View source for Giant's Causeway

{{Short description|Interlocking basalt columns in Northern Ireland}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast
| native_name = Clochán an Aifir/Clochán na bhFomhórach<ref name=placenames>{{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 }}</ref>
| native_language = Irish
| native_name2 = Tha Giant's Causey<ref>[https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-78939500 "The Crack: Yin giant step for mankind"] ''[[The News Letter]]''. Retrieved 16 October 2011.</ref>
| 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 [[World Heritage Committee|session]])
| designation1_number = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/369 369]
| designation1_criteria = (vii), (viii)
| designation1_type = Natural
| designation1_free1name = Region
| designation1_free1value = [[Lists of World Heritage Sites|Europe]]
}}

The '''Giant's Causeway''' ({{langx|ga|Clochán an Aifir}} or {{lang|ga|Clochán na bhFomhórach}})<ref name=placenames/> is an area of approximately 40,000 interlocking [[basalt column]]s, the result of an ancient [[volcano|volcanic]] [[fissure eruption]], part of the [[North Atlantic Igneous Province]] active in the region during the [[Paleogene]] period.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Matthew |first1=Parkes |last2=Sarah |first2=Gatley |last3=Vincent |first3=Gallagher |date=February 2021 |title=Old Volcanic Stories—Bringing Ancient Volcanoes to Life in Ireland's Geological Heritage Sites |url=https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/11/2/52 |journal=Geosciences |language=en |volume=11 |issue=2 |doi=10.3390/geo |doi-broken-date=1 July 2025 |doi-access=free |issn=2076-3263 }}</ref><ref name="unesco">{{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 }}</ref><ref>{{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=978-1-84215-975-0 |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 }}</ref> 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, County Antrim|Bushmills]].

It was declared a [[World Heritage Site]] by [[UNESCO]] in 1986 and a [[national nature reserve (United Kingdom)|national nature reserve]] by the [[Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland)|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 [[Wonders of the World|natural wonder]] in the [[United Kingdom]].<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/mid_/4735935.stm "Caves win 'natural wonder' vote"] . BBC, 2 August 2005. Retrieved 10 December 2006.</ref>

The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are [[hexagon]]al, although some have four, five, seven, or eight sides.<ref>{{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 |page=618 |bibcode=2018Symm...10..618M |doi=10.3390/sym10110618 |doi-access=free|url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/165e/f721f6e8fc8892ef8a985710792f708807dd.pdf }}</ref> 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,<ref>{{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 }}</ref> receiving more than 998,000 visitors in 2019.<ref name="ALVA 2019 visitor numbers">{{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 }}</ref> Access to the Giant's Causeway is free of charge: it is not necessary to go via the visitor centre that charges a fee.<ref>{{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
  }}</ref> The remainder of the site is owned by the [[Crown Estate]] and several private landowners.

== Geology ==
Around 50 to 60 million years ago,<ref name="unesco"/> 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, [[thermal expansion|contraction]] occurred. Horizontal contraction [[Fracture (geology)|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 [[wikt:convex|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.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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|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|bibcode=1996GeolJ..31..259G |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

=== 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.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>

== Legend ==
[[Image:Drury - View of the Giant's Causeway.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Engraving of Susanna Drury's ''A View of the Giant's Causeway: East Prospect'', 1768]]
According to legend, a form of [[Geomythology|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 (Great Britain and Ireland)|North Channel]] so that the two could meet. In one version of the story, Fionn defeats Benandonner.<ref>"The Giant's Causeway". ''The [[Dublin Penny Journal]]'', issue 5 (1832), p.33</ref> 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 imagines 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.<ref>Jones, Richard. ''Myths and Legends of Britain and Ireland''. New Holland Publishers, 2006. p.131</ref> 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.<ref name=crystal>[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 }}</ref>

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 ''[[W. B. Yeats bibliography|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".<ref>[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.</ref> There are no surviving pre-Christian stories about the Giant's Causeway, but it may have originally been associated with the [[Fomorians]] (''Fomhóraigh'');<ref>Lyle, Paul. ''Between Rocks and Hard Places: Discovering Ireland's Northern Landscapes''. The Stationery Office, 2010. p.3</ref> 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 (gods)|pantheon]].<ref>Monaghan, Patricia. ''The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore''. Infobase Publishing, 2004. p.198</ref>

[[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]] comments on these mythological associations in her notes to {{ws|[[s:Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1832/The Giant's Causeway|The Giant's Causeway]]}}, a poetical illustration to a painting by [[Thomas Mann Baynes]].<ref>{{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.PP178|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.PP180|section=poetical illustration|page=43|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}}</ref>

== Tourism ==
[[Image:Chaussee geants prismes rouges.jpg|thumb|left|Red basaltic prisms]]
[[William King (bishop)|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 [[Sir Richard Bulkeley, 2nd Baronet|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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''.<ref>[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.</ref> 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.<ref name = JL>{{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 }}</ref><ref name = NIA>{{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 }}</ref><ref name = BN>{{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 }}</ref>

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|thumb|Giant's Causeway at sunset]]

The causeway was without a permanent visitor centre between 2000 and 2012, as the previous building, built in 1986, burned down in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/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 }}</ref> While preliminary approval was given for a publicly funded (but privately managed) development by then [[Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland)|Environment Minister]] and [[Democratic Unionist Party]] (DUP) member [[Arlene Foster]] in 2007,<ref>{{cite web | url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/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 }}</ref> the public funding was frozen due to a perceived conflict of interest between the proposed private developer and the DUP.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/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 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://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 }}</ref> Ultimately, the private developer dropped a legal challenge to the publicly funded plan,<ref name="may09">{{cite web | url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/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 }}</ref> and the new visitor centre was officially opened by 2012.<ref>{{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}}</ref> Its construction was funded by the National Trust, the [[Northern Ireland Tourist Board]], the [[Heritage Lottery Fund]] and public donations.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> In 2018, the visitor centre was visited by 1,011,473 people.<ref name="ALVA 2018 visitor numbers">{{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 }}</ref>

There was some controversy regarding the content of some exhibits in the visitor centre, which refer to the [[Young Earth Creationism|Young Earth Creationist]] view of the age of the Earth.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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|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}}</ref> While these inclusions were welcomed by the chairman of the Northern Irish [[Evangelicalism|evangelical]] group, the [[Caleb Foundation]],<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{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}}</ref> An online campaign to remove [[Creationism|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.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>

== 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''.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

<gallery widths="220" heights="200">
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
</gallery>

== Flora and fauna ==
The area is a [[Sanctuary|haven]] for seabirds, such as [[northern fulmar|fulmar]], [[petrel]], [[great cormorant|cormorant]], [[European shag|shag]], [[common redshank|redshank]], [[guillemot]], and [[razorbill]], while the weathered rock formations host numerous plant types, including [[Asplenium marinum|sea spleenwort]], [[Trifolium arvense|hare's-foot trefoil]], [[Scilla verna|vernal squill]], [[Festuca|sea fescue]], and [[Coeloglossum viride|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.<ref>[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.</ref>

== Similar structures ==
{{Main|List of places with columnar jointed volcanics}}
Basalt columns are a common volcanic feature. They occur on many scales and with some variations in formation.<ref>{{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 = 978-3-031-11385-7 | publisher = Springer International }}</ref>

== Transport access ==
The [[Belfast-Derry railway line]] run by [[Northern Ireland Railways]] connects to [[Coleraine railway station|Coleraine]] and along the [[Coleraine-Portrush railway line|Coleraine-Portrush branch line]] to [[Portrush railway station|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}}

== See also ==
* [[List of individual rocks]]
* [[List of tourist attractions in Ireland]]
* [[Tessellated pavement]]
* {{Portal inline|Ireland}}
* {{Portal inline|Volcanoes}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Deane |first=C. Douglas |year=1983 |title=The Ulster Countryside |location=Belfast |publisher=Century Books |isbn=0-903152-17-7 |oclc=1330868074}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Jagla |first1=E. A. |last2=Rojo |first2=A. G. |year=2002 |title=Sequential fragmentation: the origin of columnar quasihexagonal patterns |journal=[[Physical Review E]] |volume=65 |issue=2 |article-number=026203 |arxiv=cond-mat/0003312|s2cid=33030461 |bibcode = 2002PhRvE..65b6203J |doi=10.1103/PhysRevE.65.026203 |pmid=11863628}}
* {{Cite book |last=Watson |first=Philip S. |year=2000 |title=The Giant's Causeway and the North Antrim coast |location=Dublin |publisher=O'Brien Press |isbn=0-86278-675-4 |oclc=45829602}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{wikivoyage|Giant's Causeway}}
{{EB1911 poster|Giant's Causeway}}
* [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

{{Geology of Northern Ireland}}
{{Museums and galleries in Northern Ireland}}
{{World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom}}
{{County Antrim}}
{{Authority control}}

[[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]]
[[Category:Northern Ireland coast]]
[[Category:Paleogene Ireland]]
[[Category:Paleogene volcanism]]
[[Category:Patterned grounds]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1986]]
[[Category:Protected areas of County Antrim]]
[[Category:Rock formations of Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in County Antrim]]
[[Category:Volcanism of Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Northern Ireland]]