Richard Lessard

On the fourth day, we visited Blarney Castle to ultimately kiss the world famous Blarney stone. To be honest, up until I had arrived in Ireland I had no heard of the Blarney stone or what it meant to kiss it. I messaged my Irish friend in America via internet the night we arrived in Dublin, hoping that he would at least give me some insight into what the Blarney stone was. All he said was not to kiss it because it’s really dirty. I was hesitant but once I saw the castle and the land that surrounded it, I decided to throw caution to the wind and give the Blarney stone a big kiss for good luck.

We walked up the giant stone structure, weaving in and out of different rooms until we reached the top of the keep. One at time we kissed the stone. To kiss the Blarney stone, one has to lie on his or hers back and grabbing onto iron bars while two staff workers held you in place. To be perfectly honest, the whole experience was anticlimactic. The most fun I had at the castle was getting to the top and looking around. I was brought to a specific idea that while I looked out into the country side. I imagined the castles occupants looking out into the country side scanning for enemy invaders. Where they stood, I stood. I found it actually really exciting to almost be sharing a piece of history quietly to myself.

After kissing the dirty stone, we traveled the Garden of Death were all the plants are poisonous, some to the touch and some to if ingested. The sad part was that we were viewing the garden in early march. Though Ireland does not freeze in the winter, the weather was too cold to most of the plants there bloom. The garden itself though was extremely nice and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I then decided to travel around the grounds to explore the rest of the estate, which is absolutely huge. Three of us, including myself decided to walk to the great lake located in the back of the castle. This walk was about twenty minutes to the lake but once we got there the water was so clear it look like a reflection of the land that surrounded it. When one goes to Ireland, one is told that they must try the Guinness or the Jameson. They are told to go to Dublin and see the doors. One may even hear that the grass in Ireland is the softest in all the world. What they do not tell you about, is that the water of Ireland is probably the best water that anyone has ever had. This is why Ireland is so green and the beef and cheeses are so rich.

We began our long back to the castle but not before we found a horse in his fenced area. I have not seen a horse by itself and had never had the chance to actually touch one. We stood by the fence and the gestured the horse to come over. At first the horse was nervous because he could sense that we were probably nervous. Slowly but surely he came over until we could touch him. I put out my hand for him to smell it but flinched which made him flinch simultaneously. After the initial awkward introductions the horse trust us and we were able to pet it. When we left the horse began to neigh, another thing I have personally never seen or heard before. I guess the horse was expecting some sort of food.

Dublin was fun and it is a great, great city to walk and explore. But the real Ireland is like Blarney. There are endless green pastures that have cows, goats, sheep, and horses. There are not many people around and those who are extremely friendly. Once someone gets away from Dublin they will finally see the true Ireland. It really a beautiful country that though is small has so many things to see an experience. Later on we traveled even further into the Irish countryside and almost every day it seemed to get better and better. The Ring of Kerry was fantastic and one of the best parts was going to the ocean and just watching the waves. Even though Ireland is an island one never really hears about its beaches. Ireland was fantastic and if ever the opportunity presents itself again, I would definitely go back. And I would stay longer.