Introduction :
The Fingal’s Cave is a sea cave located the uninhabited island of Staffa, amongest the archipelago of islands in Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The main features in Fingal’s cave is the arching of basalt columns forming a ceiling and shaping it like a natural catheral emanating eerie sounds produced by the echo of waves. The cave measures 85 metres in depth and 23 metres in height and is formed entirely from Paleocene lava flow of hexagonally jointed basalt columns. Due to the natural sounds from the cave, it is also known as Uaimh Bhinn in Gaelic, which means the “Cave of Melody”.
Entrance to Fingal’s cave
Image attribution to wanderingz @ Flickr
Basalt columns that make up the cave surroundings
Image attribution to carron @ Flickr
Closer look from inside the cave out
Image attribution to dinksi @ Flickr
History :
Little was known about the Fingal’s Cave until 1772 when it was made known to the English by naturalist Sir Joseph Banks. It was named after the hero of an epic Scottish Gaelic poem by Scots poet-historian James Macpherson and also has a part to play in Irish mythology.
Slippery route towards the cave
Image attribution to dinksi @ Flickr
Viewing the Fingal’s Cave from on top
Image attribution to hotgingeranddynamite @ Flickr
A measure of the cave size with tourists around the area during departure
Image attribution to corncolonel @ Flickr
Getting there :
The nearest airport to the Fingal’s Cave is the Glasgow Airport (GLA) which is around 160 km away from the Isle of Mull where boat trips can be easily arranged to the Fingal’s cave