No trip to Ireland would be complete without a visit to Blarney Clastle in County Cork to kiss the famous Blarney Stone. Called the “Stone of Elegance” kissing the Blarney stone is said to bestow the gift of gab. Whether this is true or not, the Blarney Stone is visited by thousands of people every year.
The stone is allegedly half of the Scottish Stone of Scone, which was used to crown ancient Scottish kings and is said to have magical powers. Legend goes that the Blarney stone was given by Robert the Bruce to Cormac McCarthy in 1314 after the Battle of Bannockburn.
The stone and the castle gained their reputation during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Dermot McCarthy, the Irish lord who held the castle at the time, was ordered to surrender it to the Queen to prove his loyalty to the crown but he kept coming up with excuses as to why he could not surrender the castle. Queen Elizabeth, tired of hearing endless excuses from McCarthy called them “blarney”.
Another Irish legend claims that the King of Munster was given a spell by an old woman he had saved from drowning. The spell gave the King a “speech that would win all to him” all he had to do was kiss a stone at the top of the castle.
But kissing the Blarney Stone is not for those afraid of heights. The stone is located at the top of Blarney castle, on the outside of the parapet. You must climb the long spiral staircases to the very top of the castle which is 90 feet (27.7 meters) above ground. The stone is kissed by hanging backwards over the edge while someone holds your feet. There are iron rails to keep you from falling but you can see down to the ground and it is a long way down.
But this doesn’t seem to stop people from lining up to kiss the stone nor does the fact that the stone is probably not very hygienic. Hundreds of people still kiss the stone every day.
The village of Blarney is about 9 km (5 miles) north west of Cork and is easily reached by local bus (#224 from Cork-Parnell) in about half an hour. Admission is charged to the castle. ($8 Euro dollars or $12.14 US) Visitors can also tour the Blarney Gardens and the Rock Close, which is a pre-historic dolmen located near the castle.
Kissing the Blarney stone may or may not give you the gift of gab or make your speech more eloquent but it is worth a try. I can truthfully say that I began my writing career shortly after I kissed the Blarney stone. And that’s no Blarney!
http://www.sacredsites.com/europe/ireland/blarney_stone.HTML
http://www.blarneycastle.ie/history
http://www.blarneycastle.ie/pages/stone
http://www.lookintoireland.com/blarney.htm
