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The Legend of The Giants Causeway

Once upon a time in a faraway place called Ireland…

…there was an Irish giant called Finn McCool, also known as Fionn Mac Cumhaill, who got himself into a spot of trouble with an angry Scottish giant called Benandonner who made a claim for Finn’s island of Ireland.

Enraged, the giant called Finn starts throwing boulders into the sea just off the Antrim coastline in Northern Ireland. Inspired by way they fell into the water, Finn decided to use his boulders to make a bridge or a causeway – a Giant’s Causeway – all the way to Scotland’s Isla of Staffa to challenge his rival to a duel.

In a mythical world where size dictates winners and losers, Finn realises he has underestimated his enemy – Benandonner is giant even for a giant! Brute force won’t work on him – so Finn quickly returns to Ireland via his causeway and decides the best way to beat Benandonner is to con him.

Leaving the Giant’s Causeway for Benandonner to find, Finn McCool’s wife disguises him as a baby. When his rival arrives, he finds Finn’s wife tending her enormous baby giant. Realising that if Finn’s child son was this big, Finn himself must be huge! Benandonnar hurries away, tearing away bits of the causeway as he retreats to the Fingal’s Cave on the Isla of Staffa, determined to leave Ireland and stay away from the giant Finn McCool, who regains undisputed control over Ireland once more.

Thus, the Giant’s Causeway myth was born.