Ok, so it’s not a volcanic mountain per se, but the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland is still volcanic in nature, being the result of an ancient volcanic fissure.

And it’s pretty fricken cool.

As we were in Northern Ireland as part of our sail around Great Britain, and it was just around the corner from Ballycastle where we were staying, it would have been rude to not visit.

It’s my second time (the first being in 2008) but it ticks off volcano number 25 in my #40by40 challenge.

The Giant’s Causeway is fascinating. Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is a massive area of amazing interlocking basalt columns, most of which are hexagonal in shape.

The Causeway was formed around 50 to 60 million years ago, where lava cooled and contracted, causing vertical fractures to form the pillar-like structures. A bit like how mud dries and cracks during a drought.

However, according to Irish legend, the columns are actually the remains of a causeway between Northern Ireland and Scotland built by the giant Finn McCool.