeway ({{langx|ga| Clochán an Aifir}}) is an area of approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption.{{cite web |title=Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/369 |publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |access-date=21 June 2009 |archive-date=19 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119193930/http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/369 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OCPpuYTH83cC&q=giants+causeway+interlocking |publisher=Southwater |date=2004 |title=Rocks, Minerals and the Changing Earth |page=19 |author1=Jack Challoner |author2=John Farndon |author3=Rodney Walshaw |isbn=9781842159750 |access-date=15 May 2016 |archive-date=25 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125012748/https://books.google.com/books?id=OCPpuYTH83cC&q=giants+causeway+interlocking |url-status=live }} It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about {{Convert|3|mi|km|spell=in}} northeast of the town of Bushmills.

It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 and a national nature reserve by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland in 1987. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giant's Causeway was named the fourth-greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/4735935.stm "Caves win 'natural wonder' vote"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801153636/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/4735935.stm |date=1 August 2017 }}. BBC, 2 August 2005. Retrieved 10 December 2006.

The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although some have four, five, seven, or eight sides.{{cite journal |last1=Meng |first1=Qingxiang |last2=Yan |first2=Long |last3=Chen |first3=Yulong |last4=Zhang |first4=Qiang |date=9 November 2018 |title=Generation of numerical models of anisotropic columnar jointed rock mass using modified centroidal Voronoi diagrams |journal=Symmetry |volume=10 |issue=11 |pages=618 |bibcode=2018Symm...10..618M |doi=10.3390/sym10110618 |doi-access=free|url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/165e/f721f6e8fc8892ef8a985710792f708807dd.pdf }} The tallest are approximately {{Convert|12|m|ft}} high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is {{Convert|28|m|ft}} thick in places.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Much of the Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site is owned and managed by the National Trust. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Northern Ireland,{{cite press release|title=Giant's Causeway remains Northern Ireland's Top Attraction |publisher=Northern Ireland Tourist Board |date=18 August 2008 |url=http://www.nitb.com/DocumentPage.aspx?path=b019d219-34a1-48eb-8e21-900525c4e543,b863bc15-f1a4-4c29-bb52-0a82ba59257c,4870b6cb-ec7f-4a61-8cae-027c591c188b,aaab5041-6a69-414e-8406-5eeedd548382,1a3ca69c-3386-46b4-93eb-5239112cc00e,6645f4a7-a521-4858-817f-a6af1a709454 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714185239/http://www.nitb.com/DocumentPage.aspx?path=b019d219-34a1-48eb-8e21-900525c4e543%2Cb863bc15-f1a4-4c29-bb52-0a82ba59257c%2C4870b6cb-ec7f-4a61-8cae-027c591c188b%2Caaab5041-6a69-414e-8406-5eeedd548382%2C1a3ca69c-3386-46b4-93eb-5239112cc00e%2C6645f4a7-a521-4858-817f-a6af1a709454 |archive-date=14 July 2011 |access-date=19 March 2009 |url-status=dead }} receiving more than 998,000 visitors in 2019.{{cite web |title=Visits Made in 2022 to Visitor Attractions in Membership with ALVA |url=https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423 |publisher=Association of Leading Visitor Attractions |access-date=23 October 2020 |archive-date=13 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413023806/http://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423 |url-status=live }} Access to the Giant's Causeway is free of charge: it is not necessary to go via the visitor centre that charges a fee.{{Cite news

|publisher=BBC News

|title=Giant's Causeway: Public right of way to be protected

|date=14 March 2018

|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-43385000

|access-date=16 August 2018

|archive-date=30 August 2018

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830062648/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-43385000

|url-status=live

}} The remainder of the site is owned by the Crown Estate and several private landowners.

Geology

Around 50 to 60 million years ago, during the Paleocene Epoch, Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity, when highly fluid molten basalt intruded through chalk beds to form an extensive volcanic plateau. As the lava cooled, contraction occurred. Horizontal contraction fractured in a similar way to drying mud, with the cracks propagating down as the mass cooled, leaving pillarlike structures that also fractured horizontally into "biscuits". In many cases, the horizontal fracture resulted in a bottom face that is convex, while the upper face of the lower segment is concave, producing what are called "ball and socket" joints. The size of the columns was primarily determined by the speed at which lava cooled.{{cite web |title=University of Toronto (2008, December 25). Mystery of Hexagonal Column Formations |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081216104325.htm |access-date=28 February 2018 |archive-date=5 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190205191210/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081216104325.htm |url-status=live }} The extensive fracture network produced the distinctive columns seen today. The basalts were originally part of a great volcanic plateau called the Thulean Plateau that formed during the Paleocene.{{cite journal|first1=Laurent|last1=Geoffroy|first2=Françoise|last2=Bergerat|first3=Jacques|last3=Angelier|url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/61005289/ABSTRACT|archive-url=https://archive.today/20110813062050/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/61005289/ABSTRACT|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-08-13|title=Brittle tectonism in relation to the Palaeogene evolution of the Thulean/NE Atlantic domain: a study in Ulster|access-date=10 November 2007|journal=Geological Journal|volume=31|issue=3|pages=259–269|date=September 1996|doi=10.1002/(SICI)1099-1034(199609)31:3<259::AID-GJ711>3.0.CO;2-8|url-access=subscription}}

= Geological heritage site =

In respect of its key role in the development of volcanology as a geoscience discipline, and notably the origin of basalt, the Palaeocene rocks of the Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast were included by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in its assemblage of 100 "geological heritage sites" around the world in a listing published in October 2022.{{cite web |title=The First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites |url=https://iugs-geoheritage.org/videos-pdfs/iugs_first_100_book_v2.pdf |website=IUGS International Commission on Geoheritage |publisher=IUGS |access-date=3 November 2022 |archive-date=27 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027114156/https://iugs-geoheritage.org/videos-pdfs/iugs_first_100_book_v2.pdf |url-status=live }}

Legend

Image:Drury - View of the Giant's Causeway.jpg

According to legend, a form of 'geomyth', the columns are the remains of a causeway built by a giant. The story goes that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool), from the Fenian Cycle of Gaelic mythology, was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner. Fionn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two could meet. In one version of the story, Fionn defeats Benandonner."The Giant's Causeway". The Dublin Penny Journal, issue 5 (1832), p.33 Another common telling of the story has Fionn hide from Benandonner when he realises that his foe is much bigger than he is. Fionn's wife, Sadhbh, disguises Fionn as a baby and tucks him in a cradle. When Benandonner sees the size of the "baby", he reckons that its father, Fionn, must be a giant among giants. He flees back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Fionn would be unable to chase him down.Jones, Richard. Myths and Legends of Britain and Ireland. New Holland Publishers, 2006. p.131 Across the sea, there are identical basalt columns (a part of the same ancient lava flow) at Fingal's Cave on the Scottish isle of Staffa, and it is possible that the story was influenced by this.[http://giantcrystals.strahlen.org/europe/basalt.htm Formation of basalt columns / pseudocrystals] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107063242/http://giantcrystals.strahlen.org/europe/basalt.htm |date=7 November 2007 }}

Overall, in Irish mythology, Fionn mac Cumhaill is not a giant, but a hero with supernatural abilities, contrary to what this particular legend may suggest. In Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (1888), it is noted that, over time, "the pagan gods of Ireland [...] grew smaller and smaller in the popular imagination until they turned into the fairies; the pagan heroes grew bigger and bigger until they turned into the giants".[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/yeats/fip/fip68.htm "Giants"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130425163214/http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/yeats/fip/fip68.htm |date=25 April 2013 }}. Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (1888). Sacred-Texts.com. There are no surviving pre-Christian stories about the Giant's Causeway, but it may have originally been associated with the Fomorians (Fomhóraigh);Lyle, Paul. Between Rocks and Hard Places: Discovering Ireland's Northern Landscapes. The Stationery Office, 2010. p.3 the Irish name Clochán na bhFomhóraigh or Clochán na bhFomhórach means "stepping stones of the Fomhóraigh". The Fomhóraigh are a race of mythological beings in Irish mythology who were sometimes described as giants and who may have originally been deities among a pre-Christian pantheon.Monaghan, Patricia. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Infobase Publishing, 2004. p.198

Letitia Elizabeth Landon comments on these mythological associations in her notes to {{ws|The Giant's Causeway}}, a poetical illustration to a painting by Thomas Mann Baynes.{{cite book|last=Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1832|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=8MpcAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PT88|section=picture|year=1831|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.|access-date=11 November 2022|archive-date=11 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111192828/https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=8MpcAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PT88|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1832|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=8MpcAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PT91|section=poetical illustration|year=1831|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.|access-date=11 November 2022|archive-date=11 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111192827/https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=8MpcAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PT91|url-status=live}}

Tourism

Image:Chaussee geants prismes rouges.jpg

William King, Bishop of Derry visited the site in 1692. The existence of the causeway was announced to the wider world the following year by the presentation of a paper to the Royal Society from Sir Richard Bulkeley, a fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. The Giant's Causeway received international attention when Dublin artist Susanna Drury made watercolour paintings of it in 1739; they won Drury the first award presented by the Royal Dublin Society in 1740 and were engraved in 1743.{{cite book| last = Arnold | first = Bruce | date = 2002 | title = Irish Art: A Concise History | place = New York | publisher = Thames & Hudson | isbn = 0-500-20148-X | page = 62}} In 1765, an entry on the causeway appeared in volume 12 of the French Encyclopédie, which was informed by the engravings of Drury's work; the engraving of the "East Prospect" appeared in a 1768 volume of plates published for the Encyclopédie.[http://www.lindahall.org/events_exhib/exhibit/exhibits/vulcan/16.shtml "Susanna Drury, the Causeway, and the Encyclopédie, 1768"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928071442/http://www.lindahall.org/events_exhib/exhibit/exhibits/vulcan/16.shtml |date=28 September 2006 }}. Lindahall.org. Retrieved 14 March 2007. In the caption to the plates, French geologist Nicolas Desmarest suggested, for the first time in print, that such structures were volcanic in origin.

The site first became popular with tourists during the nineteenth century, particularly after the opening of the Giant's Causeway Tramway. Only after the National Trust took over its care in the 1960s were some of the vestiges of commercialism removed. Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, visited the site on 9 July 1877 as part of a largely unpublicised three-day visit to Ireland.{{cite web |last=Logan|first=John | url = https://ccght.org/an-emperors-secret-visit-to-the-causeway/ |date=2020-11-04 |publisher = Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust | website = ccght.org | title = An Emperor's Secret Visit to the Causeway | access-date = 2024-07-05 }}{{cite web | url = https://niarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Dom-Pedro-Emperor-Brazil-at-Causeway.pdf |date=2023-03-01 |publisher = Northern Ireland archive | website = niarchive.org | title = Some Portrush/Brazil Connections... | access-date = 2024-07-05 }}{{cite web | url = https://bndigital.bn.gov.br/multi-idioma-expo/irish-in-brazil/dom-pedro-ii-in-ireland/ |publisher = BN Digital Brasil | website = bndigital.bn.gov.br | title = Dom Pedro II in Ireland | access-date = 2024-07-05 }}

Visitors may walk over the basalt columns that are at the edge of the sea, a half-mile walk from the entrance of the site.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

= Visitor centre =

File:Giant's Causeway (14).JPG

The causeway was without a permanent visitor centre between 2000 and 2012, as the previous building, built in 1986, burned down in 2000.{{cite web |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/731267.stm |work = BBC News |title = Investigation into Causeway blaze |date = 30 April 2000 |access-date = 12 September 2007 |archive-date = 14 April 2004 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040414051449/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/731267.stm |url-status = live }} While preliminary approval was given for a publicly funded (but privately managed) development by then Environment Minister and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member Arlene Foster in 2007,{{cite web | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6987303.stm | work = BBC News | title = Developer set to get Causeway nod | date = 10 September 2007 | access-date = 10 September 2007 | archive-date = 19 September 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200919001723/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6987303.stm/ | url-status = live }} the public funding was frozen due to a perceived conflict of interest between the proposed private developer and the DUP.{{cite web | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6989808.stm | work = BBC News | title = Developer's DUP link "no bearing" | date = 11 September 2007 | access-date = 12 September 2007 | archive-date = 11 January 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090111222253/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6989808.stm | url-status = live }}{{cite web | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6990569.stm | work = BBC News | title = Causeway must be public ; council | date = 12 September 2007 | access-date = 12 September 2007 | archive-date = 27 August 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170827174356/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6990569.stm | url-status = live }} Ultimately, the private developer dropped a legal challenge to the publicly funded plan,{{cite web | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8057342.stm | work = BBC News | title = Developer ends Causeway challenge | date = May 2009 | access-date = 25 July 2009 | archive-date = 14 March 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170314180249/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8057342.stm | url-status = live }} and the new visitor centre was officially opened by 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/causeway-visitors-centre-a-giant-leap-forward-16180933.html|title=Causeway visitors' centre: A giant leap forward?|work=Belfast Telegraph|first=Anna|last=Maguire|date=5 July 2012|access-date=5 July 2012|archive-date=8 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708013641/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/causeway-visitors-centre-a-giant-leap-forward-16180933.html|url-status=live}} Its construction was funded by the National Trust, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, the Heritage Lottery Fund and public donations.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8579615.stm|title=Giants Causeway gets £9m tourist board grant|date=22 March 2010|access-date=5 July 2012|publisher=BBC|archive-date=12 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712054818/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8579615.stm|url-status=live}} Since opening, the new visitor centre has garnered mixed reviews from those visiting the causeway, for its pricing, design, contents, and placement across the causeway walk descent.{{cite web|url=http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g209948-d2281662-Reviews-Giant_s_Causeway_Visitor_Centre-Bushmills_County_Antrim_Northern_Ireland.html|title=Giants Causeway Visitor Centre Reviews, Trip Advisor|date=15 September 2012|access-date=15 September 2012|publisher=Trip Advisor}} In 2018, the visitor centre was visited by 1,011,473 people.{{cite web |title=ALVA – Association of Leading Visitor Attractions |url=http://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423 |website=alva.org.uk |access-date=27 July 2019 |archive-date=23 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223011220/http://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423 |url-status=live }}

There was some controversy regarding the content of some exhibits in the visitor centre, which refer to the Young Earth Creationist view of the age of the Earth.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/national-trust-in-giants-causeway-creationism-row-7917687.html|title=National Trust in Giant's Causeway creationism row|date=5 July 2012|access-date=5 July 2012|work=The Independent|archive-date=27 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527035301/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/national-trust-in-giants-causeway-creationism-row-7917687.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.u.tv/News/Causeway-centre-gives-creationist-view/530750a4-b3bb-4c0e-baf1-4cc65e7e6652|title=Causeway centre gives creationist view|date=4 July 2012|access-date=5 July 2012|publisher=U TV|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120706035642/http://www.u.tv/News/Causeway-centre-gives-creationist-view/530750a4-b3bb-4c0e-baf1-4cc65e7e6652|archive-date=6 July 2012}} While these inclusions were welcomed by the chairman of the Northern Irish evangelical group, the Caleb Foundation,{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18728703|title=Online group calls for removal of creationist exhibit at Giant's Causeway|publisher=BBC Northern Ireland|date=5 July 2012|access-date=6 July 2012|archive-date=19 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419053156/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18728703|url-status=live}} the National Trust stated that the inclusions formed only a small part of the exhibition and that the Trust "fully supports the scientific explanation for the creation of the stones 60 million years ago".{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/trust-in-causeway-creationism-row-3160230.html|title=Trust in Causeway creationism row|date=5 July 2012|access-date=6 July 2012|work=Irish Independent|archive-date=7 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707233640/http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/trust-in-causeway-creationism-row-3160230.html|url-status=live}} An online campaign to remove creationist material was launched in 2012, and following this, the Trust carried out a review and concluded that they should be amended to have the scientific explanation on the origin of the causeway as their primary emphasis. Creationist explanations are still mentioned, but presented as a traditional belief of some religious communities rather than a competing explanation for the origin of the causeway.{{cite web | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19814284 | title = Trust amends Causeway centre "Creationist" exhibit | work = BBC News | date = 3 October 2012 | access-date = 30 November 2012 | archive-date = 16 December 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121216054128/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19814284 | url-status = live }}

Notable features

Some of the structures in the area, having been subject to several million years of weathering, resemble objects, such as the Organ and Giant's Boot structures. Other features include many reddish, weathered low columns known as Giant's Eyes, created by the displacement of basalt boulders such as the Shepherd's Steps, the Honeycomb, the Giant's Harp, the Chimney Stacks, the Giant's Gate, and the Camel's Hump.{{cite web |title=Giants Causeway, Northern Ireland |url=https://www.great-britain.co.uk/world-heritage/giants-causeway.htm#:~:text=After%20eons%20of%20weathering%2C%20clumps%20of%20rock%20have%20been%20given%20names%20to%20describe%20what%20they%20look%20like%20%2D%20the%20Organ%2C%20Giant%27s%20Boot%2C%20Giants%20Eyes%2C%20the%20Shepherd%27s%20Steps%3B%20the%20Honeycomb%3B%20the%20Giant%27s%20Harp%3B%20the%20Chimney%20Stacks%3B%20the%20Giant%27s%20Gate%20and%20the%20Camel%27s%20Hump. |access-date=9 November 2023}}

Image:Giants boot Dec2004 SeanMcClean.jpg|The Giant's Boot

Image:giants causeway closeup.jpg|Basalt columns

Image:The Chimney Stacks, Giants Causeway, County Antrim.jpg|The Chimney Stacks

Flora and fauna

The area is a haven for seabirds, such as fulmar, petrel, cormorant, shag, redshank, guillemot, and razorbill, while the weathered rock formations host numerous plant types, including sea spleenwort, hare's-foot trefoil, vernal squill, sea fescue, and frog orchid. A stromatolite colony was reportedly found at the Giant's Causeway in October 2011 – an unusual find, as stromatolites are more commonly found in warmer waters with higher saline content than that found at the causeway.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15299220 Stromatolite colony found in Giant's Causeway] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229203751/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15299220 |date=29 December 2011 }}, BBC News. 14 October 2011.

Similar structures

Basalt columns are a common volcanic feature. They occur on many scales and with some variations in formation.{{cite book|title = The Formation of Mountains | first = Florian | last = Neukirchen | date = 2022 | pages = 17, 18 | quote = Basalt columns are formed when lava that has already solidified cools down [..] The most famous location is certainly Giant's Causeway on the coast of Northern Ireland, but there are also occurrences [in Scotland, Iceland, USA, etc.] | isbn = 9783031113857 | publisher = Springer International }}

Transport access

The Belfast-Derry railway line run by Northern Ireland Railways connects to Coleraine and along the Coleraine-Portrush branch line to Portrush. Locally, Ulsterbus provides connections to the railway stations. There is a scenic walk of {{convert|7|mi}} from Portrush alongside Dunluce Castle and the Giant's Causeway and Bushmills Railway.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

References

External links

[https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/giants-causeway Giant's Causeway information at the National Trust]
[http://giantscauseway.ccght.org/ Website and video of the Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust]
[http://www.causewaycoastandglens.com/ Causeway Coast and Glens Tourism] – Official Tourist Board visitor information for the Causeway and surrounding area
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/landscapes/ Landscapes Unlocked] – Aerial footage from the BBC series Sky High explaining the physical, social, and economic geography of Northern Ireland

Category:1986 establishments in the United Kingdom

Category:Columnar basalts of the United Kingdom

Category:Extinct volcanism

Category:Fenian Cycle

Category:First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites

Category:Geomyths

Category:Geology of Northern Ireland

Category:Geotourism in the United Kingdom

Category:Landforms of County Antrim

Category:National Trust properties in Northern Ireland

Category:Natural history museums in Northern Ireland

Category:Nature reserves in Northern Ireland