13 Apr The Blarney Stone
The well-known Irish ability to wax lyrical on just about any imaginable topic is often attributed to the ‘Blarney’. Our driver/guides at Ireland Luxury Tours are “full of it”.
At Blarney Castle, close to the city of Cork, the Blarney Stone is said, if kissed, to impart this loquacity on anyone feeling able to perform the certain amount of physical contortion necessary to be able to actually kiss the thing, which is situated high on one of the castle walls. Try it on a tour of Ireland.
The word ‘Blarney’ was introduced to the English language by Queen ElizabethI, who became so exasperated with the procrastination of a local chieftain, Cormac McCarthy, who refused to acknowledge the English throne’s right to his lands, that she declared that the sweet talking of the Irishman were all ‘blarney’.
McCarthy’s wily obstinacy paid off, however, and Blarney Castle never passed into British hands, even successfully withstanding Cromwellian sieges in the 17th century.