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BLARNEY is an easy six miles from Cork city; buses leave the bus station every half hour. The town itself functions chiefly as a tourist service centre and, naturally, there are plenty of places to eat here: try The Muskerry Arms or the bar of Christy's Hotel for pub food. Blair's Inn , about four miles west of Blarney (on the R579), is difficult to reach without your own transport, but is especially noted for its barfood and a lovely riverside location. The Blarney Woollen Mills , one of Blarney's original industries, is the place to find quality Irish goods - especially clothing - in traditional wools and linens. Alongside is a tourist office (July & Aug Mon-Sat 9am-7pm, Sun 10am-5pm; tel 021/438 1624). The castle (daily: May & Sept 9am-6.30pm; June-Aug 9am-7pm; Oct-April 9am-6pm; GBP3.50/?4.44), a fine stronghold, built in 1446 by Dermot McCarthy, King of Munster, is sadly now synonymous with the whole "Blarney phenomenon". The Blarney Stone has been kissed by visitors for over a hundred years, the legend being that to do so gives you the gift of eloquent and persuasive speech. The most famous story of how the legend came about tells of one McCarthy - King of Munster and Lord of Blarney - who, supposedly loyal to the colonizing Queen Elizabeth I, never actually got around to fulfilling any of the agreements between them, always sidetracking her emissaries with drinking, dancing and sweet talk. He was said to be able to talk "the noose off his head". In her frustration the queen is said to have eventually cried out "Blarney, Blarney, what he says he does not mean. It is the usual Blarney." And so the word entered the English language. The stone itself is a four foot by one foot limestone block set in the battlements 83ft above the ground, so kissing it requires a head for heights. If you want to, you'll have to join the queue (it can take an hour) in the castle keep from which you can watch everyone else (one at a time) being dangled backwards by the shins over the battlements aided by two strong men. This also gives you time to consider whether or not you really want to join in. According to a less challenging legend, the stone is half of the Stone of Scone on which Scottish kings were crowned, given to Cormac McCarthy by Robert the Bruce in gratitude for the support of 4000 men at the Battle of Bannockburn (the rest is at Edinburgh Castle). Views from the top of the castle are superb. In the castle grounds, Rock Close is a nineteenth-century folly, a rock garden supposedly built around druidic remains. It is a pity that myths, authentic or not, are such big business around here, because without the hype these ancient yews and oaks could create a potent atmosphere.
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