Photos and the City

Tag: Northern Ireland

  • In the footsteps of giants…

    Welcome back to Ireland! After Venice and the English winter wonderland, it´s time to finish my road trip along the Causeway Coast.

    giant´s causeway, ireland, northern ireland, uk, unesco, nature, landscape, sea, ocean, cliffs

    The basalt columns might be the most known part of the Giant´s Causeway, but there is more to explore!

    giant´s causeway, ireland, northern ireland, uk, unesco, nature, landscape, sea, ocean, cliffsgiant´s causeway, ireland, northern ireland, uk, unesco, nature, landscape, sea, ocean, cliffs

    When Finn fled from the wrath of Scottish giant, Benandonner, he left his boot in this bay – also know as Port Noffer. In the back, you see the Whishing Chair – until some years ago only ladies were allowed to sit on the chair.

    giant´s causeway, ireland, northern ireland, uk, unesco, nature, landscape, sea, ocean, cliffsgiant´s causeway, ireland, northern ireland, uk, unesco, nature, landscape, sea, ocean, cliffs

    There are two possible trails – the one on top of the cliffs, which takes you about 5 miles from the Giant´s Causeway to ruins of Dunseverick Castle and another kind of the mid of the cliffs taking you around them for some may half a mile. There used to be a longer trail but it got buried some years ago.

    giant´s causeway, ireland, northern ireland, uk, unesco, nature, landscape, sea, ocean, cliffsgiant´s causeway, ireland, northern ireland, uk, unesco, nature, landscape, sea, ocean, cliffs

    The Whishing Chair from above.

    giant´s causeway, ireland, northern ireland, uk, unesco, nature, landscape, sea, ocean, cliffs

    View of the “Organ” and the buried former pathway.

    giant´s causeway, ireland, northern ireland, uk, unesco, nature, landscape, sea, ocean, cliffsgiant´s causeway, ireland, northern ireland, uk, unesco, nature, landscape, sea, ocean, cliffsgiant´s causeway, ireland, northern ireland, uk, unesco, nature, landscape, sea, ocean, cliffs

    Hello Scotland! I spot you! And would love to do a little cruise on that sailboat!

    giant´s causeway, ireland, northern ireland, uk, unesco, nature, landscape, sea, ocean, cliffs

    View in direction of the basalt columns and Finn´s “camel” in the back.

    giant´s causeway, ireland, northern ireland, uk, unesco, nature, landscape, sea, ocean, cliffsgiant´s causeway, ireland, northern ireland, uk, unesco, nature, landscape, sea, ocean, cliffs

     

  • Giant´s Causeway

    giant´s causeway, northern ireland, county antrim, uk, basalt, ocean

    On the next morning, I got up quite early, had a quick breakfast at my B&B and off I went to Bushmills to visit the main reason I came to Northern Ireland: the Giant´s Causeway – declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986.

    I remember looking through a book at Waterstones in Cork many years ago and seeing the first picture of this place and instantly fell in love – it took some time but finally, I was going to visit it!

    giant´s causeway, northern ireland, county antrim, uk, basalt, ocean

    Some logistics:

    The Giant´s Causeway is one of the most visited tourist’s attractions in Ireland, be there as early as possible. There are some parking spaces around the visitor centre which were slammed when I left around 11 – I was very pleased that I choose to park at the park & ride in Bushmills and take the free shuttle bus from there, way less stressful! And even helps save money!

    When you arrive at the Giants Causeway there are two ways to enter, one for free via the path or the second one via the visitor centre, which costs £10,50 (or £9 if you´ve used the bus!) and offers an audioguide, exhibitions, toilets, coffee shop and a souvenir shop.

    The path (Coastline & North Antrim Coast Path) is open from dawn to dusk, the visitor centre from 9 to 5. (spring & summer until 7 or 9 pm)

    giant´s causeway, northern ireland, county antrim, uk, basalt, ocean

    From that point, it´s about one-mile walk down to the Giant´s Causeway – you can either walk or take the Bus for £1 – also know as Translinks shortest and probably most profitable bus route.

    The Grand Causeway

    giant´s causeway, northern ireland, county antrim, uk, basalt, ocean

    The area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption thousands of years ago is probably the most known feature of the Giant´s Causeway:

    The columns may even continue under the sea as there are similar ones in a place in Scotland.

    giant´s causeway, northern ireland, county antrim, uk, basalt, oceangiant´s causeway, northern ireland, county antrim, uk, basalt, oceangiant´s causeway, northern ireland, county antrim, uk, basalt, oceangiant´s causeway, northern ireland, county antrim, uk, basalt, oceangiant´s causeway, northern ireland, county antrim, uk, basalt, oceangiant´s causeway, northern ireland, county antrim, uk, basalt, oceangiant´s causeway, northern ireland, county antrim, uk, basalt, ocean

     

     

  • Seaview B&B

    Refreshed and awakened by my tea time at Glenarm Castle I decided to make my B&B in Bushmills the next stop and explore the rest of the coast from there – it was only about an hour away. Approaching it I was greeted by the stunning White Park Bay beach and by some cattle having a nice walk on the beach.

    Seaview B&B 1Seaview B&B 2

    I found my B&B via the Northern Ireland tourism site and was super happy with staying there. It was right in the middle of everything, Bushmills or the Giant´s Causeway were just a short ten minutes drive away. The view was lovely and on the second night there was a meteor shower and I´ve never seen so many shooting stars in my life! The sky was clear, there was no light pollution at all and I almost run out of wishes!

    Seaview B&B 3Seaview B&B 4Seaview B&B 5

    Just some minutes from the B&B is (was) Dunseverick Castle  – or at least the remains of this castle built somewhen before the 5th century AD and was visited by Saint Patrick in the 5th century where he baptised Olcán, who later became a Bishop of Ireland. The castle was destroyed in the 1650s – today only the remains of a gate lodge still stand.

    Seaview B&B 6

    A little further up the coast is Dunluce Castle located on the edge of the cliffs (and when a part of the kitchen went down into the sea the lady of the house decided it was time to move.)

    Seaview B&B 7Seaview B&B 8

    Built in the 13th century it got into the hands of the McQuillans family in 1513 who were the Lords of Route until they were displaced by the MacDonnell in the late 16th century. Dunluce Castle became the home of the Chief of the Mac Donnell clan until 1690 when the MacDonnells were diminished.
    Adjacent to the castle the town of Dunluce was built around 1608 by Randall MacDonnell but razed to the ground in the Irish uprising of 1641.

    It may have contained the most revolutionary housing in Europe when it was built in the early 17th century, including indoor toilets which had only started to be introduced around Europe at the time, and a complex street network based on a grid system. 95% of the town is still to be discovered. (Dunluce Castle)

    Seaview B&B 9

    25 metres under the castle is a huge cave in the cliffs, the Mermaid Cave.

    Seaview B&B 10Seaview B&B 11Seaview B&B 12

    My trusty companion for these few days on the Causeway Coast.

    Seaview B&B 13

    And the view from my room at the B&B.