Blarney

I visited Blarney Castle today. Blarney is a small town only a few miles outside of Cork. Its a completely unremarkable town except for the large medieval castle that is located pretty close to the center of the town. The castle itself is pretty imposing, and the top of the castle has an outstanding view of the surrounding countryside, which is gorgeous. It is, I suppose, what a stereotypical "Irish countryside" is like, with gently rolling hills covered with mostly open fields punctuated by trees and the occasional house. The castle was surrounded by a surprisingly large estate which included a lake, a number of small streams (possibly man-made moats), and large fields. The picture to the left is of the main castle from just below it.

We took a bus from the City Centre Center to Blarney, where the castle is about a 2 minute walk down the road from the bus stop. The bus ride was only about 20 minutes, so it was actually very simple and easy journey to make. The castle itself and the grounds were quite interesting, and in relatively good shape for how old they were, I thought.

As you can see from the above picture, it has been recently discovered the defenses of Blarney Castle were far more advanced than any historians had previously imagined.

This picture is of the lake on the castle grounds, although the hills are not owned by whoever owns the castle

This picture is of the Blarney House taken from the exact same place that the picture of the lake is taken from. The castle is behind the house, not visible in either picture.

This picture was taken from the top of the castle, near the Blarney Stone, which is supposed to give one the gift of eloquence if kissed.

And that, for the most part, was my visit to Blarney. Gorgeous place, and being a few stories up made the countryside that much more beautiful. Fortunately it was a clear day.