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Holidays in Ireland /
Come to Ireland to Kiss the Blarney Stone !
Kissing the Blarney Stone confers the gift of ‘blarney’which is the ability to
- talk at great length
- chat up the girls ( or boys)
- flatter
- coax birds out of a tree.
All these gifts are very useful in life so come soon to Cork & Kiss the Blarney Stone!
Many rumours circulated about the Stone which was built into the battlements of Blarney Castle in 1446. Some say it was part of the wailing wall in Jerusalam brought back from the Crusades. Others claim it is the other half of Robert the Bruce’s Stone of Sconce.
Then there is pillow talk..a pillow used by either Jacob or St Columba of Iona.
Either way it has the amazing power of being able to attract thousands of visitors from all over the world.
The origin of the name is linked to Queen Elizabeth I who was impressed with the loquacity of Cormac Teige McCarthy, the Lord of Blarney. Elizabeth proclaimed that he was giving her "a lot of Blarney"!
The Stone has been immortalised in verse:
'Tis there's the stone that whoever kisses
He never misses to grow eloquent;
'Tis he may clamber to a lady's chamber,
Or become a member of Parliament.
"A noble spouter he'll sure turn out, or
An out and outer to be let alone;
Don't try to hinder him, or to bewilder him,
For he is a pilgrim from the Blarney stone."
—Francis Sylvester Mahony 1804 - 1866
The Blarney Stone has been kissed by famous & infamous alike. Numbering in its embraces are writers, poets, painters, statesmen & film stars. The kiss used to be dangerous as participants were held by the ankles over a very high drop.
In Sherlock Holmes radio dramatization "The Adventure of the Blarney Stone" (broadcast March 18, 1946) a man trying to kiss the Blarney Stone was killed. Holmes' discovered that the man’s boots had been greased...hence murder most foul.
It shows how valuable was the gift of the Blarney that so many risked their lives for it!
Safeguards have now been installed in the form of wrought iron guide rails and crossbars to stop folk falling to their death. So you are now safe to kiss the Stone without any risk.
First you must climb to the top of the Tower. Then lean backwards over the parapet's edge to kiss the Stone with the help of a friend. If you are afraid of heights or susceptible to acrophobic attacks give it a miss!
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