| 1842 print GIANT'S CAUSEWAY, NORTHERN IRELAND, #1 |
Print from steel engraving titled La Chaussee des Geants, published in a volume of L'Univers Pittoresque, Histoire et description de tous les peuples, Paris, approx. page size 21 x 13 cm, approx. image size 16 x 9.5 cm.
Giant's Causeway,
Irish CLOCHÁN AN AIFIR, promontory of columnar basalt on the northwest coast of Moyle district (established 1973), formerly in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, between Portrush and Ballycastle. Its prismatic, or brilliant, forms (mostly irregular hexagons) were caused by the rapid cooling of the lava flows at their entry to the sea. The columns vary from 15 to 20 in. (375 to 500 mm) in diameter, and some are 20 ft (6 m) in height. In places, the causeway is 40 ft wide and is highest at its narrowest part. The most remarkable of the cliffs is the Pleaskin, the upper pillars of which are 400 ft high. Local folklore ascribes its formation to a race of giants who built it as a roadway to Staffa, where a similar structure occurs.