Things you didn't know about... County Antrim

Legend has it that the great Irish hero, the giant Finn McCool, built Antrim's extraordinary Giant's Causeway to cross to Scotland. The myth has some basis in geological reality—the 40,000 interlocking basalt columns on Antrim's coast correspond to similar formations at Fingal's Cave on Scotland's Isle of Staffa. Caused by an ancient volcanic eruption, it is the most popular tourist destination in Northern Ireland and a Unesco World Heritage site.

Just two miles from the Giant's Causeway is the village of Bushmills, where you can find the oldest licensed distillery in the world, founded in 1608. It produces a range of whiskies, including the Bushmills 12-year-old malt whiskey (note the Irish spelling—the Scots drink "whisky").

Although Belfast, the capital of North Ireland, is mainly in County Antrim, bizarrely it is not the traditional county town of County Antrim. That honour falls to Antrim. Antrim is home to the only international retail outlet in Ireland, named Junction One after a motorway junction.

Tradition holds that St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, and legendary banisher of snakes, was a slave in County Antrim when he was in his teens. He was born in Britain (then Roman) but was captured by Irish raiders and taken to Slemish, County Antrim, where he slaved as a herdsman before escaping back to Britain. He later returned to Ireland as a missionary and converted the island to Christianity.

Just 45 minutes north of County Antrim by ferry is Rathlin Island, one of the best-kept secrets in the British Isles. It is an L-shaped island, four miles long, with cliffs, sea-birds, seals, lighthouses and dramatic views. Great for naturalists, sea-anglers and bird-watchers. It was in a cave here that Robert the Bruce watched a spider building a web eight times and thus learned to be persistent in his fight against the English (so they say—though there are at least three other locations that claim to be the site).

The cover of the Led Zeppelin album The Houses of the Holy features two of County Antrim's most famous tourist attractions. The outer gatefold depicts the Giant's Causeway, the inner gatefold Dunluce Castle nearby. The castle is in one of the most dramatic and romantic spots in the whole of Ireland.

Not a comic double act, but two of Antrim's gastronomic goodies. Dulse is an edible red or purple seaweed, while Yellowman is a kind of bright yellow toffee. Both are sold at the Auld (or Ould) Lammas Fair that takes place at Ballycastle on the last Monday and Tuesday of every August.

Never mind Tatooine and Dantooine—the Force is strong in Antrim. Liam Neeson was born in Ballymena in 1952. Before discovering his vocation as an actor, Liam worked as a forklift operator for Guinness, an assistant architect and an amateur boxer—truly a man of many parts.