What is the big deal around the blarney stone?
Five miles north west of the small city of Cork is the village of Blarney. Near the village, standing almost 90 feet in height is the castle of Blarney with its world-famous Blarney Stone. More than 300,000 people come to kiss the Blarney Stone each year, in the hopes of gaining more eloquent speech. While the Blarney Castle that visitors see today was constructed in 1446, the history of the place goes back two centuries before that time. The story begins with a magical stone, its origins shrouded in mystery. One legend says it was the rock that Moses struck with his staff to produce water for the Israelites during their exodus from Egypt. Another legend relates that it had once been Jacob’s Pillow and that the prophet Jeremiah had brought it to Ireland. According to this telling it became the Lia Fail, or ‘Fatal Stone’ and was used as an oracular throne of the Irish kings. Some, however, believe it was the Stone of Ezel, which David hid behind on Jonathan’s advice, while fleeing from
he Blarney Stone is a block of bluestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, Blarney about 8 km from Cork, Ireland. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of gab (great eloquence or skill at flattery). The stone was set into a tower of the castle in 1446. The castle is a popular tourist site in Ireland, attracting visitors from all over the world to kiss the Stone and tour the castle and its gardens. The word blarney has come to mean clever, flattering, or coaxing talk. Origins The proprietors of Blarney Castle list several alternative explanations for the origins of the Stone and its supposed powers, many of which suppose that the Stone had previously been in Ireland but was then taken to Scotland and returned to Ireland in 1314. The theories listed include those that the stone: * was half of the original Stone of Scone – presented to Cormac McCarthy by Robert the Bruce in 1314 in recognition of his support in the Battle of Bannockburn. * was
