Kissing the Blarney Stone in Ireland: The Reality of This Irish Legend by Sheri B Doyle

Kissing the Blarney Stone in Blarney, Cork, Ireland, just wasn’t a big deal for me. In fact, I was pretty adamant I wasn’t going to do it. My husband wanted to do it so slowly we climbed the very narrow and steep circular stairs to reach the stone located at the top of castle. Having no idea the stone was on the top, I was completely surprised.

Mounted in the wall of the castle, the Blarney Stone is nestled into metal railings – this is where people hold on as they kiss the stone. A large gap lies between the castle floor and the stone and the castle wall and the stone. These gaps are large enough that someone got stuck a few years ago when trying to kiss the stone.

Once I was facing the Blarney Stone I changed my mind; it would be silly to be here and not do it. So, I made my way to lie down and kiss the stone. Two men sit next to the stone to assist and protect. They instructed me to lie on my back, then bend backwards and hang in the hole to kiss the stone.

The initial problem was that my mind had zero interest in hanging upside down in a hole five stories over the countryside, holding on to two metal bars and kissing a stone, even if it was sterilized before I did it. I gave up – my body just wouldn’t bend the way it needed to.

I watched two other people do it. Determined not to give up, I laid back down to try again. I moved my body about halfway into the gap, leaned back, the man grabbed my coat and I bent backwards. As I hung upside down the countryside looked so beautiful, but quickly the thought entered my head of how easily I could slip right through the gap. I quickly kissed the stone and told him I was ready to come up, very grateful I had done it and that I had not been the first person to slip through the gap. 

Read more about Blarney, Cork, Ireland, at my blog, SoOffWeGo. 

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