The Vangclear Files: Kiss It

Everyone’s heard of it and more then 300,000 people kiss it each year. That’s right I’m talking about the Blarney Stone.

Last Saturday I went on a day trip with my program to Blarney Castle.

^You see those grates at the top... that's where the Barney Stone is^

Impressive looking place right? Well since I was there who was I to pass up such an opportunity? I HAD to kiss it. So my friend and I started the hike up to the stone. The stair case was tight and steep. And the stairs were small… or maybe my feet are just big… either way it was a bit tough at some spots but I did it. I got to the top and surveyed the land…

It’s Ireland so how could it not look pretty?

And I waited in the queue to kiss the stone. And ta da!!

I did it! It was really exhilarating because you’re really high up and you have to lean pretty far back to get to the stone but I did it!

Now on the bus ride home for the day I was wondering to myself why is it that people see the Blarney Stone as lucky? So I decided to do a little research and what I found was pretty kick ass!!

So here’s the deal the caste that I saw is the third Barney Castle to be built. When I read this I thought of this scene in Monty Python;

The first was built in the 10th century and was wooden. That sank into the swamp… well not really… what actually happened was around 1210 AD it was replaced with a stone structure. Later that was demolished for foundation of the current castle which was built in 1446 by the Dermot McCarthy the King of Munster. And that my friends is the castle you see today!

So back to the stone. Legend has it that Cormac McCarthy gave 4,000 men to aid in the battle of Bannockburn in 1314 so as gratitude Robert the Bruce gave half of the Stone of Scone to McCarthy in gratitude. This part of the Stone of Scone was built into the battlements and is now the Blarney Stone that so many people kiss.

What if the Stone of Scone you ask? Well this is where it gets really cool. The Stone Of Scone is more commonly known as the Stone of Destiny. This is because for centuries it was used in the coronation of the Scottish monarchs. That alone isn’t what makes the Stone of Scone so cool you see it’s origins are debatable and the best part of the debates are that each theory of origin is equally as epic. One of them says that the stone was brought over from Ireland where is had been the coronation stone for the Kings of Tara. A Biblical origin says that it’s the Stone of Jacob. Yet another says that Fergus, the first King of the Scots in Scotland had the stone brought over from Argyll to be crowned on it. Either way all of those are pretty sweet origins and to think… I kissed half of it… I feel pretty darn cool.

After kissing the Blarney stone I climbed back down the castle and wandered about the grounds. Now the grounds are as cool as the stone. The part of the grounds that we went to is called Rock Close.

First stop the Dolmen: also known as a Portal Tomb or Portal Grave. It’s a Neolithic period (4000-300 BCE) structure. Not much is known about these types of structures since they’re so old and we don’t know who built them or why. Sometimes human remains and other artifacts are found close to them which provide dating material but that’s about it. So this was really cool to see… I mean this is super old!!

Next up the Wishing Steps: legend has it that “if you can walk down and back up these steps with your eyes closed - some suggest walking backwards - and without for one moment thinking of anything other than a wish, then that wish will come true within a year" cool right… so my friend and I just HAD to try it out… and what do you know it was easier then I thought.

Next we came to The Witch’s’ Kitchen: Historians say that this was home to the first Irish Cave Dwellers… legend says it’s where the Witch Of Blarney spends her night by a fire made from wood paid for by our wishes on the Whishing Steps (because she has to grant wishes in order to get the wood). She stays in there to keep warm while she’s on her nocturnal escape from the rock.

The Witch Stone: it’s super easy to see the witch who is imprisoned here. “Some say it was she who first told McCarthy of the power of the Blarney Stone.” And it’s only at night that she comes out of the stone.