The Maidens

The Maidens (Irish: Na Maighdeanacha[1]) or Hulin Rocks (Irish: Na Faoilinn, meaning 'the seagulls[2]') are two islets and several skerries in the North Channel off County Antrim in Northern Ireland.

The Eastern Maiden or Southern Rock lies about 9 km from the coast at Ballygalley,[3] or 13 miles from Larne.

[5] The Maidens is an example of an olivine-dolerite sill, one of many similar intrusions along the Antrim coast.

At the Maidens, magma was forced underground through layers of weakness, but never reached the surface.

It cooled more slowly, solidifying and leaving a hard rock, relatively resistant to weathering compared to the strata around it and so forming the islands left today.