Blarney Stone Facts

Facts About the Blarney Stone

• The location of the Blarney Stone is in the village of Blarney about 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Cork, Ireland.

• The Blarney Stone is a block of bluestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle.

• The Blarney castle and stone are one of the most popular tourist sites in Ireland, attracting millions of visitors from around the world who wish to tour the castle and kiss the stone.

• According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of gab, eloquence or skill at flattery.

• The word blarney has come to mean clever, flattering, or coaxing talk.

• The name of the village Blarney is derived from the Irish word An blarna meaning 'the plain'.

History of the Blarney Stone

• The most commonly accepted story of the stone is that, in gratitude for Irish support at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314 (a Scottish defeat of the English), Robert the Bruce gave a portion of the stone to Cormac McCarthy, King of Munster. Installed at Cormac McCarthy’s stronghold, Blarney Castle, it became known as the Blarney Stone. A century later, in 1446, King Dermot McCarthy then installed the stone in an enlarged castle he constructed.

• During the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Dermot McCarthy, the ruler of the castle, was required to surrender his fortress to the Queen as proof of his loyalty. He said he would be delighted to do so, but something always happened at the last moment to prevent his surrender. His excuses became so frequent that the official who had been demanding the castle in the name of the Queen became a joke at the Court. Once, when the eloquent excuses of McCarthy were repeated to the Queen, she said "Odds bodikins, more Blarney talk!"  The term Blarney has thus come to mean 'the ability to influence and coax with fair words and soft speech without giving offense'.

Kissing the Blarney Stone

• Kissing the stone is for some people a difficult physical feat. In past times, to kiss the Stone people were hung by their heels over the edge of the parapet. One day a pilgrim broke from the grasp of his friends and went hurtling downward to certain death. Since that time the stone has been kissed by another method. First, you sit with your back towards the stone and then someone sits upon your legs or firmly holds your feet. Next, leaning far back and downward into the abyss while grasping the iron rails, you lower yourself until your head is even with the stone to be kissed.

Blarney Stone Legends

• Just how long the custom of kissing the Blarney Stone has been practiced or how it originated is not known. One local legend claims that an old women, saved from drowning by a king of Munster, rewarded him with a spell, that if he would kiss a stone on the castle's top, he would gain a speech that would win all to him.

• Concerning the power of the stone, Francis Sylvester, an Irish bard of the early nineteenth century, wrote:

  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.

Other Legends about the Blarney Stone

• - It was the rock that Moses struck with his staff to produce water for the Israelites during their exodus from Egypt.
  - It was the stone that Jacob used as a pillow, and was brought to Ireland by the prophet Jeremiah.
  - It was the Stone of Ezel, which David hid behind on Jonathan's advice, while fleeing from King Saul, and may have been brought back to Ireland during the Crusades.
  - It was the rock pillow used by St. Columba of Iona on his deathbed.