Travel Journal: Ireland - Kissing the Blarney Stone

 09/05/2023

What first trip to Ireland would be complete without making the trek to kiss the Blarney Stone ?☘️🇮🇪🏰 We can now take that one off the bucket list !

A few locals have told us that Ireland is one place that the “tourist traps” are always worth it and not something to miss - especially on a first visit. They are definitely right and today was a perfect example of why.

Blarney castle itself is a sight to see and there’s plenty of beautiful gardens, a lake and forest areas to explore. My personal favorite was the poison garden ☠️ The climb to the stone itself can often have high wait times as it gets super busy (early morning or late afternoon are slower) but earlier in the morning we only waited about 45 minutes. It’s a decent climb up some super tight stairs in the castle itself but the views and the fun of doing such a uniquely Irish experience are well worth it. It feels like a right of passage on a first visit and it was a rush to complete.

There are many legends surrounding the stone, and it’s placed in a peculiar position so that it was protected and hard to take, hence the iconic laying on your back to kiss it. (Link below for the full history and legends of Blarney 🏰☘️). 

Is Blarney a bit touristy ? Yes. But it’s 100% worth it and a MUST on a first visit to Ireland. 

We also got to spend some good time in Cork- the main city you go through to get to Blarney (which is also a cute tiny little town outside the castle to enjoy and explore too). 

Cork is another of of Irelands big cities and has some great shopping, The English Market and is known as Irelands “foodie capital”. It’s definitely has some amazing food options and cuisine from all around the world to enjoy trying ! Cork is also full of beautiful monuments and is the starting point and gateway to Irelands Wild Atlantic Way 🌊

 Side note - Cork is also close to Cobh- Titanic’s last port of call and ticket office before she left on her fateful maiden voyage. It’s a tiny museum with some great information on Titanic survivors and a few artifacts. We didn’t have the time for it today and we cared much more to see Titanic Belfast but Cobh is definitely worth mentioning!


History of Cork -


https://corkhealthycities.com/home/a-brief-history/#:~:text=The%20settlement%20at%20Cork%20began,Barra%20(Finbarre's%20rocky%20cleft).


Blarney Castle and Stone - 


https://blarneycastle.ie/blarney-stone/#:~:text=It%20was%20said%20to%20have,Holy%20Land%20after%20the%20Crusades.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Travel Journal: Washington Day 6, Tacoma, nature and family time !

 06/20/2025 We enjoyed a nice chill last day in a rainy Tacoma- taking in sites, enjoying time with family and shopping🌧️ This city has been a great base for us to stay to easily get to all the adventures we wanted to. Tacoma is situated between Seattle and both national parks and offers its own mix of attractions such as museums, waterfront dining, and parks. Our favorite has definitely been Point Defiance Park and Owens Beach to take in sunsets and watch wildlife 🦭 We also found some unique breweries and some delicious donuts along with cute little shops in old town. Only 30 minutes from Tacoma we shopped The Outlet Collection Seattle this week too, and stocked up on super discounted outdoor gear from some of our favorites like Columbia and Eddie Bauer !  This trip was such a wonderful reset for us and we are ready to get back to it. We don’t know what travel the rest of this year holds with job opportunities pending - but we know we’ll find some adventure somewhere ✈️ Tha...
Read more

Travel Journal: Washington Day 5, More Seattle and Kayaking the Puget Sound !

 06/19/2024 We spent a lovely morning today exploring the Alki Beach area of Seattle before we did a fantastic kayak adventure in the Puget Sound 🐋🦭 Lincoln Park was some beautiful walking and led us to one of a few troll statue art installations (spread throughout the PNW) made completely out of recycled materials. Alki Beach has a nice laid back vibe and lots of shopping and dining 🦀 Washington’s Puget Sound, is a huge estuary connected to the Pacific Ocean -known for its rich biodiversity and stunning views of the surrounding nature and diverse wildlife. Puget is home to various fish, seabirds, and marine mammals, including the orca whale.  We have come to love doing kayak tours in many destinations we visit, and find it’s a fantastic way to get right into the local nature and see some wildlife! We booked with Ballard Kayak and Paddle-Board and we were so happy we did. From our fantastic guide to the amazing sights it was such a great way to really get into Washington’s ...
Read more

Travel Journal: New Orleans- The Big Easy & Biloxi, Mississippi

 November of 2020  I have had a lifelong obsession with seeing New Orleans. I even had a mardi-gras theme room for a while as a kid- I guess seeing it in travel books I just fell in love with the architecture and always wanted to try the food !  Finally in 2020 we made it happen and spent a good almost 2 weeks in the “Big Easy”.  We all know 2020 was a crazy year to say the least… We had originally planned to go to New Orleans in May of 2020 and well, things obviously had to be cancelled. By November we had an offer from Expedia to re-schedule since Covid numbers were lower in Louisiana and after much thought and arranging plans we decided to go for it. We followed all safety measures and of course quarantined and had to be tested as soon as we got home. It was a very strange time to travel, that is for sure.. We had never been walking through the airport with masks and face shields- but this trip was such a welcome break from the crazy stress (and working in healthc...
Read more