Category: Northern Ireland

This site is famous for the wire rope bridge between the island of Carrick-a-Rede and the cliffs of Northern Island. However, the whole region is spectacular and the prosaic name doesn’t do justice to its rugged  beauty. The north coast of Northern Ireland is suitably stark, severe and stunning.  Apparently many Irish people have never been to Northern Ireland – it was once dangerous to cross the border and even the stunning beauty of the Northern coast is insufficient inducement today.

Along the green, lush, road to Carrick we saw cows sun-bathing on the golden sands of the beach. One of my favourite images for many years has been of polar bears in the Arctic watching the sunset. Now I have another favourite image. I love to see God’s creatures appreciating God’s creation –  bears, dogs (our dog Samwise likes to watch the sunset), and apparently even cows are capable of seeing beauty – I wonder how much these creatures know?

Anyway, again I digress, which helps to explain my strong aptitude for procrastination (or does it lend support?) On holidays I have more time to ponder…

Our second full day in Ireland was a long one, in multiple ways. We met our tour bus at 6.30am, necessitating a 6.10am start from our apartment, and returned at 8.00pm. From Dublin we were driven to the Giant’s Causeway, Carrick Rope Bridge and Belfast. It saved an immense amount of time driving, the time at each destination was generous, and in the case of Belfast, over-generous. We were also entertained by our tour guide, who gave unstintingly of her knowledge of Ireland’s past from the stone-age to present, with a focus upon ‘The Troubles’ as we travelled through Northern Ireland. I’m only hearing the Irish story on this trip, and it’s a very different story to the news of Irish terrorism which filtered through my younger years. It’s a story of loss and faith, courage and hope through adversity and persecution. The identity of the Irish was tied to their Catholicism, but this is now changing, with a separating of culture and religion. There’s still conflict in the North (flags of both unionists and nationalists fly from opposite sides of the motorway), but apparently the crime rate is right down, and Dublin is now a more dangerous city than is Belfast, due to gang violence.

The Giant’s Causeway is soaked in legend. Its stone columns (the steps) are comprised of hexagonal stones fitted and packed closely together. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and truly weird. The story is that the causeway was built by one giant, and then another giant ran across the causeway fleeing from the first giant, and ripping up the causeway as he fell, forming the steps. The other end to the causeway is in Staffa, Scotland, and there are apparently similar rock formations there. There’s a long version to the legend, and a scientific explanation based upon erosion and lava flow. From our perspective, it was extraordinary and lots of fun to step across the stones.