Blarney Castle

If you’re on your way to Ireland, be sure to check out Blarney Castle 🍀.  It’s located in the town of Cork.  It’s touristy, but worth the visit!  We had the best time exploring the gorgeous gardens around the castle!

Blarney Castle was built about 600 years ago and it’s famous for its kissing stone, which is about 100 feet from the ground.  Millions of people have come here to kiss the Blarney Stone, which legend says it’s supposed to grant you the, “Gift of the gab.” The stone was put in the castle in year 1446 and is made of limestone.  

Tip 💬:  You will need to remove any loose items before you kiss the stone.  So hats, glasses, bags, and empty your pockets of your phone, etc.  

To get to the stone, you will need to climb up the narrow spiral staircase inside of the Blarney Castle until you reach the top.  Then you will need to remove loose items.  Start by sitting, then lie down on your back, and put yourself over the gap where the safety rails are at.  Hold onto the metal safety rails tightly.  There will be someone to hold your waist and lower body, so you can lean your head and upper body backward into the opening gap of the stone and give it a kiss.  You will have to pull yourself back up, but someone will be there helping.  You can buy a souvenir portrait on your way out if you would like.  

The wait time to kiss the stone is about 30 minutes to 2 hours.  Early morning, before 9:00 a.m. will be about a 0-15 minute wait.  Mid-day 11:00-3:00, is the busiest time of day with a 1-2 hour wait.  Late afternoon is about a 30 minute to 1 hour wait.  There is a sign that is put out in front of the castle for how long the wait will be, so you will know before you go up.  

We chose not to kiss the stone for two reasons.  We didn’t want to wait in a line and we had concerns about cleanliness.  They do disinfect the stone regularly with eco-friendly cleaners between groups of people.  They also sanitize the rails and mats too.  If this is something you really want to do, but you’re concerned, I would just ask them to clean the stone for you specifically when it’s your turn 😉.  I’m sure they will be happy to help.  

When we arrived there at about 1:00 p.m., we went straight to the gardens.  We had about five hours to explore, since closing time was at 6:00 p.m.  The closing hours change depending on the season.  May through September closes at 6:00 p.m.  April and October closes earlier at 5:30 p.m.  January through March, November, and December closes at 5:00 p.m.  

I’m really glad we spent our time in the gardens!  The garden was giant and had many beautiful walking paths.  We had such a nice time and the key map made it so much fun 🤩.  We walked around the gardens for four and a half hours, which was enough time to hit all of the key spots on the garden map that they give to you.  The only spot we didn’t visit was the bee hives, even though we had 30 minutes to do so.  We were pretty tired from walking, so we called it a day.  I took a lot of really great photos in the gardens and was able to get a nice family portrait too.  

Halfway through exploring we found a bite to eat, in the stable yard, at the Coach House Café.  We had the Guinness Irish Stew and the jambon.  The food was just okay, but we were glad it was hot and it was something to eat.  We liked the stew better than the jambon.  We actually didn’t finish our jambons.  The line to get food moved pretty quickly here.

Tip💬:  The restrooms are located in the building where the old stables are at, adjacent to the Coach House Café.  This one wasn’t busy.  Otherwise, there is another one close to the entrance door at the beginning.  

Some gardens you will see are the poison garden that has deadly plants, carnivorous courtyard with meat eating plants, rock close is a mystical garden and contains the wishing steps, fern garden and ice house which has massive tree ferns, himalayan valley gardens that is a spring collection of Asian flora, herbaceous border, rose pergola, boardwalk, and water garden.  The map will give you all of this information and highlight what you should be looking for.  

Tip 💬:  Before you exit the parking lot, make sure to stop at the green kiosk and get a parkingticket!  You won’t be able to exit until you have that ticket.  It’s located next to the gift shop by the parking lot.  If you don’t get a ticket, you will be stuck in a line of many people having to try and back out.  Then everyone will have to back out of the line to let you get out.  That’s messy! 

Don’t forget to stop at the gift shop on your way out.  They have many great things to choose from.  I found a nice green wool blanket.  I 💚 it! 

I know you will have a wonderful time exploring this magical castle and enchanting fairytale gardens!