Next stop is Dublin for our last couple of days in Ireland. But first we dropped into Blarney castle to kiss the famous Blarney Stone. The Castle itself was interesting to look around. It had a tunnel underneath that was probably used as a dungeon and another large cave that is said to split into 3 different tunnels for escape if the castle was ever over run.
The Blarney Castle.
Exploring the tunnels underneath.
We went straight up through the castle to the top and kissed the Blarney stone each. The story behind it is that a witch was rescued from drowning and as a reward told her rescuer of the Blarney Stone and it’s power to grant ‘eloquence’ (the gift of the gab, persuasive talking) to anyone who kissed it. It was set into the top battlements of the castle and since millions of people from all over the world have visited the Blarney Castle to kiss the stone.
Tina about to kiss the Blarney Stone.
Shaun kissing the Blarney Stone.
Lea about the kiss the Blarney Stone.
Neil on his way back up.
To do it you need to lie on your back, they hold onto your waist then you slide out, upside down and kiss the stone. There is a gap which drops straight down to the ground below but you can hold onto some rails and there is the man holding your waist so it feels pretty safe.
Now we all have ‘Eloquence’.
The view from the top of Blarney Castle.
After leaving the castle we walked around the grounds for a while which was really good also.
Tina chilling out on a bridge in the gardens.
A nice creek and waterfall that ran through the gardens.
Blarney Castle.
Then it was off to Dublin.
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