Northern Ireland’s Giant Causeway attracts nearly one million visitors annually, but the habit of wedging small coins into the cracks between the rocks — believed to bring love or luck — is causing damage to the world-famous site.
Authorities are now urging tourists to keep their coins in their pockets to help preserve this spectacular natural landmark.
The Causeway is marked by approximately 40,000 columns and is Northern Ireland’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Geologists explain that this natural phenomenon was formed around 60 million years ago by an outpouring of basalt lava.
According to legend, the Causeway was created by the Irish giant Finn McCool.
In recent decades, visitors have inserted thousands of coins into fissures in the rocks.
This practice is seen as "a token of love or luck," according to Cliff Henry, the Causeway’s nature engagement officer.
However, the coins corrode and expand quickly, causing the basalt to flake and leaving unsightly rust-coloured streaks, Henry told a foreign news agency.
He pointed to the streaks on a rock and carefully prised out a US cent with a set of keys.
“We receive many euros and dollar cents, but coins from virtually every currency around the world have been found here,” he said.
A 2021 report by the British Geological Survey revealed that the coins were causing significant damage, and action was needed, Henry noted.
Signs have now been installed around the site, appealing to tourists to “leave no trace”.
— ‘Distressed’ —
“Once some visitors see others doing it, they feel the need to add to it,” causeway tour guide Joan Kennedy told the news agency.
She and her colleagues now gently but firmly advise tourists to desist.
At the exit, a US couple expressed their distress upon learning about the damage caused by the coins.
“Our guide mentioned as we were coming up that people had been putting coins into the stones. It’s really upsetting to hear that,” said Robert Lewis, 75, from Florida.
“It’s like damaging nature itself when you do something like that, putting foreign objects into a natural site. It’s not good,” added his wife, Geri, 70.
As part of a £30,000 ($40,000) conservation project, stone masons recently removed as many coins as possible — without causing further damage — from ten test sites around the Causeway.
Henry said the trial was successful and will be expanded across the entire site.
“If we can remove all those coins initially, it will improve the situation, and hopefully, no more coins will be inserted,” he said.
“If visitors see fewer coins in the stones and hear appeals to stop this damaging practice, the problem may be resolved.
“We know visitors love and cherish the Giant’s Causeway and often form deep personal connections with it, so we want this natural wonder to remain special for future generations.”
