Blarney Castle (Caisleán na Blarnan)

      Blarney Castle, a medieval fortress, located in County Cork, Ireland comes in two parts. A slender tower which is about 16 ft. by 14 ft., and a larger mass, the main castle keep, which stands about 66-85 feet tall. The castle lower walls are 15 ft. tall and built at an angle. As the castle rose higher, the structure became narrower. The McCarthys fought many people in order to continue their possession of the castle. Blarney Castle is now a world landmark and Ireland's most popular attraction.

      
       Blarney Castle (currently standing) has been built three times. The current standing structure is the third that has been built and reconstructed after the first two. The first building in the 10th century, around 950 AD was a wood structure. At around 1210 AD it changed into a stone structure. It was built by Cormac McCarthy, the king of Munster. The entrance on the stone structure stood 20 ft. high on the north face. It was demolished because of foundation problems, but in 1446 the castle (currently standing) was built again by Dermot McCarthy, the new King of Munster. 
      Blarney Castle, located on the edge of a cliff and surrounded by palatial landscapes stands out in its area. Legends say that the former king gave half of the Stone of Scone to Cormac McCarthy, now known as the Blarney Stone. It is located below the battlements and is for people to kiss. To kiss it, one has to lean backwards holding railings, from the parapet walk. According to Irish folklore, if one kisses the stone they receive the ability to speak with eloquence, or "The Gift of the Gab".

                     
 This picture shows a person hanging upside down, holding railings, kissing the Blarney Stone.

      In 1586, Queen Elizabeth I wanted to take the land away from the McCarthy clan. However, the McCarthys found a way to stall negotiations. The delays made the Queen frustrated and the family kept the castle until the Confederate War (1641-1652).  During the war, Oliver Cromwell's general, Lord Broghill, destroyed the tower wall with gunfire. At the end of the war, Cromwell gained several opportunities. After the death of Cromwell in 1658, the McCarthys took back Blarney Castle in 1661 when King Charles II rose to the English throne.
      The title Earl of Clancarty was given to the family chieftain, Donough McClarthy. In 1688, Donough McCarthy joined forces with the Jacobites of Scotland. In 1690 at the battle for Cork, Donough McCarthy was taken prisoner by an ancestor of Winston Churchill. He later escaped and evaded to France.
      Blarney Castle changed ownership many times in the next two centuries. Soon after the McCarthy clan left, The Hollow Sword Blade Company of London bought the land. Sir Richard Payne bought the land from the company in 1703, and afraid that the McCarthys would return for it, sold the land to Sir James Jefferyes, the governor of Cork City. The Jefferyes family married into the Colthurst family in the 1800s and now their descendants continue ownership of the castle until today.  
 

This picture shows the lean tower which is part of the main castle keep and a different building that is on the same land.