April 21 - Blarney Castle

It is Easter Sunday and we concluded that it was likely that stores and such would be closed in Cork so we by-passed it and headed straight to Blarney Castle.

The day started out a bit gloomy but the clouds gradually burned off as the day went on.  The grounds at the castle were beautiful with many spring flowers in bloom.

The small Martin River runs through the grounds.

The castle is in partial ruins with many of the walls still standing but the various floors within the castle are gone.

Because of the lines (of people waiting to kiss the Blarney Stone) it took about 45 minutes of standing in line before we finally made it to the top of the castle and had our chance to kiss the stone.

The stone is actually on the underside of the wall so it is quite an undertaking, involving sliding down quite a bit into the gap, in order to kiss it.  They have someone stationed there to hold on to you so you don't slip (and of course a photographer to snap your picture that you then can buy - which we did).

The iron grate under the stone is to prevent people from falling to the ground if the holder loses their grip.  This as a fairly recent addition.   

Kissing the Blarney Stone - From Below

Then we worked our way down the castle, stopping to visit the various rooms.

Next we headed out to the Poison Garden where they grow various medicinal and poisonous plant.

We spent a fair amount of time wandering the garden grounds...they were beautiful, lush and green.

We wandered over to Blarney House that is closed for the season.  One of the staff members indicated that it is owned and occupied by the owner of the house and the castle.  The owners move out during the summer so that the tourists can tour the house.

After lunch we headed out to through the countryside to Killarney where we will be spending several days.

Gorse in bloom

On the way into town we had seen signs for The Shire, the only Lord of the Rings inspired pub in town.  So we decided to go there for dinner.  There were bits of LOTR items in the the pub but it was basically just a pub.  Food was fine.

Our honeymoon continues to follow us.  We were greeted with this at our hotel.