Blarney Castle and Gardens
Blarney Castle
This post was originally published January 26, 2017.
Oh Blarney, you flatter me. This sweet little town is home to Blarney Castle and Gardens, where you can find poison gardens, murder holes, and portal tombs—basically, anything a girl could ever want. I arrived in Blarney early in the morning, so I was just in time to see the sun rays bouncing off the morning dew. After saying hello to the sheep in the pasture and playing on the swing set, I started the hike up Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone.
There are multiple accounts of the Blarney Stone’s origin, but the one clear takeaway is if you kiss it, you are granted the gift of eloquence. The stone is at the very top of Blarney Castle, which was built in 1446 by Cormac MacCarthy. As it so happened, restoration work was underway when I arrived, and tarps covered half of the castle. The inside, however, was unimpeded by any construction.
I toured the low-ceiling dungeons, and climbed the narrowing staircases to see the bedchambers and the large family room. Just outside the center of the castle are the trapdoors. Among them included the Oubliette, a stone in the floor that could be switched open and cause you to drop down into a 15-meter pit, and the murder hole—a nice, square hole above the castle’s entryway, in which guards would throw hot oil, rocks, or whatever they may choose down on any intruders. Really, the possibilities for murder were endless.
Eventually, I made it to the top of the castle and the stone awaiting my kiss. Eloquence, as it turns out, is not so easy to get. If climbing to the top of a 27-meter tall castle isn’t enough to deter you, maybe leaning backwards over a 27-meter drop is. Sure, there’s a couple of iron rails between you and the ground, but it’s not like I’m willing to test them. Fortunately, the man who was assisting people had a strong grip, so I didn’t feel like I was going to fall.
Beside the castle is the poison garden, filled with deadly plants I had no desire of touching, sniffing, or sticking in my mouth. The plants ranged from Wolfsbane to Black cohosh, a plant that was once used by Native Americans “to treat a wide variety of, mostly female, conditions.” Also included in the garden is Common box, which is a dense evergreen shrub. According to legend, they are perfect for guarding against witches, who must count every branch, twig, and leaf they see as part of their quest for knowledge and power. The thickness of common box is just too much of a challenge for witches to successfully count. It was too much for me too, so I bypassed it to check out other parts of the castle grounds.
Blarney House
The Blarney House, though inaccessible until June, deserves mention. It’s a stunning 19th century mansion situated in perfect view of the castle. Even though I would have loved to see the inside, the outside was enough to leave me breathless.
Nearby were some waterfalls and the wishing steps. The Blarney Witch has taken wood from the estate, and in return, she must grant the wishes of the visitors. All I had to do was walk down and back up the stairs backwards with my eyes closed. I may have gotten distracted a few times thinking about slipping on the wet stairs, but hopefully I did well enough that within a year, my wish will have come true.
Before leaving the castle grounds and gardens, I ducked under a dolmen, which is a megalithic portal tomb. Dolmens can be found across Ireland and were used to mark burials. No one knows for sure where they lead, but I was willing to take the chance. So far, this dimension looks remarkably similar to the last…