Blarney Castle & Village

When touring Europe, you would think the best way to see various places is via a tour group. I'm all about the guided tour but sometimes, it makes sense (and cents) to go it on your own. When visiting the village and castle of Blarney, that's just what we did.

We took the city bus! That's right. I can't figure out the bus system at home but I was able to figure out how to take the city bus to the village of Blarney.

The bus dropped us off right in the center of the Village and we walked around the corner to what was an old train station to get tickets to the castle.

At one time there was a train that went from Cork to Blarney and this was the train station at the foot/entrance of the castle grounds.

The grounds are amazing. It was drizzling when we were there but that didn't stop us from enjoying the scenery. Everyone went straight to the castle. We chose a more indirect route. This is the River Blarney if I'm not mistaken. There were two rivers that met here: River Blarney and River Martin.

This was our first glimpse of Blarney Castle. It was built around 1446 and is known as a tower house. It once belonged to the MacCarthy clan and was a typical tower house plan with four or five stories and one or two rooms or chambers on each floor. A second tower was added 100 years after the first. Unfortunately, the MacCarthy's fell afoul of Cromwell and his property was confiscated. It eventually was bought by the Jefferyes family in 1703. It is now in the hands of the Colthurst family due to the marriage of Louisa Jane Jefferyes to Sir George Colthurst in 1846.

This is called the Badger Caves. You can go in but only so far. The rumor has it that when Cromwell besieged the castle, he fired from above and broth the tower walls. Yet when he entered the castle, he found only two old caretakers. Everyone else was gone, along with the gold plate that they expected to find. The story goes that everyone escaped with the loot through the badger caves. 

There were supposedly three trails. One led to Blarney Lake, one led to Cork and the last led all the way to Kerry. This is what it looked like inside the dark cave.

We continued our tour by walking around the grounds first. It had stopped raining so we took advantage. The gardens were amazing. All kinds of flowers and trees. I thought this tree was particularly interesting the way it grew.

As we walked around the gardens we came upon this amazing house. It's called Blarney House. It was built in 1874 by Sir George Conway Colthurst. Unfortunately for a nosey person like myself, it's a private house. They open for tours sometimes but not while we were there. But boy wouldn't I love to go through that house!

Further along the property is a Lime Kiln. A what? It's a structure in which limestone was heated to a high temperature to produce quicklime. Quicklime was used as a raw material for a number of uses locally between 1750 and 1850. Who knew?

Continuing through the gardens we found this cute little house. It was quite lucky for us because, once again, it started to rain. So we stepped inside and took the opportunity to rest.

It was quite roomy inside. I'm not sure what this was built for but it was perfect for a little respite out of the weather. I'd say a rest out of the hot sun but we hadn't seen any of that since we've been here! Only rain and it was a perfect respite for that as well.

Continuing on, we came across Blarney Lake.  There are a couple of stories about the lake. It is rumored that this is where Cormac MacCarthy first discovered the Blarney Stone. The story goes like this: A witch from the rock close came into difficulties while out on the lake and Cormac saved her from drowning. As a reward, she told him of the location of a magical rock which, if kissed, would endow the gift of eloquence and forever cure Cormac's speech impediment, a stutter he struggled with.

The second story associated with the lake is that when the castle was besieged by Cromwell's men, MacCarthy's men fled through the badger caves and threw the gold plate into the lake to be recovered later, but it never was. A subsequent owner was said to have drained the lake in order to recover the plate but the endeavor was in vain. Cool, right?

This was the trail we followed around the grounds. It was incredible and beautiful and quite peaceful as we were one of the few people that took the opportunity to enjoy the grounds.

This is the stable yard which is where the horses and carriages were kept. There are old carriages on display and the the old carriage house is a cafe. It's a nice place to sit and regroup after walking the grounds. In a corner of the yard is the groom's house. This poor guy was on call 24/7. His job was to feed, groom and exercise the horses. In the event there was not coachman, he was on the hook to drive the coaches as well. 

Another look at Blarney Castle. So if we were here in peak season, we'd be in line at this point waiting to go inside. While there were a lot of people, some annoying, we were able to walk right in. The walls of the castle are 18 feet thick at the base to withstand any attempt to break through. The slitted windows on the upper portion of the castle would stop arrows and stones from penetrating inside. The battlements at the top allowed the defenders to pour boiling water, tar and stones down on the heads of the enemy at ground level. In the old days, the castle would have been covered in plaster and painted white.

This is the view of the grounds from what I would call the patio of the castle. We're still outside but we're near the door. Back in the day, the castle would have been surrounded by a defensive wall which would have enclosed an area of about 8 acres called a "bawn". This would have sheltered all the livestock and the people in times of danger. Also on the grounds is a poison garden. Hmmm....

This is the Earl's bedroom. Privacy was not something that was provided in any castle so this was something that this guy had his own room. Because it was so high up, he had the luxury of looking out that big window to keep an eye on things. That lady standing there thought she was the only one in the castle and took so long at all the stops that we eventually gave up and left before we moved any further than this. I should have just pushed past her. Because of this, we didn't get to see the rest of the castle.

This is the view of from that big window in the earl's room. The smaller window was offered a panoramic view so that he could keep an eye out for danger. He and his lady would have shared a canopy bed that would have helped with the draughts but that would have been the extent of any comfort. But what a view!

On our way back out, I caught a photo of the great room. Apparently, the MacCarthy's were great entertainers and this is where the party took place. I'm assuming there would have been a floor here covered with rushes, which would have been changed out by servants. The walls would have been hung with tapestries and portraits. At some point, someone had the great idea of putting the tapestries on the floor and, boom! discovered carpet. Where the people are standing below was the cellar, which was used primarily to store food and drink.

The Jefferyes bought the castle in 1703 and in 1739, built this mansion. It was four stories high with ranges of casement windows facing east and was a thriving and lively country house until it burned down in 1820. 

This is the lookout tower. This would have been part of the defense of the castle. Inside would have been a spiral staircase that would take you to the top.

I'm inside the lookout tower looking up at John on the outside.

More beautiful scenery around the castle.

As we walked back out toward the visitor center, a lady from the US stopped us and took our photo outside the castle from the kennel, sentry and dungeons. I would have happily climbed through the various doorways but John was not. This is where the sentrys stood to guard the castle. Beneath the castle, there is a labyrinth of underground passages. Sounds right up my alley! In some of the passageways are supposedly the chambers that would have been the prison for the castle. Creepy.

After the castle, we walked around the town a little. This is the Church of the Immaculate Conception. I think they were having a ceremony of some sort there. It was built in 1894 by the Mahony family who where the owners of the local woolen mill.

Main Street in Blarney Village as we wait for the bus to come pick us up.

The Blarney Woolen Mills were established in 1750 by Timothy Mahony. In 1823, the Mahony family moved the spinning and weaving operations to a water powered facility near Blarney Castle. In 1928, a 13-year old local named Christy Kelleher began working as an apprentice machinist at the mill. He would eventually become a supervisor of the day to day operations of the mill. In 1973, the mill ceased operations after 225 years of business. In 1975, Christy Kelleher bought the empty industrial complex and, inspired by the tourists visiting the castle, transformed the mill into a retail shop. Now, it's a whole experience: a store, a hotel and the Aran Sweater Experience.

We spent the whole day in Blarney Village and it was awesome. I would like to have walked around the town a little more but I loved the vibe. If I went back, I'd make sure to go up to all the floors in the castle and, who knows? Maybe I'd even kiss the Blarney Stone.