Kiss'in the Blarney Stone (Saturday, July 27th, 2019)

The Blarney Castle is located in the small village of Blarney, Ireland.  

The first Castle in this location was a wooden structure built in the 10th century, it was then replaced by a stone fortification in 1210.  

In 1314 the King of Munster gave the Bruce of Scotland 5000 soldiers to help fight England in the Battle of Bannockburn.  The soldiers defeated England's King Edward II, and Bruce of Scotland presented the Stone of Destiny, which later became known as the Blarney Stone.  This stone was placed in the 1210 Blarney Castle Battlement.  

The current structure now known as the Blarney Castle was built in 1446 after the 1210 structure was demolished.  The Blarney Stone was reinstalled in the new castle.



There are beautiful gardens surrounding the Blarney Castle.

The Blarney Castle, as with all castles in Ireland, contains a series of narrow winding stairways and small stone rooms. 

I can't imagine what it would have been like to live in a castle.  It was certainly not the romanticized fantasy that is painted in fairy tales.  They were extremely dark, damp and cold.

Three of us (Steve, his brother and I) decided to make the climb to the Blarney Stone.  Our sister-in-law and Steve's parents waited for us on a bench in the gardens.

But time, humidity and moss have certainly softened the facade of this castle, giving it an almost magical feel.

When we finally reached the top of the stairway maze, the views went on for miles.

As we walked around the top edge of the castle, waiting for our turn to kiss the Blarney Stone, we could see the interior of the castle walls.

We got to the castle early, so there were very few people in line in front of us.

We could see each person as they approached the Blarney Stone.  Some attempted to kiss it, others gave up and moved on.  We've heard that it is a scary experience, but we really didn't know what to expect.

When it was our turn, we had the camera ready because we knew this would be a once in a lifetime experience.  

The Blarney stone is about 18 inches below ground level, on the fourth floor of the castle.  You lie on your back, grab the hand rails and slide out over the opening to the stone.  It is open below you, so you can see down to the ground.  They have an assistant to keep you from landing on your head, thank goodness because I don't think I could have done it otherwise.

I went first,

Then Steve's brother,

 and finally Steve.

We were all very proud of ourselves for doing it.  Now we have the gift of eloquence!  A little extra gab will be a good thing for me.

When we finished kissing the stone, we took a few minutes to take some pictures because our knees (or at least mine) were shaking so hard that I didn't think I could make it back down the steep and winding stairway.

When our knees would allow it, we made our way back to the narrow stairway to find our way out.  Going up we only had a rope to hold on to, but coming back down there was actually a hand rail.  They must know that we need a little extra support at this point.



There were so many fun rooms to explore on our way down.

One of the castles towers looked a lot like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  It's probably good we weren't allowed in that one.

And finally, we were at the bottom.

In 1586, Queen Elizabeth sent the Earl of Leicester to seize the castle and the land it resided on, but the inhabitants found ways to delay negotiations and continued to hold the castle.  

During the Confederate war from 1641 to 1652 the castle was finally taken, and everyone except for a two old servants escaped the castle via an adjacent cave.  

When we left the castle, I ran up ahead to see if I could find the cave.  And sure enough, it was there!  I didn't have time to go clear in, but was so glad I found it.

After exploring the cave for a few minutes, I ran to catch up with everyone else as they strolled back through the castle gardens.

A 100 year old western red cedar tree.

This wall stands in Blarney Village.  You can see how the stones are wearing down quicker than the concrete that holds them in place.

After exploring the Blarney Castle, our next stop was the Blarney Woollen Mills, where we could shop for beautiful wool clothing, yarn and other items.

While our sister-in-law shopped for wool yarn, 



Steve found the deal of the day...  buy any Guinness item and get a free draught beer (or two).

He looked like a kid in a candy shop!  

Then off to Christy's for some lunch.

Imagine that... scones and Irish coffee for lunch!

Our tour guide Ann Marie has learned that bribery is very effective with all of us, so now everyone who makes it back to the bus on time gets a treat.  Today it's leprechaun suckers.

Now off to Waterford we go.