For many centuries , as everyone knows , English monarchs tried to impose their will on Ireland.

Queen Elizabeth 1 , eager to extend the influence of her government , sent a deputy to Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy, who was Lord of Blarney , and demanded that he take the tenure of his lands from the Crown.

Cormac set out to visit the Queen and plead for his trditional right to his land. But he depaired of succes for he was not fluent of speech.

Shortly after starting his journey , he met an old woman who asked him why he looked so forlorn. He told her his story and she said….

“Cormac , when Blarney Castle was built , one stone was put into place by a man who predicted no one would ever be able to touch it again. If you can kiss that stone , the gift of eloquence will be conferred upon you.”

Cormac succeeded in kissing the stone and was able to address the Queen with speech so soft and words so fair that as long as he lived he never had to renounce his right to his land.

On a tour of Ireland why not kiss the Blarney Stone……