A Giant's tale

Well...when I was pregnant with Master Bok (2) we were discussing names.  We worked out that Mr Bok could give me a list of 5 names and I'd make the final selection.  Of the 5 names he gave me, 5 were Irish :) and all had a myth attached.

One of the names was Finn.

We visited the Giant's Causeway which tells the tale of the giant Finn (or Fionn in Irish spelling) McCool, the Irish giant who challenged his enemy, the scottish giant Benandonner.  Finn built a causeway, a Giant's Causeway, to Scotland, but when he got there he saw how big Benandonner was and hurried home.  Benandonner gave chase.  Finn's wife Oonagh dressed Finn as a baby and put him in the crib.  When Benandoner arrived, she told him Finn had gone hunting but showed him the 'baby' and Benandonner got such a fright at seeing such a huge baby that he fled back to Scotland ripping up the causeway as he went so Finn couldn't follow.  Two ends of the causeway remain today - the Giant's Causeway at the Northern edge of Ireland and the other at Fingal's Cave on the Scottish island of Staffa. 

I love that story.  Now my children love it too  :)

 

the amazing organ pipes

We also passed by the ruins of Dunluce Castle on the way home, a site of historic battles, a movie and a tragic fable that tells of a wedding celebration at the castle during a mighty storm where part of the castle falls into the ocean taking the kitchens and wedding party with it. I love that every site in Ireland has a story attached. The castle itself dates back to the 1200s.