The Legend of Finn MacCool and the Giant's CausewayAs the famous giant Finn MacCool found out, picking a fight with someone bigger than you is not clever. He was lucky to have an astute wife!
Finn MacCool, the great Irish Giant, had some fearsome adversaries in the form of Scottish giants. Finn was so enraged and determined to get even that he built a causeway from Ulster to Scotland across the sea. He made it out of unusual six-sided cobblestones that fit together neatly like a honeycomb. This was dubbed the Giant's Causeway.
Once upon a time, Finn MacCool challenged the Scottish giant Benandonner, known as The Red Man, to a fight across the causeway. But as he got closer to the Scot on the causeway, he realised Benandonner was much, much bigger than he had imagined! Finn skedaddled back home to Fort-of-Allen in County Kildare, telling his wife he'd planned a fight but had changed his mind.
Finn heard Benandonner stamping feet from Kilcock, and when those feet arrived in Robertstown, Finn had to stuff five pounds of moss into each ear. Red Man used his spear, which was as tall and as thick as a Round Tower, to knock on the door of the Fort-of-Allen. Finn refused to answer the door, so his wife pushed him into the big bath and draped a couple of sheets over him.
Oonagh, Finn's wife, thought quickly. She said to Benandonner as she opened the door, "It's unfortunate, but Finn is away hunting deer in County Kerry. Do you want to come in and wait in any way? After your journey, I'll lead you into the Great Hall to sit." Oonagh invited Red Man to look around the room and showed him some of Finn's belongings.
"Would you like to lay down your spear? Right next to Finn's "- It was a massive fir tree with a pointed stone on top.
"There's Finn's shield over there." - It was a building block made of oak the size of four chariot wheels.
"Finn is running late for his meal. Will you eat it if I prepare his favourite dish?"
Oonagh made griddle bread, which was baked with the iron griddle pressed inside it. Red Man bit it greedily, breaking three front teeth. The meat was a piece of hard fat nailed to a piece of redwood. He was given a five-gallon bucket of honey beer to drink after his back teeth cracked.
"Would you like to meet the infant? Wait! I need to feed her first!"
Oonagh tossed a loaf of bread to the huge baby in the bath cradle, and Finn MacCool himself, contently sucking his thumb, peered out from a huge sheet-like dress and bonnet. Benandonner admitted that he was not very good with babies. He felt woozy from the honey beer and asked to go outside to clear his head.
Oonagh led Red Man to the gardens, which were dotted with boulders as tall as the giant.
"Finn and his friends are having a game of catch with these rocks. Finn tries it out by tossing one over the Fort and running around to catch it before it falls."
Of course, Red Man attempted it, but it was so heavy that he could only lift it above his head before dropping it. The blow only cricked his neck; fortunately, the Scotsman's head was extremely hard. It was, however, full of common sense. He thanked Oonagh for her hospitality and promised to return to Scotland before the tide came in.
Finn jumped out of the cradle, thanked Oonagh for her foresight, and chased Benandonner out of Ireland. While passing through Portadown, County Antrim, Finn scooped a massive clod of earth from the ground to hurl at the retreating Scot. The hole filled with water and grew into Ireland's largest Lough, Lough Neagh! The clod he hurled missed its mark and landed in the middle of the Irish Sea, eventually becoming The Isle of Man!!
And both giants ripped up the Giant's Causeway, leaving only the ragged ends at the two ends! And if you go to the north coast of Ulster or Staffa, the nearest Scottish isle, you can visit them today - the ends of the beautiful causeway, not the giants - those giants are long gone!
