This is all Blarney...

Last week, Tiffany and I took a break from Morocco and flew to Ireland. We had a fantastic amazing wonderful awesome time. I have always wanted to go to Ireland and it lived up to my dreams. I’m going to break it down into little sections for the blog so that no one has a novel to read.

We flew with Ryan Air, a super budget European airline, from Fez to Paris-Beauvais, spent Saturday night in Beauvais, and then flew to Dublin on Sunday. Right off the bat, the trip was great. The Irish woman sitting next to us on the Beauvais to Dublin flight thought that we were Irish girls. I know it’s ridiculous, but this made us really happy. After not fitting in for 2 months and constantly being stared it, it was nice to be able to blend in.

Bru Bar and Hostel in Cork

Once we got to Dublin, our next step was to get right on a train to Cork. We were going to spend a few days in Cork, then head up to the Aran Islands and the Cliffs of Mouer, and then end the trip back in Dublin. Plans changed slightly, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

The Lee River in Cork

 Cork was very nice. We stayed at Bru Bar and Hostel on MacCurtain Street. In Dublin we were given a little brochure with the top rated hostels in each county. This was number three on the list for Cork. Not gonna lie, the fact that it was above a bar influenced our decision to stay there. It was a really nice hostel, 15 euro a night for a six person room. The first night, we shared a room with this German kid named Nils, another German girl, and two American girls. We only saw them briefly, we went out before they did and were in bed when they got back, but it was nice to see some Americans. Plus I got to use some German. There is little opportunity to speak German in Morocco, no big surprise there. 

Blarney Castle, it was very rainy that day, which was a little annoying I guess, but it fit with the castle atmosphere.

On Monday morning we got up early and went to Blarney. Blarney is a little town outside Cork, about a twenty minute bus ride. It has the famous Blarney Castle that contains the even more famous Blarney Stone. Now it’s time for some history (I hope you didn’t think that because it was my vacation I wasn’t going to be paying attention to the learning opportunities so that I can pass them all to you).

Old piece of the castle

Blarney Castle originally belonged to an Irish noble family known as the MacCarthys. They were the most powerful family in the region and are historically seen as the ruling family of Munster, the southern-most province of old Ireland. After some scuffles with England, the MacCarthys and other ruling Irish families had to accept the superiority of Henry II, the English king. The MacCarthys surrendered earlier than most and were rewarded for their compliance. Cork was turned into a classic medieval city and the MacCarthys were left in charge. They chose Blarney as the place to build their fortress in 1446.

The stairs were definitely not for the faint-hearted. They were very narrow and very steep and spiraled. 

After that, they were pretty much left to their own devices until Queen Elizabeth I came to the thrown in England. They controlled their subjects, battled their neighbors, and participated in all the regular medieval activities. But Queen Elizabeth I needed to establish her authority so she decided to start charging rent to all her Irish nobles. The current Lord of Blarney, Cormac Teige MacCarthy, was not to happy about this. He had a reputation of being a very good politician and a good speaker. He was well-known for flattery and vocal eloquence. Every time Queen Elizabeth I sent him a letter requesting payment he would respond with a very long beautifully written letter full of compliments to the queen and professions of is unending loyalty, but there would be no mention of paying the rent. The story goes that after receiving quite a few of these letters, Queen Elizabeth was upset and shouted “This is all Blarney, he never means what he says, he never does what he promises.” This is the great origin of the word “blarney” first meaning excessive speech used to persuade someone without offending them and now a speech with many exaggerated compliments or clearly untrue statements. But it is not quite the same as lying because blarney is never said with bad intent.  

The MacCarthys held out for awhile, switching sides whenever it was convenient so that they could keep their power in Cork. This didn’t last forever though; they eventually picked the wrong side when they sided with the Irish against Oliver Cromwell. The major reason was that Ireland was behind on the times with military technology. Cannons were the new invention and medieval castles stood no chance against them. The castle was seized in 1648 but they weren’t homeless long. In 1661, King Charles II was restored to the English thrown and he gave the MacCarthys their castle back.

At the top of the castle

England and France began fighting their religious wars in Ireland after William of Orange came to power. The MacCarthys offered shelter to the banished King James (supporter of Catholics and religious freedom) and France also sent their support with a supply of troups. The Dutch reinforced William of Oranges military and in the end the English won. The punishment for supporting King James was the banishment of the MacCarthys from their castle.

The MacCarthys had been big patrons of the arts, especially poetry and literature. There was even a school in Blarney for artistic scholars. In the 1600s, Blarney was known as the Court of Poetry and poets and scholars would go there to read and perform their works on festivals and holidays.

The castle currently belongs to the Jefferyes family, who bought it in 1703 when Sir James Jefferyes was the Governor of Cork.

The position you are in when you kiss the Blarney Stone...I wish I had petticoats...

The Blarney Stone is the main attraction to Blarney Castle. Everyone knows you have to kiss the Blarney stone if you are going to Blarney Castle. The origins of the stone are a mystery. There are many legends, some say that it was brought back during the Crusades, some say it was a gift from Scotland, but no one knows for sure. The legend goes that if you kiss the stone you will be gifted with eloquent, exaggerated, and descriptive speech.

Blarney Castle park area

Kissing the Blarney Stone was a fantastic experience. You have to lay on your back and lean out over the edge of the castle to kiss the stone. There is a guy there who holds onto you so that you do not fall and there are two bars to hold onto, but as you lean back and down about 2 feet, you realize you are at the very top of a castle and that it would be a long fall.

Kissing the Blarney Stone!

 The Bells of Shandon by Francis Sylvester Mahony pen name Father Prout

“There is a stone there

That whoever kisses,

Oh! He never misses

To grow eloquent.

Tis he may clamber

To a lady’s chamber

Or Become a member

Of Parliament.

A clever spouter

He’ll sure turn out, or

An out-and-outer

To be let alone.

Don’t hope to hinder him,

Or to bewilder him.

Sure he’s a pilgrim

From the Blarney Stone”