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| Dungarvan, County Waterford |
We left our fairy tale castle after breakfast for our next destination, Declan's Cathedral in Ardmore, stopping briefly in Dungarvan in County Waterford to take a photo of sailing ships in the harbour. From the old cemetery and ruins the 115km Saint Declan's way begins here in Ardmore and ends in Cashel in County Tipperary. The story goes that when Declan, the great saint who converted his people to the Christian faith in the 5th century, sailed from Rome to the coast of Ireland with his disciples one of them forgot to bring on board the ship's bell. They all prayed earnestly to God for it's recovery when suddenly a rock floated by with the wee bell on it. On seeing this Declan said wherever the rock makes landing will be where he builds his monastery. It landed in Ardmore and you can see it on the shore today. Really. And, according to legend, Declan is buried here beside the round tower, though the vault is now empty. Very peaceful and a lovely spot to spend half an hour, the beach of Youghal Bay just visible in the distance. The N25, a beautiful stretch of road and the smoothest drive we have done in weeks, took us through Cork to the village of Blarney and it's Castle and gardens.
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| St Declan's, Ardmore |
Blarney Castle, five miles west of the small city of Cork, is the third to be erected on this site. In the 10th century there was a wooden hunting lodge here, replaced in 1210 by a stone structure. The building was demolished for the foundations of the third castle built by Cormac MacCarthy in 1446. It is the tower house or the fortress residence of this we today know as Blarney Castle. It was besieged four times and taken once by Cromwell's army but the MacCarthy's held on until forced to leave in the years following the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. The Stone, just a block of carboniferous limestone built into the battlements by MacCarthy, is supposed to endow whoever kisses it with the gift of gab. The origins of the stone's legend are shrouded in mystery with names like Moses, the prophet Jeremiah, Irish kings, David and St Columba all mentioned but the most commonly accepted story of the stone is that, in gratitude for Irish support at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Robert the Bruce gave a portion of the stone that MacCarthy had installed in his castle. The origins of the term 'kissing the Blarney Stone' are just as numerous. But we know that 'there is a stone there, that whoever kisses, Oh! He never misses to grow eloquent...' Marie took the plunge (wrong words here I think considering the height) and now will forever reward me with her eloquence and persuasiveness as never before. Sigh.
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| one of the many legends of the Blarney Stone |
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| Marie kissing the Blarney stone |
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| view from Blarney Castle |
The Gardens at Blarney were amazing and well worth the admission price, covering 60 acres and a joy to explore. We wandered around the prehistoric Fern Garden, the deadly Poison Garden, saw ancient Yew trees over 600 years old, waterfalls, woodlands, arboretums, an 18th century Rock Close garden, tropical and jungle borders, an Himalayan walk, a fabulous azalea and rhododendron beds, sculptures and many more rare and unusual trees that constantly overwhelmed you with their colours and size. Go for the stone but see the beautiful gardens first. Our Airbnb in Coolyduff was just 15 minutes away so we lingered as long as we could before saying goodbye to another Irish treasure. GWS
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| our Airbnb, Coolyduff |
