Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone

Tower House Built By The MacCarthys Of Muskerry Around 1446, Home Of The Blarney Stone, In Large Gardens That Include The Poison Garden · Blarney, Cork

Blarney Castle is a tall medieval tower house built around 1446 by the MacCarthys of Muskerry, standing half in ruin above the River Martin in the village of Blarney, about 8 km north-west of Cork city. Set in the battlements at the top is the Blarney Stone, said to give anyone who kisses it the gift of the gab - fluent, charming talk. To kiss it you climb a narrow spiral stair, lie on your back on the parapet walk and lean backwards and down over a gap, gripping iron rails while an attendant holds you; bars now stop anyone falling through. People come for the ritual, the photo and the story, and they stay for the gardens: the Poison Garden, the Fern Garden, the mossy Rock Close, the lake walk and a Victorian house. The honest caveat: in summer the queue up the castle can take an hour or more, the kiss itself lasts a few seconds, and many visitors find the stone underwhelming and the grounds the real reward. It is a paid attraction run by the estate, not an OPW site.

Blarney Castle and Gardens, Blarney village, about 8 km north-west of Cork city, Blarney, Cork, Ireland

Open every day of the year except around Christmas (confirm), from about 09:00; closing moves with the light, roughly 17:00 in winter and 18:00 or later in summer, with last admission about an hour before closing - confirm for your date. Tickets can be bought online (usually a little cheaper) or at the gate; no timed slot is needed for most visits, but the queue for the stone is first come, first served. Blarney House opens on limited days in the summer months only (confirm). Blarney village is about 20-30 minutes from Cork city by Bus Eireann (route 215 from Parnell Place - confirm) or by car on the N20; free parking near the castle gate.

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