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Blarney The Gift of the Gab Back to Ireland Main |
Blarney (An Bhlárna in Irish) is a village in the south of Ireland, located 8 km
northwest of Cork, Republic of Ireland. It is the site of Blarney Castle, home of the
legendary Blarney Stone.
Kissing the Blarney Stone
By kissing the Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle, it's claimed that one can receive
the "Gift of the Gab" (eloquence, or skill at flattery or persuasion). The legend has
its roots in the response of the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth I to Cormac
Teige McCarthy's attempt to blandish his way out of a difficult situation, during
negotiations of the takeover of the Blarney Castle by the occupying English
forces. Cormac himself was the King of Munster, living in the Blarney Castle
around the 14th century. The stone itself is rumoured to have been created by a
witch during the Middle Ages.
Blarney is celebrated the world over for a stone on the parapet that is said to
endow whoever kisses it with the eternal gift of eloquence (in Irish
'solabharthact') - the 'Gift of the Gab'. The origin of this custom is unknown,
though the word "blarney", meaning to placate with soft talk or to deceive
without offending, probably derives from the stream of unfulfilled promises of
Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy to the Lord President of Munster in virtual
blarney stonethe late sixteenth century. Having seemingly agreed to deliver his
castle to the Crown, he continuously delayed doing so with soft words, which
came to be known as "Blarney talk".
The massive castle, which looks even larger because of its picturesque situation
on the edge of a cliff, was supposedly built in 1446 by Cormac MacCarthy "the
Strong", probably on the site of a castle occupied by the Lombards, whom the
MacCarthys had displaced. It has an L-shaped plan with five storeys, the lower
two being under a pointed vault with walls 12 feet thick; higher up the walls get
thinner and the rooms bigger. The building sequence is a little puzzling, but the
slender tower containing the main stair and a tier of small rooms evidently
predates the main block. The whole is crowned with high stepped battle ments,
projecting more than 2 feet beyond the walls and carried by long inverted
pyramid corbels.
The MacCarthys held onto the castle with a few inter ruptions until the Williamite
wars, when Donagh MacCarthy, the fourth Earl of Clancarty, supported the losing
side and had his estates forfeited. It is said that before leaving he cast the family
silver into the lake. The property was acquired by Sir John Jefferys, who built a
Gothic-style house onto the castle with pointed windows and curvilinear
pinnacled battements. This was burnt c. 1820, but a semi circular staircase tower
still remains. Nearby the family made a megalithic garden folly and in 1874 they
built a Scottish Baronial-style house overlooking the lake in the park.
northwest of Cork, Republic of Ireland. It is the site of Blarney Castle, home of the
legendary Blarney Stone.
Kissing the Blarney Stone
By kissing the Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle, it's claimed that one can receive
the "Gift of the Gab" (eloquence, or skill at flattery or persuasion). The legend has
its roots in the response of the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth I to Cormac
Teige McCarthy's attempt to blandish his way out of a difficult situation, during
negotiations of the takeover of the Blarney Castle by the occupying English
forces. Cormac himself was the King of Munster, living in the Blarney Castle
around the 14th century. The stone itself is rumoured to have been created by a
witch during the Middle Ages.
Blarney is celebrated the world over for a stone on the parapet that is said to
endow whoever kisses it with the eternal gift of eloquence (in Irish
'solabharthact') - the 'Gift of the Gab'. The origin of this custom is unknown,
though the word "blarney", meaning to placate with soft talk or to deceive
without offending, probably derives from the stream of unfulfilled promises of
Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy to the Lord President of Munster in virtual
blarney stonethe late sixteenth century. Having seemingly agreed to deliver his
castle to the Crown, he continuously delayed doing so with soft words, which
came to be known as "Blarney talk".
The massive castle, which looks even larger because of its picturesque situation
on the edge of a cliff, was supposedly built in 1446 by Cormac MacCarthy "the
Strong", probably on the site of a castle occupied by the Lombards, whom the
MacCarthys had displaced. It has an L-shaped plan with five storeys, the lower
two being under a pointed vault with walls 12 feet thick; higher up the walls get
thinner and the rooms bigger. The building sequence is a little puzzling, but the
slender tower containing the main stair and a tier of small rooms evidently
predates the main block. The whole is crowned with high stepped battle ments,
projecting more than 2 feet beyond the walls and carried by long inverted
pyramid corbels.
The MacCarthys held onto the castle with a few inter ruptions until the Williamite
wars, when Donagh MacCarthy, the fourth Earl of Clancarty, supported the losing
side and had his estates forfeited. It is said that before leaving he cast the family
silver into the lake. The property was acquired by Sir John Jefferys, who built a
Gothic-style house onto the castle with pointed windows and curvilinear
pinnacled battements. This was burnt c. 1820, but a semi circular staircase tower
still remains. Nearby the family made a megalithic garden folly and in 1874 they
built a Scottish Baronial-style house overlooking the lake in the park.
| Kiss the Virtual Blarney Stone HERE and get the "gift of the Gab" |