Blarney castle is a fantastic spot not far from Cork, and if you’re looking where to spend a day around the area, that would be a great choice!
Get more info about your visit at the official website.
What to see in Blarney castle?
Blarney castle dates to around 1446 and was a stronghold of the MacCarthy clan, although the first castle in this site was erected earlier than the 11th century.
It’s a stunning example of a few storey tower house surrounded by a wall where all most important events of rural life took place, both in normal peaceful period and during military attacks.
You can also spot some remnants of a gothic mansion built here later but sadly lost to fire in the 19th century.
You can visit the beautiful territory of the castle and cross a couple of bridges while listening to some bagpipe music.
Apart from it, don’t skip the poison garden, a unique site where every plant tries to kill you or at least to make you see a doctor!
Don’t touch or smell the plants and keep an eye on your kids however, and everything is going to be fine.
But there is more…
However, of course, the most important site is located on the top of the castle tower (and we spend an hour in a queue to get there because unluckily for us a bus with elderly Americans who try to get down to their roots, arrived a few minutes ahead of us).
The most famous thing there is the Blarney Stone: if you kiss it, you’ll be gifted a skill of eloquence, or at least that’s what legends say. As the stone is the top part of the tower wall, in the past you had to be held by legs by other people to be able to reach it (and I don’t want to think how many accidents it might’ve caused).
Now it’s all much easier as there’s a team helping you to reach it once you hold the bars attached to the wall – and yes, the stone is cleaned with disinfectant after each visitor).
You might ask, what’s special about this stone, actually? Of course, there are quite a few mystic explanations to its magic powers! First of all, this might be the stone that was used by St Jacob as a pillow when he had a dream of angels going up and down a ladder to heaven, and it was brought directly from the holy land.
Another legend is probably a more popular one: MacCarthy Chieftain supported Robert Bruce against king Edward II and in return was gifted half of the Stone of Scone: it was used by the Kings of Scotland during coronations (and it still is used by British monarchs!)
If you’re hungry, go for a snack by the former stables or alternatively there is another cafe right by the entrance to the castle and the ticket office. Imagine that: you can even buy some local veggies in the castle!
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Hope you liked my blog,
Yours,
Anna xxx
