With that bit of trivia under my belt, Meng and I met up with Alex at the bus station on Parnell Place. We took the 215 to Blarney, and enjoyed a 15 minute ride through the rest of Cork city and more of the beautiful Irish countryside. The bus system in Ireland is quite advanced. Not only is it easily accessible and relatively inexpensive, but the buses are clean and on time. When we got to the stop at Blarney, most everyone vacated the bus, and the sun stayed with us.
After the conveniently placed (and abhorrently expensive) gift shop right outside the castle grounds, we bought our tickets, and entered some of the most expansive grounds I've seen thus far. Ireland has surely earned its moniker, "The Emerald Isle". As you walk through the massive, tree-dotted landscape, the castle rises in the distance, towering above the trees. Although it is not impressive as a structure (it's rather boxy) the fact that so much of it is still intact is impressive alone. On the approach to the castle, we crossed a stream, filled with Euros, evidently from wishes of previous visitors. We happened to visit the grounds on a very quiet day, only encountering a handful of people in a place that sometimes has a queue of thousands.
Near the castle is a smaller turret that originally served as the prison of the castle. We ventured inside, where you could crawl into what would have been part of the prison, stooped 10m into the earth, in a small hollowed out portion of the rock. Alex decided to give his very decent Smeagol impression a go at this point.
Outside of the prison and adjacent dog kennel was the guard tower, still mostly intact save for the stairs. You could see the breaks in the stone where the stairs used to be fitted, the three storey tower having been subject to some new masonry in the 19th century. The original castle itself began construction in 1446.
The castle is fully open for exploring, and a tour route/queue line has been built into the castle, allowing you to see all major parts of it. The tour featured the grand hall, many bedrooms, the murder hole above the front door, and the kitchen. The castle is transversed by means of two very steep stone spiral staircases, which have been worn extremely smooth from use. At some points, the steps are only 4 inches wide.
Once the staircase has been bested, one is greeted with a view of the seemingly infinite grounds laid forth beneath the castle. As you work your way around the upper battlements, the famous stone draws near. Kissing the stone is something that the staff there have down to a precise science. They have you lay on your back, grab hold of two metal rods that were fitted on the castle to prevent people from falling, lean down as the nice old man (who has probably been doing this job for many generations of visitors) holds you so you don't slip through the castle wall. They have a large metal box housing a camera at the perfect angle for photos, but they do allow you to take your own provided you stay on the correct side of the stone.
After the obligatory stone-kissing (and feeling none the more eloquent) I ventured into the Poison Garden, located along the curtain wall jutting out from one face of the castle, extending the battlements another 20m. The first plant encountered on the trail is the Common Box, a type of shrub. The box's leaves cause vomiting when ingested, but part of the reason for the prevalence of such a plant all throughout Ireland is the folklore surrounding it. Box shrubs were planted outside one's home as they protect against witches. Witches, who have knowledge of many things, know the number of branches and leaves in every tree in the forest or any plant you point out to them. The one plant they cannot count the branches of is the box shrub, because it is so dense. When a witch tries to count the branches of the box, she inevitably loses count and must start again. Witches only come out at night, so this undertaking would keep her occupied till morning, when the owner of the shrub-bearing house could look outside his window to check for witches. The witch would be so preoccupied with counting the branches that she would never have time to enter the house and do witchy things. The Poison Garden featured poisonous plants, everything from nightshade and mandrake to noxious flowers and poison oak. There was even a sign for a marijuana plant (which was missing).
Next, we explored the nearby rock close section of the grounds, which featured an array of short waterfalls. Along the trail, and near the base of one of the waterfalls are the wishing steps, where legend has it that you will be granted your wish provided you think about it during the whole of your ascent up the stairs and complete the journey with your eyes closed. The stone stairs are wetted by the adjacent waterfall, making things even harder.
At the top of the wishing stairs is a rock chasm that forms a small room, named the witch's kitchen, where, if you come early enough in the morning, you may see the embers of the With of Blarney's fire still smoldering. A short walk from the kitchen is the witch herself, encased in stone, said to part from the stone at night, when the park is closed.
After a very enjoyable trek through the grounds, we finished off the evening with some food at the Muskerry Arms, a local pub with very good atmosphere that was certainly more agreeable than waiting for our bus in the cold. I tried Beamish, having completed my tasting of the three main Irish stouts. Beamish is more like Guinness than Murphy's, and I have since concluded that Murphy's is my favorite.
Hi Jason! I love you heehee <3 I am so glad you are having a good time =)
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