Blarney Castle

I had a great weekend with Hannah and Carlie! This weekend I was able to show them around the city centre, around UCC, and give them a taste of the Cork nightlife!  On Saturday morning Hannah, Carlie, and I went to the Blarney Castle.  The Blarney Castle is just 8 miles from Cork City.  

The Blarney Castle was built in 1446 for Cormac McCarthy, the King of Munster.  In addition to the Castle there are many acres of gardens and walking paths.  Walking to the top of the castle took a while because we were snaked through many spiral staircases and rooms of the castle.  Here is Hannah and Carlie in the kitchen.

After making our way to the top of the castle I was quickly reminded that I have acquired a fear of heights over the years.  My legs were a little quaky but the view made it worth it all!

At the top of the Blarney Castle is the infamous Blarney Stone.  Legend has it that if you kiss the Blarney Stone you gain the "gift of gab", or eloquent speech.  You sit on edge of the castle which looks down to the ground 90 feet below.  You grab the bars, lean backwards, and with the help of an old man you reach down to the bottom stone and kiss it!  The stone was quite a stretch and it was very exhilarating!

The man kept telling me that I wasn't close enough to the edge. I thought otherwise...

Doneeeee!

After making our way back down to firm ground we walked through the Poison Garden.  At the entrance to this garden it warned us to keep our children close and to NOT touch, sniff, or taste any of the plants in the garden.  Some are fatal!  Next to each of the plants there was a sign that described why the plant was poisonous, what it used to be used for, and what would happen to you if you were to touch, sniff, or taste it.  It was very interesting!  There weren't any fences around the plants, so weird!

We then went walking around the park and came across the Blarney House.  This home was built in 1874 to house the caretakers of the castle and land.  To this day it remains a private estate.

While we were waiting for the bus to head back to Cork we went walking around in the town in Blarney.  I saw palm trees while driving around the Ring of Kerry but wasn't able to get a clear picture on the moving bus.  I finally snapped one for all of the non-believers.  Palm trees in Ireland!!

Look at what else we stumbled upon!  This is as close to my spelling as I'm going to get here in Ireland...