In County Cork, Ireland stands the Blarney Castle. On my trip to Ireland I made a point of going there for the purpose of kissing the Blarney Stone. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of gab (great eloquence or skill at flattery). The word "blarney", meaning to speak with soft talk or to deceive without offending, derives from a lot of unfulfilled promises of Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy to the King of Munster in the late sixteenth century. After agreeing to deliver his castle to the Crown, he continuously delayed doing so with soft words, which came to be known as "Blarney talk". It's tough to reach the stone -- it's between the main castle wall and the parapet. Kissers have to lie on their back and bend backward (and downward), holding iron bars for support. Can you imagine kissing something that has had people's lips all over it for 500 years? Yuck! But kiss it I did! First I had to climb a spiral staircase to reach the top level which is outside. There was a long line of tourists waiting to do the same. I couldn’t help but notice the southern accent of the couple standing in line behind me and had to ask where they were from. The answer… Atlanta… the same city I was living in at the time. No wonder I recognized that accent! One thing I found rather interesting, there is someone posted at the site to assist you with the kissing. That person tells you how to position yourself and helps you into proper position. They make sure to let you know this person expects a tip as they have a bucket there and money on the stones next to him. The area you kiss is very oily looking as many lips have touched it before yours. After you have kissed the stone the assistant gives you something to wipe your lips with. After standing in a long line for a length of time the actual process of positioning and kissing takes only a few seconds. Any trip to Ireland must include a trip to Blarney Castle and a kiss of the stone.
a view of Blarney Castle
yes the top center of the wall shows where you must lay to kiss the stone
these were the people standing in line in front of me waiting to kiss the stone
this photo is actually a post card, not one I took, however it shows the position you must get into in order to kiss the stone and how the helper assists you
