Blarney Castle Legends

Blarney Castle is a popular tourist destination in Ireland, most famous for the Blarney Stone set into the battlement walls along the roof. It is said the stone was half of the Stone of Scone, given to Cormac MacCarthy, king of Munster, by Robert the Bruce of Scotland, in appreciation for providing 4,000 men to fight with the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn.

Another story has the stone given to MacCarthy by an older woman he saved from drowning. The lady was a witch who told him the stone's secret, which would give anyone who kissed the stone the gift of eloquence. There is rumored to be a witch at Blarney Castle, who is said to be imprisoned in the Witch Stone in the Rock Close during the day. She escapes after nightfall and makes a fire in the cave known as the witch's kitchen to stay warm. It is said if you visit the cave in the early morning, you can sometimes see the fire's dying embers. For hundreds of years, she is also said to have taken firewood from the estate for her kitchen, and in return, she must grant visitors' wishes at the Wishing Steps.

Blarney Castle has a relatively peaceful history, but one event in 1646 saw the castle being besieged by Parliamentarian forces during the Irish Confederate Wars. When Lord Broghill fired down on the castle from Card Hill and entered it, he found only two trusty old retainers, because the garrison had escaped through Badgers Cave below the castle. The garrison also took a sizeable golden plate with them as they fled, which was never found. Legends suggest the golden plate still lies somewhere in the depths of the nearby lake, and that three passages lead from the cave, one to Cork, one to the lake, and one all the way to Kerry.

The River Martin, which flows beside the castle, is also said to be haunted, but not by the spirits of people who once roamed the castle halls. Instead, the ghosts are of fish. Ghostly salmon to be specific, which have been observed jumping from the river to catch insects.