Secrets Of Blarney Castle

Blarney Castle in Cork, Ireland has sadly become known for one thing- the Blarney Stone, which people from all over the world come to kiss in order to attain the gift of gab.But the Blarney Stone is just a block of limestone built into the castle's battlements, and the castle itself has such a rich history, and the most beautiful grounds and gardens, that it'd be a shame not to take it all in.
The Blarney Stone legend began around 1314, when King Cormac McCarthy was given the stone by King Robert the Bruce of Scotland for helping him win the Battle of Bannockburn.
A witch who lived in a nearby Druid rock garden told Cormac the stone had magical properties, and that kissing the stone would give him the gift of eloquence.
According to another legend, Queen Elizabeth I tried to take the castle, but each time her troops showed up to storm the castle Dermot McCarthy, a descendant of Cormac, talked them out of attacking.
Elizabeth referred to the failed siege as "blarney" so the name stuck, and by the 1700s "blarney" was an official entry in the Oxford English Dictionary, meaning "talk which aims to charm, flatter or persuade."
Perhaps there's some truth to the Blarney Stone myth after all...

Read Eight Secrets Of Blarney Castle here