It’s not so easy to kiss the Blarney Stone as you think as you have to climb up to the top battlement of Blarney Castle and lie on your back with your head and shoulders arching backwards over a drop of 100 feet or so! They do have an “official” photographer, but you can take your own shot. The exposed staircases on the way up are also interesting, worth the effort as you’ve paid for entry into the Castle and Garden anyway.
Apart from the Castle itself. don’t miss the “Medieval Garden of Poison Plants” next to the tower entrance, not so much for the actual plants but the iron cages shrouding some of them (including a Cannabis Sativa!) If you ever wanted to see what the Hemlock looks like, this is the place.
The Blarney Castle Gardens are sure to get you snapping. The Rock Close walk brings you to a large stone Dolmen, the Witch’s Stone, Witch’s Kitchen, Druid Sacrificial altar, Hermit’s Cave, Fairy Circle, not to mention small waterfalls and giant gunnera leaves. There are some good shots amongst the trees in the arboretum, too.
Next to the Castle Gardens is the renowned Blarney Woollen Mills shopping and restaurant complex. Good to “refuel” but we don’t think they stock the same wide range of Irish goods and souvenirs as they used to. Photographically, fergeddaboudit….
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