Hunting leprechauns in Northern Ireland

So Belfast might just be up there with one of our favourite cities. Mostly because it was so tiny small it reminded us of cities in New Zealand. They kind you can walk from side to side in a couple of hours (er… all New Zealand cities then). And the people were so friendly, wanting to help with a smile and a gorgeous Irish accent. Anyhow, we spent a weekend there in May 2015, and were lucky enough to have a local workmate (now living in London) to show us the ropes and invite us to his family home for a BBQ.

Saturday we got a train to Coleraine to visit the Giant’s causeway. While walking down to it, we were given the *true* story of Finn McCool, the giant it’s named after. The *true* story goes something like this:

Finn McCool lived happily on the Antrim coast with his wife Oonagh until he discovered he had a rival in Scotland known as Benandonner. Finn was frequently taunted by Benandonner from afar and on one occasion Finn scooped up a clod of earth and hurled it across the sea at him but missed. The huge clod of earth landed in the middle of the Irish Sea making the Isle of Man and the depression formed from scooping up the earth filled up with water to become Lough Neagh.

Finn finally challenged Benandonner to a proper fight and decided to build a causeway of enormous stepping stones across the sea to Scotland, so that he could walk across without getting his feet wet. But as he approached and caught sight of the great bulk of Benandonner, Finn became afraid and fled back home, with Benandonner hot on his trail.

Finn asks his wife Oonagh to help him hide. Clever Oonagh disguised Finn as a baby and pushed him into a huge cradle. She then baked some cookies, one batch with rocks inside which she fed to Benandooner, and one normal batch which she fed to Finn. When Benandonner saw the son of Finn gobbling down the bickies he’d struggled with, he freaked out, fleeing home in terror, ripping up the Causeway as he went in case he was followed.

And the *false* story of the hexagonal stones goes like this:

The Giant's Causeway, renowned for its polygonal columns of layered basalt, is the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland. Resulting from a volcanic eruption 60 million years ago, this is the focal point of a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has attracted visitors for centuries.

Dull right?

Anyway we met our friends and enjoyed a couple of hours sitting on top of a pile of rocks, soaking up the sunshine and taking in the view. We were blessed with gorgeous blue, sunny skies which didn’t last more than a day.

On the Sunday we took in a bus tour including great views from Belfast Castle; The Falls Road area, peace wall and famous murals; Shankill memorial garden and Queen’s university; then spent a fantastic (rainy) couple of hours at the Titanic museum. Don’t let the £15 put you off. The building is set in the shipyards where the Titanic was built and the well-planned museum gave the history of Belfast’s industrial boom, how the Titanic was made, examples of its interior and of course, the disaster. We* left humming ‘My heart will go on’ with a hankering to watch Leo and Kate, on the quick taxi trip to the airport and back home again. (* denotes Lou).