Blarney Castle, Ireland. Blarney Castle, Ireland Blarney Castle, Ireland Stone of Eloquence

Among the many attractions of Ireland, Blarney Castle undoubtedly deserves special attention - a dilapidated ancient castle near the village of the same name, just 8-10 km northwest of the city of Cork. Today it is perhaps one of County Cork's most popular tourist destinations.

Historians believe that the first castle-fortress on these lands existed back in the 10th century. It was built from wood and it is not surprising that not a trace remains of the original structure to this day. The more reliable stone fortress that replaced it at the beginning of the 13th century was destroyed to its foundations. The castle, as we see it today, was built in 1446 by order of King Dermot McCarthy of Munster.

During its turbulent and long history, Blarney Castle has survived several sieges and changed its owners several times. At the end of the 17th century, the castle was acquired by the Governor of Cork, Sir James Jeffers, whose descendants still own it today.

The castle became widely known largely thanks to the famous Stone of Eloquence (or Blarney Stone), which has long been the subject of legends. It is a block of so-called “white stone” (also known as Carboniferous limestone) and is built into the upper part of the castle wall. According to legend, anyone who kisses this stone (a certain ritual must be followed) will forever gain the gift of eloquence. Whether this is true or fiction, of course, is unknown, but there are always more than enough people willing.

However, even if you are not eager to acquire the gift of eloquence, it is definitely worth climbing to the top of the fortress walls in order to enjoy excellent panoramic views. You will also get a lot of pleasure just walking around the picturesque surroundings of the castle, where you can admire the luxurious gardens that were laid out at the beginning of the 18th century. Also worth visiting is the so-called Blarney House, located opposite the old castle and open to the public - a magnificent mansion in the Scottish baronial style, built in 1874.

The partially ruined medieval Blarney Castle is located near the city of Cork in Southern Ireland. The wooden fortress, built here in the 10th century, was replaced by a stone castle at the beginning of the 13th century, but the real fortress, as it exists now, was built by the famous Irish leader Cormac McCarthy in 1446.

The main feature of the castle is the massive square keep, 85 feet high and with walls up to 18 feet thick. It contained living quarters for the McCarthy family, their knights and vassals. The crenellated top of the main keep is thought to have been added later in the 1500s. The lower floor consists of a large open room with the count's bedroom to the side. On the second floor there was a Great Hall and a security room. This floor also had a tiny room called the "murder room" where guards could hide and keep an eye on guests entering the large room on the first floor. A shower of hot liquid could suddenly pour out on an unwanted guest or a targeted beam of arrows could be fired. There was a large family room and chapel on the third floor, and a banquet hall on the floor above.

Under the castle you can find a network of dungeons and caves. On the grounds of the castle there are still the ruins of a bell tower, left over from an 18th-century Gothic chapel that was destroyed by fire. Blarney gained worldwide fame as the site of the famous Stone of Blarney or the Blarney Stone. The castle is surrounded by beautiful gardens laid out by James John Jefferies in the mid-18th century. Blarney Castle is open to the public all year round, except on 24 and 25 December.

On the hill where Blarney Castle is located, the first fortified wooden structure was built back in the 10th century. Around 1210, a stone fortress was erected on the site of this building, which did not last long and was destroyed 200 years later. In 1446, the head of Munster, Dermot McCarthy, began construction of a castle on this site in the form in which it has survived to this day. In 1314, Dermot's ancestor, Cormac MacCarthy, sent 4,000 of his subjects from Munster to help Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn, where he fought the English king Edward II. Bruce was victorious and gave Cormac half of the Skunk Stone as a token of gratitude. This relic has a long historical trail behind it. According to legend, Scota, the daughter of Pharaoh Ramesses II, left her homeland and wandered around the world for hundreds of years in search of lands that would become her new promised land. Her wanderings led her to the shores of Northern Ireland, where she settled. With her husband Gatela, king of the Scythians, she gave rise to the Scots and Picts. On the way, Scota did not part with a huge sandstone stone. It was with him under his head that the biblical Jacob had a wonderful dream with a staircase to heaven, along which angels ascended and descended. The relic was kept in Scone Abbey in Scotland, and English and Scottish kings were crowned while sitting on it. All this explains the numerous names of the sandstone slab: Stone of Destiny, Jacob's Pillow, Coronation Stone.

At Blarney Castle, the Stone was mounted into the castle wall at a considerable height. There is a legend that whoever kisses this stone will become eloquent and lucky - at all times, eloquence was considered a valuable gift, it helped in politics, war and love. According to the legend, if you touch this stone with your lips, you can master the gift of eloquence. Since then, this stone has been called the Stone of Eloquence (Blarney Stone). The Stone of Eloquence to this day attracts many tourists to the castle who come there to kiss it.

Politicians from the greatest nations, literary celebrities and world cinema stars, along with millions of ordinary pilgrims, climb the steep steps of Blarney Castle to reach the stone. Previously, visitors had to be literally held by the heels and lowered upside down behind the wall of the tower so that they could reach the famous stone. Of course it was very dangerous! Today, the owners of Blarney Castle are more concerned about the safety of their guests. The stone itself still rests in the masonry of the wall below the fence. But now, in order for a person to kiss the stone, he must grab the handrail and lean back, resting his feet on the footbridge located at the very top of the tower of Blarney Castle. The Irish are also deeply convinced that whoever kisses this stone receives a special gift of eloquence, allowing him to capture the heart of any woman. After all, if you look into an English dictionary, you will definitely find the verb “to blarney” - to flatter, “to seduce”.

During her reign, Queen Elizabeth I wished to take Blarney into her personal possession. For this purpose, the castle was repeatedly visited by the queen's confidant, the Earl of Leicester, and on each visit, McCarthy arranged a luxurious banquet in honor of the guest or came up with other forms of prolonging the matter. When Elizabeth demanded from her envoy a report on how the acquisition of the castle was progressing, she received in response a long letter full of flattering ornate sayings, which caused her great dissatisfaction. As a result, the castle remained in the hands of its owners.

During the Civil War, the castle, which supported the king's side, was besieged by the troops of Parliament, led by one of Oliver Cromwell's generals, Lord Broghill. By order of the general, artillery guns were installed on the hill, on the contrary, at a place located above the level of the castle, with the fire of which the besiegers destroyed the walls. When the Parliament troops entered the castle, they found only two old servants in the main tower. The entire garrison left through the underground passages located under the walls. It is known that there were three such passages, also called Badger Caves. One of them supposedly led to the nearby city of Cork, another led to the lake, and the third led to Kerry.

In May 1661, after the restoration of the monarchy, King Charles II returned the castle to the McCarthy family. However, their stay in the castle was short-lived. In 1688, Donagh MacCarthy made the fatal mistake of supporting the Jacobites during the Williamite War between William III and James II. In 1690 he was captured by the Duke of Marlborough at the Battle of Cork. McCarthy later managed to escape to France. All his property, including Blarney Castle, was confiscated by the English crown. In 1703, the Hollow Sword Blade Company purchased the estate's land and then resold it to the Chief Bailiff of Ireland, Sir Richard Payne. Fearing that the McCarthys might return and try to reclaim their former property, Sir Richard sold the land and castle to the governor of the Cork region, Sir James Jefferies. In order to better equip the newly acquired estate, Sir James built a Gothic mansion opposite the eastern wall of the castle in 1739. Unfortunately, in 1820 it was destroyed by fire. It is believed that the fire was the result of family disagreements over the future heir.

The 19th-century Irish poet Francis Sylvester Mahony wrote about the Blarney Castle stone: There is a stone which, if you kiss it, you will never lose the gift of eloquence. With this gift you can enter a girl's room Or become one of the members of parliament...

As well as encountering one of the most beautiful magical stones in the world, Blarney offers tourists the opportunity to stroll through its delightful gardens, have a picnic on the lake or explore the Rock Close - a magical place surrounded by mighty yew and oak trees. There is a pagan altar, a Druids circle and a Witches Kitchen here. The atmosphere of Rock Close touches the most sensitive strings of the soul of visitors. There are wonderful forest paths wandering among the trees, and a water garden with white-foam waterfalls. This wonderful place can be visited at any time of the year - in spring the surroundings of the castle are full of blooming flowers, in autumn the area simply shines with the light of yellow, gold, amber leaves.

Blarney House, built in 1874, is located 200 paces south of the castle. This is one of the most elegant and expensive ancient houses in Ireland. The family estate was restored with great taste and returned to its former grandeur. The estate rests in a luxurious setting of beautiful well-kept gardens (gardens of lawns), deciduous groves, flower meadows and trees leading to the lake.

This is what the castle probably looked like in its heyday, a more detailed drawing could not be found

Old photo of the castle:

Sources Based on materials from Wikipedia, sites www.russianireland.com, www.chayka.org, http://archi.1001chudo.ru. http://www.caslall.ru/

Ireland: Blarney Castle or kissing the stone

Ireland. County Cork. The small village of Blarney. It is here that a fortress rises like a dark ridge among the emerald green hills. From the stronghold, built more than 500 years ago, only ruins remained: the wooden floors were leaky, the floors were rotten, there were no traces of windows. And despite this, tourists keep coming here. What draws them to the dilapidated castle?

And the whole point is that it is mounted high in the wall of the castle Stone of Speech.
The history of this relic is very long. It is believed that in search of the promised land, the daughter of Pharaoh Ramses II wandered around the world for many years until her fate brought her to the shores of Northern Ireland. And all this time the girl did not part with the sandstone stone. As legend has it, it was on this stone that the biblical Jacob slept. Scottish and English monarchs were subsequently crowned on this stone. And also, according to legend, every person who kissed the stone acquired eloquence.
Many legends and traditions have given rise to many names for the famous stone: Stone of Eloquence, Coronation Stone, Skunk Stone (the relic was kept in Skunk Abbey for a long time), Stone of Fate, Jacob's Pillow.

The wall of Blarney Castle contains only half of the Blarney Stone. He came here in 1314, when Cormac McCarthy sent four thousand of his soldiers to help Robert the Bruce. The battle with King Edward II was won, and as gratitude, Bruce presented part of the Stone of Scone to the owner of the castle.

It is very difficult to get to the Stone of Speech today. But this does not stop tourists - despite the risk, many people still try to kiss the famous relic in the hope of finding good luck and eloquence.

The castle itself survived two “perestroikas”: in the 10th century the castle was wooden, then, at the beginning of the 13th century, it was replaced by a stone fortress, and in the 15th century, on the site of the fortress destroyed by that time, a castle was erected, the remnants of which we can see see today.

In the 17th century, the castle survived the siege of Cromwell’s troops, then it changed hands several times, until the fire of 1820 put an end to its history...

Today, only the magnificent park, founded in the mid-18th century, reminds of those times. The unique natural beauty of nature is intricately intertwined here with man-made art.

And if romance is not alien to your soul and you believe in little elves, look in the middle of the garden for a rock covered with ivy and moss - there should be a passage in it, which is called the “witches' staircase” because of the very slippery stone steps.
It is believed that if you make a wish and walk up the steps with your eyes closed, it will definitely come true. But you probably need to make two wishes: one of them is not to fall head over heels down the stairs!

There are many castles in Ireland. Almost every village can boast of some kind of medieval tower or its ruins. But the most visited such facility is located in the town of Blarney, almost on the outskirts of Cork.

True, approaching Cork, we had no idea about this. And, in general, they weren’t even going to the castle. Moreover, none of us even knew about its existence. But Andrey noticed a sign for Blarney Castle on the side of the road and immediately turned the car onto the road towards it. And, it turns out, not in vain! How else would we be able to see and even kiss the most unhygienic landmark in Europe?

1. But I’ll start the story with another castle. This is the castle tower in the village of Banrathi where we had stayed the previous night.

2. At its foot stands one of the most famous pubs in Ireland - Dirty Nelly's. Now there are several dozen establishments all over the world named after it. But this is original! However, when we had dinner there and drank beer, let’s talk about that and had no idea. But I smiled when I saw that the page for accessing Wi-Fi in this pub is available in two languages: English and Latvian.

3. And this is Blarney Castle.

4. His donjon stands on a 20-meter cliff.

5. The entire rock is riddled with caves, which appeared, among other things, due to the extraction of stone for the construction of the castle.

6. Light at the end of the cave.

7. The first castle on this site was built in 1210, the current one in 1446.

8. The main attraction for which tourists flock here in droves is the Stone of Eloquence. According to legend, this is part of the famous Scone Stone, on which the rulers of Dal Riada, Scotland and England have been crowned since ancient times. The Scottish leader Robert the Bruce allegedly gave a piece of the sacred megalith to the Irish feudal lord Cormac McCarthy for his help in the war with the British.

9. Legend says that whoever kisses the stone will gain the gift of eloquence. Churchill, they say, kissed him, and therefore became one of the greatest orators of all times.

10. The queue for a kiss starts from the lowest level of the donjon.

11. While we were waiting, we talked with an American from Alabama.
- Where are you from? - He asked us.
- From Ukraine, so take care of your bags! - Andrey answered.
- By the way, what phone number do you have? - I clarified.

12. We stood in line for about an hour.

13. Kissing a stone is not so easy - you need to lie on your back and bend backwards. In 2009, Tripadvisor.com ranked the Blarney Stone as the most unhygienic attraction in Europe.

14. The main character of "Fight Club", by the way, urinated on this stone as an act of vandalism.
In this photo I am kissing the stone, in the previous one - Andrey, in the title photo - Sergey. Natasha refused to kiss the legendary cobblestone, apparently reading Palahniuk.

15. View down from the upper terrace of the castle.

16. Blarney House.

17. There is a huge park around the castle.

18. Blarney House up close.

19. Waterfall and water blooming under it.

20. Dolmen. One of a great many.

21. Ladder of desires. In order for your cherished dream to come true, you need to climb this staircase with your eyes closed, back forward, without opening your eyelids and without touching the walls. Andrey, as you can see, did not cope with the task.

22. Witch's kitchen.

24. Witch stone.

25. Dolmen from a hillock.

The famous Blarney Castle was built in 1446 and has become one of Ireland's most popular attractions over the years. Many travelers believe that a trip to Blarney is not to be missed - it is an integral symbol of Ireland and Irish heritage.

The structure is located in the village of Blarney, approximately 8 km north-west of the city of Cork in the southern part. This was the third structure built on this site. At first, in the 10th century, there was a wooden building here, a stone castle replaced it in 1210. This building was destroyed due to problems with the foundation and, in the end, in 1446, Dermot McCarthy built the current walls of Blarney.

Myths and facts

The Blarney Stone is without doubt the castle's most famous feature. The Legendary Stone, also called the Stone of Speech, is located at the top of the tower. Legend has it that Cormac MacCarthy, the king of Munster who occupied the castle at the time, sent 4,000 of his subjects to help Robert the Bruce during the Battle of Bannockburn. According to legend, after the victory, Robert the Bruce, in gratitude, gave Cormac half of the Stone of Scone, on which the kings of Scotland were crowned in ancient times. The stone was built into the castle wall. According to legend, whoever kisses this stone will forever gain the gift of eloquence.

The history of Blarney Castle also contains stories about Queen Elizabeth, who passionately wanted to take possession of the building, but in response she received only long letters full of flattering ornate sayings. They say that it was she who then introduced the word “blarney” into the English language - flattery, sweet speech.

What to see

In addition to the fabulous medieval castle, you can see Blarney House. It was built in the early 18th century by St James John Jeffery. This is a Gothic house surrounded by a garden, located opposite. In 1820, the house was partially destroyed by fire. In 1874 the family decided to build a new house in the Scottish baronial style, to the south of the old building. It has remained the family home to this day.

The castle is open to the public every day except Christmas Day. There are separate rooms for children, students, adults and families. Oddly enough, newlyweds who want to take wedding photos at the castle are accepted free of charge. There are two gift shops, ATMs and refreshments.

When traveling around Ireland, Blarney should be at the top of any traveler's itinerary. An intriguing, slightly creepy, but beautiful castle with fascinating legends, tourists leave with the feeling that they have already touched (even kissed) a genuine part of Irish history. If you want to delve even deeper into Irish lore, visit Dublin. 14 km from it there is a powerful fortification, unlike any other structure in Ireland -.

Blarney Castle is open daily from 9.00 to 19.00 in summer; until 18.30 on weekdays and until 17.30 on Sundays in winter.
Cost: 10 €, children 8-14 years old - 3.50 €.
How to get there: located in the village of Blarney, 8 km from Cork city. From Cork bus station to Merchants Quay there is bus number 215, get off at the Blarney Village stop. Cork can be reached by plane, train or bus from all major cities in Ireland.
Official website: