The idea of the art of talking and the Blarney
stone seem to have been linked by Queen Elizabeth I.
She demanded all Irish chieftains give up their
traditional rights where the clans chose their
own chiefs. Her deputy George Cardew, asked
Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy, Lord of Blarney
to do this. He kept promising Cardew but never
really doing anything. The Queen supposedly
exploded "Blarney! Blarney! What he says he
never means. It's the usual Blarney!"
The Jefferyes family introduced the tradition of
kissing the stone in the 18th century, during a
development of the estate. Some think that the
stone is part of the stone of Scone, the ancient
seat that Scotland's kings were crowned on. It
is now in Westminster Abbey in London.
Visitors can still kiss the stone in Blarney Castle.
It is at the top of the Castle and it is hard to
reach and visitors are held by their legs as
they lean backwards over the edge, while
lying on the ground, to kiss it. |
