Blarney Castle
Address: Mallow, Co. Cork
Dermot MacCarthy had the gift of 'plamas', the Irish word for soft-talking flattery. MacCarthy tried to talk his way out of handing over Blarney Castle to an agent of Queen Elizabeth I. He prevaricated until the Queen declared "I will hear no more of this Blarney talk", and gave the English language a new word.The legend persists that anyone who kisses the famous stone high up on the castle parapets will endowed with the 'gift of the gab'. Aside from the magic stone, the castle, added in 1446 by Cormac MacCarthy to an earlier tower, is well worth a visit.
The massive four storeys keep changed hands during the Civil and Williamite Wars and was used at one point as a prison for the Protestants of Cork.
The picturesque gardens known as Rock close were laid out by the Jefferyes family in 1759.
