Blogs from Blarney, County Cork, Ireland, Europe - page 3

The abandoned skeletons of half finished houses litter the west coast of Ireland. They sit alongside hundreds of for sale signs, fire sale signs might be more appropriate. Each one a memorial to the great Irish experiment now lying in ruins like the occasional old abandoned castle you pass on the side of the road. 30 years ago Ireland began a bold experiment. It made a conscious commitment as a nation to invest in education. When Ireland joined the EEC, it had this ready-made workforce of highly educated young people. IT and other innovative companies and drug manufacturers set up or moved their European operations to Ireland. All looked rosy. UNTIL the financial spivs and the desk jockeys moved in. Average punters were encouraged to borrow beyond their capacity to repay on the promise of ever ... read more

Monday 27th September to 3rd October 2010 Monday 27th Sept 2010 Up and into Blarney Castle and grounds. www.blarneycastle.ie . Built more than 600 years go. Lovely setting. We spent around 2.5 hours there. Did not kiss the Blarney Stone (the Stone of Eloquence) - as Tom already has the gift of the gab and Gaye can’t get a word in anyway. On site there was also the Blarney House -but it is out of season now and it was closed. Drove to a campsite supposedly near bus route - it was 2.5 km up a steep hill, so the return trip was just not on. Told we could get a taxi or drive. That was no good so off to the campsite listed on the other side of town and also on a bus route. ... read more

This is my Second last day in Ireland and Intend to Kiss the Blarney stone. It’s said that once you have kissed the stone you will be gifted with the ability to speak eloquently. Look out plum in mouth here I come; I was going to video myself kissing the stone! Oh yeh big Ideas. The Stone is at the top of Blarney castle, you have to climb 100 tiny slippery steps to the top then wait in a queue. As I got closer I realized that you actually had to hang over the side of the castle wall on your back holding onto a railing attached to another wall suspended in front of you, then you slide down hanging on once the Blarney Stone is in front of you, you kiss it. They have a ... read more

There is a stone that whoever kisses, Oh! He never misses to grow eloquent, ‘Tis he may clamber to a ladies chamber or become a member of parliament - Francis Sylvester Mahony Legend has it that those who kiss the Blarney Stone will gain the gift of the gab. In other words, you could charm your way to anything you wanted. Although there are many who don’t need to kiss the stone, over 350,000 visit the castle every year. We thought that it was time that we added to the numbers. Cork has many attractions but it was my ignorance at how close the castle was to the city that kept me from visiting before this. Only 10km’s from the city centre it was surely worth a visit on a sunny Sunday afternoon. We got to ... read more

Saturday 27.3.2010 day 164 Kissing the Blarney stone Today we checked out of our resort and drove to Blarney and went to the Blarney castle where the Blarney stone is, the one that if you kiss it you get the gift of the Gab. So we went to go in the castle and found out they only take cash and as we leave Ireland at 8am tomorrow only had €7 left between us and do not need Euro any were else we are going. We were relucent to take the €20 ($30 Aus) plus the $5 Aus fee to take it out as that makes it $35 to kiss a stone and the castle did not look that exciting. We had a quick look around for a cash machine and found a fantastic Irish gift shop ... read more