Blarney Castle

Day three in Ireland was my absolute favourite of the entire trip. We went to Blarney, which is about five miles outside of Cork, but the atmosphere is so different from the city! It's out in the country and it felt like we'd entered a fantasy land the entire time we were there. The main sight to see is Blarney Castle and its grounds. It was 10 euros to enter, and we ended up spending about five hours there!

First we went to see the castle, which is known for housing the Blarney Stone. There were remnants of the original fifteenth century castle rooms to explore, and some petrifying spiral staircases. I've never had issues with heights or claustrophobia, but that staircase was taxing even on my nerves! But there were fantastic views from the top, and then the queue to kiss the Blarney Stone! The other girls didn't want to do it, but I went for it! I don't think the gift of the gab has appeared yet, however :-p I was really happy to finally visit a castle after being in England for three months! As a medieval historian, I was geeking out, but so was Chantal, so it was all good!

View of the castle entering the grounds

View of the castle from the very bottom

Gollum caves in the dungeon!

That section at the very top open to the sky is where the Blarney Stone is- you have to hang upside down to reach it!

The remains of a great hall and the master bedroom

The evil stairs

The view from the top!

Chantal took a picture of me when I kissed the Blarney Stone! haha

After we saw the castle, we spent a lot of time exploring the grounds. There were so many gardens and this was definitely my favourite part of the day, even though nothing was really in bloom yet. First we saw the Poison Garden, right behind the castle, which was full of all kinds of interesting plants which have poisonous properties with information about all of them and their historical uses and effects! Next there was a garden of indigenous plants to Ireland, and a walk through some of the woods to the Fern Forest, which was my favourite! I wish I could see it in the spring or summer, but it really did feel like I was in Robin Hood or something. The pictures really don't do it justice.

Hellebore plant, it was one of the few flowering!

I think I just entered the closest thing to a Herbology class at Hogwarts I could.

The Fern Forest!!

There were many other buildings on the grounds as well, ruins from the old castle complex. Blarney House is also there, but it wasn't open when we visited. It is quite stunning though! We stopped for lunch in the refectory in the old stables- the tables were in the old stalls, it was great! And it was nice to regain our strength before we went around the rest of the castle grounds.

Blarney House from the side

Lunch stalls!

Next we went to Rock Place, which is a walk through a part of the woods which has Druid relics and a "magical history." Given my life-long fixation with Stonehenge and Druids, I was really excited about this part! There were some fun activities at some of the sites along the way as well, like the witch's wishing stairs- if you went up and down them backwards with your eyes closed and made a wish, it should come true within a year! And there's a stone which is supposed to be that same witch frozen in place. Some dolmens, caves, and druid circles are around and there are many winding paths through craggy rocks, by waterfalls, and through forests. It was quite atmospheric, as promised in the guide, and a lot of fun. There was a playground in the middle as well, and a fairy glade, and we ran about and took lots of goofy photos while we were there and the sun was out!

Chantal attempting the wishing stairs

The witch's kitchen, a very old stone structure that gave me some serious heebie jeebies when I was inside

The witch's stone- people leave "sacrifices" on the ground around it, mostly 1-2 cent coins

Druid Circle

Chiara sacrificing Silvia on the Druid altar

A bird in the fairy glade

Our final adventure was the Lake Walk, which was a route through the woods around the lake on the back of the grounds. It was absolutely lovely, despite the muddy paths! The views were incredible, especially on the sunny day. Seriously, it was stunning, and again, the photos don't do justice to the amazing atmosphere of the Irish countryside.

Staring out to the lake walk- this father and son were in the gardens when we were playing around, and I caught a picture of them walking ahead of us between playing with a rugby ball in the fields :-)

Seriously stunning

 

The countryside on the walk back

I also bought an Irish wool sweater while in Blarney! It's proven quite useful in the past few days with the bitter cold when I've been walking around London with my parents. Overall, if you get a chance, definitely visit Blarney or get out into the Irish countryside if you're in Ireland! I preferred the country so much more than the cities we were in, although those are nice and have lots to see and do as well.