A Fenian legend attributes the formation of this lough to Finn McCool (Fionn Mac Cumhaill), the heroic leader of the Fianna Warriors who, at this later stage of his heroic portfolio, now takes the form of a 16.5 meter (54 ft) tall warrior giant who finds himself in the middle of a feud with Benandonner; a rival giant whose incessant taunts and insults can be heard rumbling over the hills of Ulster all the way from Scotland.
One day, in a spurt of anger, Finn grabbed the earth with his bare hands and hurled it with all his might toward Benandonner. Finn missed terribly and the massive sod landing in the Irish sea became the Isle of Mann. The vast hole left behind in the earth became Lough Neagh when it was filled with water.
In this video, I get to tell you about my favourite mug and the legend that decorates it. Finn Mc Cool is now a giant and he’s not happy. An ongoing feud with a rival giant causes him to create Lough Neagh, the Isle of Man, and the Giant’s Causeway.
Find out why…
The giant Finn’s story continues with the sounds of Benandonner’s laughter bellowing louder than ever across the waters to Finn’s abode in Ulster. Furious his shot failed to meet its mark, Finn is now determined to cross the water and confront Benandonner in person; but without getting wet if it could be avoided.
Promptly Finn turned to build the great causeway and once it was finished began his crossing toward Scotland. Nearing the end of the stretch, Finn spied Benandonner for the first time in the distance and was shocked to see Benandonner was much larger than he had prepared for.
A cold fear shot down his spine and our brave hero quickly retreated back to the arms of his wife Oona (Oonagh) who magically disguised him as a baby. Descending upon Finn’s home like the sound of thunder, Benandonner is confused when he sees no sign of Finn but he decides to sit and wait for Finn’s return.
Meanwhile, Oona has a clever idea, begins to bake a batch of delicious cakes made from iron and offers them to the waiting giant with a hospitable smile. Biting into one of the iron cakes, Benandonner chips a tooth. Oona laughs and mocks Benandonner’s weakness claiming her husband eats cakes like these all the time, and to prove her point she offers a cake to the baby except this one had been cunningly prepared in the usual way without the addition of iron.
Seeing the baby gobble the cake with such delightful ease having just chipped his own tooth frightened Benandonner. Catching a glimpse of the crib, the infant inside it suddenly appeared huge to Benandonner. So huge was the child that suddenly Benandonner no longer wanted to meet the father who he figured must be enormous.
Fleeing from the site across the causeway Finn had created, Benandonner smashed and wrecked the path behind him ensuring pursuit from Finn would not be possible. The Scottish side of the causeway emerges from the sea on the Isle of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides at a place named Fingal’s Cave in honour of the giant hero Finn. The same hexagonal basalt columns can be found here. In Scots Gaelic the cave is also referred to as Uamh-Binn, or “Cave of Melody”.
In another account of the story Finn’s antagonist is none other than Cú Chullain who also inexplicably takes the form of a giant and lives at the same time as Finn (although traditionally the heroes are from two distinct cycles or epochs of Irish myth). Here, while waiting for Finn to return, Oona further goads Cú Chulainn with a series of tasks to perform. Other Irish names in use for the Causeway include Clochán an Aifir, literally ‘stone-crossing of rebuke’, and Casán an Fhathaigh, ‘the giants path’.
