Friday: Blarney!

Friday morning I took my time having breakfast and getting on the road, because I needed to go to a pharmacy for cough medicine and Band-Aids (for my blisters) and to a bank to withdraw cash in euros. In Cork, not much opens until 10 a.m. and they close between 5 and 6 p.m., so that was a bit constraining on my day! My plan was to go to Blarney in the afternoon, hoping that Chris could get off early like the rest of the Irish at his company, but he told me it was unlikely so I planned another day on my own.

First, I wanted a more in-depth look at University College Cork. Chris and I had walked through part of it on a previous evening, but I knew there were parts I hadn't explored! 

UCC was founded in 1845 and now enrolls over 18,000 students. The architecture beautifully blends old and new, and I enjoyed exploring inside the "Long Hall," above.

I ventured into Aula Maxima, the beautiful Great Room at UCC

The Ogam (Ogham) Stones Collection in UCC is the largest collection of such inscriptions on open display in Ireland. They are part of an exhibition called "Stories in Stone" which I viewed in the Stone Corridor of the historic Main Quadrangle Building.

   

Ogam is the earliest written source of the Irish language, the oldest recording of Irish personal names and the earliest real evidence of Irish scholarship and learning.

Ogam is both a script and an alphabet using strokes cut on, across and on either side of a line. It was designed specifically for the Irish language and was originally used to commemorate named persons. The stones may have been used as boundary markers, property markers or burial markers.

The oldest Ogam inscriptions known date from about the fifth to the seventh century AD and were written on stone. 

I left UCC by my favorite route, next to the beautiful bridge entrance.

My next stop was the English Market in the city centre. I was excited finally to peruse the stalls and experience this open market, and especially to eat lunch at Farmgate, of which I had read rave reviews.

After finishing lunch, I walked to the bus station in Cork and bought a ticket to Blarney! The bus ride was only about 30 minutes, and I alighted in the famous tourist town of Blarney, Ireland.

I was amazed by the beauty and magnificence of not just the Blarney Castle, but the expansive grounds! 

Blarney Castle

I approached the castle via this bridge 

 

I promptly got in line to kiss the Blarney Stone, which is built into the battlements of Blarney Castle. According to legend, kissing the stone endows one with the gift of gab or gift of eloquence. It was set into a tower of the castle in 1446! Tradition suggests that Queen Elizabeth I requested Cormac Teige McCarthy, the Lord of Blarney, be deprived of his traditional land rights. Cormac travelled to see the queen, but was certain he would not persuade her to change her mind as he wasn't an effective speaker. He met an old woman on the way who told him that anyone who kissed a particular stone in Blarney Castle would be given the gift of eloquent speech. Cormac went on to persuade the queen that he should not be deprived of his land.

 

 

The ritual of kissing the Blarney Stone dates back to the late 18th century. It has since been kissed by millions of people, including statesmen such as Winston Churchill and celebrities like Mick Jagger! 

Before the safeguards were installed, the kiss was performed with great risk--one must ascend to the castle's peak, then lean over backwards on the parapet's edge. 

Kissing the Blarney Stone in 1897! (Before safeguards were installed.)
"Kissing the Blarney Stone 1897" by National Library of Ireland on The Commons - Kissing the Blarney Stone
Uploaded by oaktree_b. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kissing_the_Blarney_Stone_1897.jpg#/media/File:Kissing_the_Blarney_Stone_1897.jpg

And here's me!!!
The man sits there all day long, dipping people backwards to kiss the stone. They are quite efficient.

After descending from the castle, I wandered into the Poison Garden, filled with dangerous plants such as European Mandrake, nightshade and rhubarb, to name a few.

There were other parts of the castle to explore: 

 

I spent the next hour or more getting lost on the tranquil grounds...

Three Yew trees known as "The Three Wise Men," all around 500-600 years old

 

As the afternoon was waning towards evening, I meandered back to the bus stop only to run into two of my three Houston comrades! It was so funny to see them in places throughout Ireland. They said, "You should have just joined us!"

Chris, Scott and I tried to eat at Finn's Quay in Cork that evening but they were booked solid, so we wound up at a place with pizza that satisfied just fine. After dinner, it was back to the hotel to pack for a weekend in Dublin!