Walking in the Footsteps of Giants

July 17, 2023

Today was the day on the trip that I had been most looking forward to. In fact, I planned the entirety of our jaunt through Northern Ireland, and eschewed visiting the south, because I wanted to see the Giant’s Causeway (Clochán an Aifir). It is the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland. We were also staying in the Causeway Hotel because that meant we could get down to the Causeway early in the morning, before the crowds. The plan worked like a dream and the Causeway did not disappoint.

According to legend, the Irish giant Finn McCool (Fionn mac Cumhaill) built the Causeway after the Scottish giant Benandonner challenged him to a fight. When Finn crossed the bridge and realized Benandonner was much larger, he returned to Ireland where his wife Sadhbh disguised him as a baby and tucked him in a cradle. When Benandonner saw the size of the "baby," he decided that its father (Finn) must be a giant among giants, so he fled back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Finn would not be able to chase him down. According to legend, all that remains from the destroyed causeway are its ends—the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland and the island of Staffa in Scotland.

We set off down to the Causeway around 7:30 am amidst overcast skies but no rain. There literally wasn’t another soul there when we got down. After spending a solid 90 minutes down at the Causeway, we set back up to the hotel for breakfast, followed by a quick stop off in the Visitor Experience. It was a good thing we went down to the Causeway early, because when we walked out of the hotel after breakfast, it was pouring rain!

Because we had retooled our plan to stop back by the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, we started our way back east along the Causeway Coast. Our first stop was Dunseverick Castle (Dún Sobhairce), which was first fortified by the ancient chieftain Sobhairce by at least the 5th century, became the center for the Earls of Ulster between 1250 and 1350, and the stronghold for the MacDonnells beginning in 1560. Saint Patrick is recorded as having visited the castle where he baptized Olcán, the future Bishop of Ireland. The castle was finally captured and destroyed by Cromwell's troops in the 1650s and all that remains today is the gatelodge.

From there, we drove east, passing the white sand beaches of Whitepark Bay. The four of us spent an embarrassing amount of time discussing how it could possibly be that there were people down on the beach on such a chilly and rainy morning only to finally realize that they weren’t people at all, but cows! Our next stop was down winding and treacherous road in Ballintoy (Baile an Tuaighe) Harbor, which is where they filmed a number of scenes for Game of Thrones, including those for the Iron Islands’ Lordsport Harbour. The harbour was built in large part because of the nearby lime kiln that was built in the 1700s and redeveloped a century later. Additionally, in the late 1800s, sett stones, hewn in nearby quarries were exported from the harbour to pave the streets of fast-developing industrial cities like Dublin and Liverpool. The harbour offered yet another incredible view of the northern Irish landscape.

Finally, it was time to head back to the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge, and I hadn’t gotten any notification that the bridge was closed today, so we were all excited and hopeful. The bridge itself is 60-feet long and 3-feet wide, spanning the 90-foot-deep chasm between the sea cliffs and the tiny island of Carrick-a-Rede. The island's name comes from the Gaelic Carraig-a-Rade, which means "The Rock in the Road." It was named such because the island represented an obstacle for the migrating Atlantic salmon. The rope bridge was first erected by fishermen in 1755, but the fish are long gone now. because of fishing pressure at sea and river pollution. The last fish was caught at Carrick-a-Rede in 2002 when the last fisherman on the island retired after 30 years.

The trail from the car park to the bridge was a little over a mile, winding up and down the sea cliffs and past fields and fields of sheep. As we were walking down, we passed a group of four girls - seemingly American college students - who made a series of less-than-astute observations about the Troubles and the political challenges of Northern Ireland. The penultimate decision they reached to resolve these political challenges was that if they just changed the name of Londonderry to “Derry Londonderry.” Apparently that simple change had the power to resolve literal centuries of religious and political disagreement. At that point, I had to speed walk to get as far away from their ignorant idiocy as possible.

The bridge and the island were both really cool! Kati had been on the fence about crossing the bridge before the trip, but managed to summon the courage to do it (and enjoy it). There’s still an old fisherman’s house built into the steep side of the island and all I could think about the whole time was how it just doesn’t seem possible to live in a house like that…on an island like that! Like so many things along the Causeway Coast, it was just mind blowing. Equally mind blowing was the fact that, on our walk back, Kati turned to me and said, “Is she wearing a Transy jacket?!” As it turns out, not only was she wearing a Transy jacket, but her husband (also wearing a matching jacket) is the President of Transylvania University! We stopped to chat with them for a few minutes and marvel about how small the world is and how, without fail, when we go somewhere, we run into other people from Kentucky.

We made one last stop in County Antrim before setting off for the wild Atlantic coast of Donegal in Portrush (Port Rois) to grab a quick bite to eat. Portrush was packed with people and bears a lot of similarities to the Jersey Shore. It’s a seaside resort town and the focal point of the downtown area is a boardwalk full of carnival rides, putt putt, and the likes. We tried to stop off at Kiwis Brew Bar for lunch and some craft beer, but we got there at noon and they didn’t start serving food until 1:00. As much as we wanted to try it out, we had places to be and no time to linger. Unfortunately, the next several places along the street that we tried to stop at to eat were also closed, so our options were limited. Finally, we found nondescript hotel restaurant to get a burger and head back into the Republic of Ireland and on to the Irish equivalent of the Wild Wild West - County Donegal.

Exploring County Antrim

July 16, 2023

From Belfast Castle, we set off on our journey through County Antrim and its mystical landscape of rock formations, ruined castles, and wooded glens.  Our first stop in Antrim was at the Dark Hedges.  They were planted by the Stuart family in the 18th century as the formal entrance to their property, but the gnarled and intertwined beech trees became famous as the site as the Kingsroad in Game of Thrones.  Before the trip, I had heard that the Dark Hedges, while really cool, were a bit of a disappointment because there were tons of tour buses parked nearby and too many people to truly appreciate the site.  That, however, was not our experience.  Though there were a decent number of people, it wasn’t overwhelming and the street was still very cool.

For lunch, we stopped off in the harbor-town of Ballycastle, which marks the eastern end of the Causeway Coast, and found a small pub to grab a quick bite before continuing our tour. The town was everything you would expect in rural Ireland - narrow roads winding up and down rolling hills, flanked on both sides with picturesque and colorful storefronts. We also got to drive along the harbor as we started our trek down the Causeway Coast.

Our first stop along the coast was Kinbane Castle (Caisleán Ceinn Bán), which was a late-add to fill our puffin void and perhaps the highlight of the day. The ruined castle was built in 1547 by Colla MacDonnell, then rebuilt in 1555 following an English siege. What is left of the castle sits on a limestone headland jutting out from basalt cliffs with incredible views of both Rathlin Island and Scotland. We had to descend 140 stairs from the top of the cliff to reach the castle, but wow! I can’t imagine a more picturesque location.

Next on the itinerary was the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, but we arrived to find that it was closed for the

day due to extreme winds. Luckily, everything along the Causeway Coast is relatively close together and I was able to rejigger our plans tomorrow and get reservations to come back to the bridge in the morning. We did walk down to the rope bridge, which was a much longer walk than I had anticipated (~1.2 miles), but then set off to Dunlace (Dún Libhse) Castle. In contrast to Kinbane Castle, Dunluce (“dun-loose”) Castle is pretty well preserved for being centuries old. It is perched atop a dramatic basalt crag and there is a narrow bridge that leads from the former guest lodgings and stables across a dizzying gap to the main part of the fortress. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the castle was the seat of the MacDonnell family (the earls of Antrim from 1620). What amazed me the most about the castle (besides the setting and the view) was the fact that three of four of the bay windows are virtually undamaged beyond the lack of glass. Dunlace Castle was very cool, but personally I think Kinbane Castle was the more impressive and stunning site.

By the time they kicked us out of Dunlace Castle at 5:00 pm, it was time to go to our hotel and get ready for dinner. We were staying at the Causeway Hotel (est. 1844) because it is right at the Giant’s Causeway and offers unfettered access before the visitors experience and parking lots open up.

Dinner was at Bushmills Inn, which is an old coaching inn dating back to around 1608. It has peat fires, gas lamps, a secret library, and a round tower, and the old 17th century stables are now used as a restaurant that uses local produce to make local dishes. The food was good across the board, but the stars of the show were the savory goats' cheesecake and the sticky toffee pudding. After dinner, we returned to the hotel and grabbed one last round of local craft beers before turning in for the night.

Climbing the Slumbering Giant

July 16, 2023

My alarm went off far too soon; 6:30 am to be exact.  I had slept like a baby, but it still wasn’t enough and getting our of bed was a mental high-jump.  We hadn’t spent enough time in our room to really unpack things, so the packing part was easy.  Despite the beauty of our Victorian room, the massive bathroom, and the stunningly massive porcelain bathtub, the shower was the most coffin-like enclosure I have ever stepped into.  It couldn’t have been more than two feet wide on each side and the rain shower head over top meant that I barely had enough room to get my hair out of the water to put shampoo in it!  We met the Justices downstairs in the dining room around 7:00 am for breakfast.  It was then that I learned Irish people actually eat real breakfast!  I had prepared for the standard European fare of small pastries, cheeses, meats, and fruit, but instead we got massive omelets, pancakes, bacon, and sausage.  It was quite the nice surprise.  I was a bit anxious at breakfast because it was our first travel day, there were a lot of logistics to keep in mind, and I wanted things to go well.  We had already had to make some last-minute adjustments to the day’s itinerary when the skipper who was going to take us around Rathlin Island to see puffins and seals called me and said he had to cancel our reservation because there was “some guy” that was going “to do crazy stuff in a canoe” and needed him to provide safety training and support.  Unfortunately, he was the only skipper in Ballycastle that ran that type of trip, so we were out of luck and needed to pivot.  I had planned to fill the void with more sightseeing along the Causeway Coast.

After breakfast, Tyler took the wheel so he could try his hand at driving on the wrong side of the road.  He had his moments at the beginning (as did I), but picked it up quickly.  We started our adventure at the impressive Belfast Castle.  It was built in 1870 for the third Marquess of Donegal in the Scottish Baronial style and commands the southern slopes of Cave Hill.  Legend has it that the castle’s residents will experience good fortune only as long as a white cate lives there.  This tale is built into the beautiful gardens surrounding the castle which depicts nine cats in mosaics, paintings, sculptures, and a topiary.  From there, we set off on our hike to the summit of Cave Hill (elev. 1,207 feet), which offers unobstructed views of the entire city, the docks, Belfast Lough, and the Mourne Mountains.  On a clear day, you can even see Scotland!  The hill was originally called Ben Madigan, after the 9th century Ulster king Matudhain.  Atop the summit sits McArt’s Fort, where members of the United Irishmen, including Wolfe Tone, looked down over the city in 1795 and took an oath to fight for Irish independence shortly before they launched the rebellion of 1798.  The hike - 3.6 miles by some estimates and 4.5 by others - was a beast going up, but well worth it.  It was pouring rain on our drive to the castle, but by the time we set off on our hike (10 minutes later) the rain was gone and the sun was burning the clouds away.  However, the sun didn’t do much about the wind which was out in force for the duration of our hike.  During our climb, we passed the five caves that give the hill its name.  The climb got steeper and steeper the closer we got to the top, but the views improved exponentially as well.  The panorama from McArt’s Fort was worth every step and shiver along the way.  It was also something to realize that we were standing on top of the mountain - shaped like a sleeping giant safeguarding the city - that is thought to be the inspiration for Johnathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

The hike back down Cave Hill was significantly easier and blew by.  After reaching the castle again, we strolled through the gardens for a few minutes before hopping in the car and heading north to County Antrim and the Causeway Coast.