We loved our walk through Londonerry.  In the photos you'll see parts of one large WWW I and WWWII monument.  It was so large, I could not even begin to get it all in my camera lens. 

So, I took segments, including the tiny crosses with poppies.  I found them particularly poignant.  The soldier with the gun is also part of the monument.

And, you know you're in Ireland for many reasons, but the pubs and Guiness compare to Idaho's potato reputation.  And, you know you're in Ireland when you see all those kegs sitting on the street outside the pub. 

Some photos above illustrate Londonderry history in both security and defiance.  Many messages around town give an indication of the true independent spirit of the town's residents.

And, you know you're in Ireland when you hear constantly all the details about virtually everyone involved with any regional "football" team.  We came across one store totally devoted to the Celtics, a Scottish football team.  We watched soccer/football matches in the pubs and we know who's injured, who's not and who doesn't like the referees and believes they need to be humbled a bit.

The Giant's Causeway, the harsh, unrelenting winds and the occasional in-and-out storms highlighted our afternoon drive.  I loved the tall grass blowing in the winds, and I loved watching the storms coming and particularly enjoyed their almost instant disappearance. 

Made for a good day of snapping pictures, especially the geological wonder of all those columns in the Giant's Causeway.  It's history involves the legend of Giant Finn MacCool.

I have copied a story about him which reveals the myth of how he created the Causeway.  Mother Nature may have helped. 

There are many heroic legends surrounding Finn MacCool, comparisons have been drawn between him and the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.  

Finn was reputed as being the leader of the Fianna, the guardians of the King of Ireland.  Formed the Fianna from a rough bunch of warriors into an elite group of men who transformed under his command into the manifestation of justice and honour, they were the people's heroes. 

Finn's famous son whose mother was the goddess Sadb, is said to be  buried in Glenaan. It is worth noting that many of the great legends of Ireland are based or linked to the north coast of Ulster, 

There must be some  correlation between this and the fact that Whitepark Bay was where man first settled in Ireland.  However in this section we will concentrate on his role in building the Giants Causeway.

The story goes thus: Finn a renown warrior was going about his daily duties on the north coast when one of his adversary, a Scottish giant called Benandonner started shouting and ridiculing Finn's fighting prowess. 

This angered Finn who lifted a lump of earth and pelted it to Scotland  as a challenge to this giant.  

The Scottish giant retaliated with a rock back  to Finn shouting that if he could get his hand on him, he would make sure that Finn would never fight again adding that unfortunately he could not swim the short distance across the Channel, so Finn would be spared that fate. 

Finn got enraged by this and tore large pieces from the cliffs,  he worked for over a week pushing these into the ocean bed and made a sturdy causeway to Scotland, when he had finished he shouted 'Now you'll had no excuse' to come over and do your best.  

Fearing to lose his own reputation and pride the Scottish giant had no alternative but come over the causeway.  Finn was tired, having not slept for the week he worked on the causeway and did not feel ready for fighting. 

He thought about how he could buy some time and recuperate to face the Scottish giant and came up with an ingenious plan. Quickly he made a large cot and disguised himself as a baby ...... and waited.  

The Scottish giant arrived at Finn's house shouting, 'Where is that coward MacCool', Finn's wife said the he was away but sure sit down and have a cup of tea, he'll not be long. the tea arrived with a cake in which Finn's wife had placed some stones. 

Benandonner took a bite and broke one of his teeth, and thought to himself,  this Finn must be a tough boyo to eat cakes like this, not to be outdone,  he finished off the cake and tea, breaking two more teeth in the process.  

He noticed the baby cot and the baby inside it and his eyes widened in fear, he thought to himself, my goodness if this is the size of the baby? What size is the Father?  

He reached his hand in to touch the sleeping baby, half out of curiosity and half  as a sign of affection, Finn bit the tip of his finger off.  Benandonner was shocked by this and thought to himself, if this is what the baby is capable of, what must the father be capable of and what could he not do! 

This thought terrified him, the fear got the better of him and took to his  heels and ran like he had never ran before, back across the causeway to Scotland destroying it as he went.  Well.....that is one version of the story, there are many more to choose from, including one of love and romance.