Alphabetical Index
| Location: | On the Causeway Coast between Causeway Head and Benbane Head, on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. (55°15'N, 6°31'W. Irish Grid Reference C947 447.) |
| Open: | All year |
| Fee: | Free, but parking £5 a car. |
| Classification: | Tertiary lavas of the Antrim Plateau. Sea caves. |
| Light: | electric. |
| Dimension: |
Average height of the cliffs: 100m Lava flow covers 3,800 km² Number of columns: approx. 40,000 Size of columns: 45cm in diameter (average) |
| Guided tours: | |
| Bibliography: |
H.E. Wilson and P.I. Manning (1978):
Geology of the Causeway Coast,
Geological Survey of Northern Ireland. Two volumes. HMSO P.S. Watson (1992): The Giant's Causeway - A Remnant of Chaos, HMSO. |
| Address: | National Trust, North Coast Office, Giant's Causeway, 42 Causeway Road, Bushmills, Co. Antrim. |
| Last update: | $Date: 2010/05/19 23:24:10 $ |
| 1771 | Desmarest concluded, the Causeway was a lava flow. | |
| 1786 | Hamilton produced the first detailed analysis. | |
| 1887 | the first hydro-electric tramway (built 1883) was extended to the Causeway Head. Two hotels and numbers of guesthouses were built. | |
| 1961 | bequeathed to the National Trust by Sir McNaghten. | |
| 1940 | scientific work by Tomkeieff. | |
| 1955 | scientific work by Patterson. | |
| 1986 | enrolled into UNESCO's World Heritage List. Visitor centre opened. |
The Giant's Causeway is a mass of basalt columns at the northern coast of Ireland. It has been designated a world heritage site by UNESCO. But it is not really subterranean, so it would normally not be included into showcaves.com. There are two reasons, why we included it anyway:
From the Giant's Causeway Centre you can take the low road to the Grand Causeway and on, past strange rock formations to Port na Spaniagh where the Armada treasure ship Girona sank in 1588. Then up Benbane Head via the wooden staircase. From here you can return along the cliff top. The specific sites of interest are:
To visit the caves you will have to do some walking. Start in Portbraddan, which has Ireland's tiniest church. At the East end the track passes between islets of Carricknaford and the old shoreline of a raised beach. Here are some sea caves, where stone age flints have been found.
Probably the most visited cave is Portcoon Cave. It is entered from the back until the shore is reached. About 10 to 15m high and 150m long it resembles a narrow tunnel. This cave was visited and published since Victorian times. There are 19th century engravings and old postcards showing this cave, and many references of travelers describing the cave. However, it seems the place is not featured any more and visitors have to know about it to find it.
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