Blarney Stone

Blarney Stone is a block of Carboniferous limestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, Ireland. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of the gab. In the Sherlock Holmes radio dramatisation ‘The Adventure of the Blarneys Stone’, a man attempting to kiss it falls to his death.

About Blarney Stone in brief

Summary Blarney StoneBlarney Stone is a block of Carboniferous limestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, Ireland. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of the gab. The stone was set into a tower of the castle in 1446. The castle is a popular tourist site in Ireland, attracting visitors from all over the world to kiss the stone and tour the castle and its gardens. To touch the stone with one’s lips, the participant must ascend to the castle’s peak, then lean over backwards on the parapet’s edge.

In the Sherlock Holmes radio dramatisation ‘The Adventure of the Blarneys Stone’, a man attempting to kiss it falls to his death. The word blarney has come to mean ‘clever, flattering, or coaxing talk’ in Irish. It is claimed the synonymy of ‘blarney’ with ‘empty flattery’ derives from two sources: one of two sources is the goddess Clíodhna and the other is Cormac Laidir MacCarthy.