Ireland/Irish > Black's guide to Killarney and the south of Ireland

CORK TO BLARNEY.
63
of a round tower, originally ninety-two feet high. The summit
being demolished by lightning, an embattlement has been
substituted, raising it to a height of 102 feet. Dr. Smith *
gives the following account of the catastrophe:—
‘‘On the night of the 10th of January a flash of lightning rent the conical
top, tumbled down the bell and three lofts, forced its way through one side of
the building, and drove the stones, which were admirably well joined and locked
into each other, through the roof of an adjoining stable.
CORK TO BLARNEY.
Cars for 2s. 6d. or 3s. — Distance, 5 miles.
Blarney Castle—Stone—Lake—Cromlech.
The romantic scenery of the “ Groves,” and the Magic Stone
of “ Blarney,” may be visited either by stopping at the
station of the same name, or by a drive or walk from
Cork. The latter arrangement is usually adopted. The
distance from Cork is about five miles, and the cost of a
jaunting car 2s. 6d.
The drive along the north hank of the river is generally
preferred, on account of the beauty of the scenery commanded
from some points of the road.
The Castle of Carrigrohan, until lately a ruin, hut now
elegantly fitted up by its present proprietor, Mr. M'Swiney,
picturesquely situated on a steep limestone rock on the opposite
shore. The country on the way is delightfully wooded, and
frequently affords peeps of the square donjon keep of Blarney.
BLARNEY CASTLE, long the residence of the younger
branch of the princely race of the M'Carthys, Lords of Mus-
kerry, Barons of Blarney, and Earls of Clancarty, was built
in the middle of the fifteenth century by Cormac M'Carthy,
surnamed the Strong. It consists now of the massive donjon
tower about 120 feet in height, and another lower portion less
substantial, though almost strong enough to warrant the con¬
jecture that before the introduction of gunpowder it must have
been impregnable. It is almost as marvellous as the power
attributed to the Blarney Stone, that a few lines, containing in
themselves no merit save their absurdity, should succeed in
gaining a world-wide notoriety for a place which otherwise
* History of Cork.