The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-10-24

Copyright, 1903, by John A. Black)
NUMBER III.
The old woman at the entrance to
the castle, who I suppose is treasurer
Of the business, for she receives the
offerings of the pilgrims, is worthy OF
some attention, for she is a thirty-sec-
ond degree blarney. When asked her
If [ might go into the adjoining
meadow to take picture Of the castle
she whispered confdentially that she
would strain a point" for me. and let
me in. which, she hoped, of course,
would induce me to strain a point or
two when I made my thank offering
for favors granted. Two streams have
gushed out from this stone of Blarney
since it was first smitten by the lip
of Cormac Mccarthy: one Of eloquence
into the world; the other of shillings
into the castle treasury. The McCar-
thys struck pay rock when they hit
upon the Blarney Stone story.
Boring ourselves up through more
than a hundred feet of stone tower.
by spiral stone stairs. left US little
breath for eXclamations Of delight at
the magnificent view which we beheid
When we came out on top of the castle.
The groves of Blarney
They look so charming,
Down by the purlings
OF sweet, silent streams.
But il would be very improper for
us to stand here in the presence of the
lord of the castle, admiring and pralS-
ing its grounds, so we proceed to pros
trate ourselves before the royal rock
itself. which, contrary to the custom
OF most courts, is done by lying fat on
your back instead of on your face. AL
most everyone tries to give the i'm
preston that he regards kissing the
Rlarney Stone as a joke: but ] have
seen several at it, and they certainly
smacked il with all the JUNCTION of a
real faith To pay out the better part
o. a guinea in fares and tips, and
climb a hundred feet of stairs. and
hang yourself, head down, hundred
feet above ground to kiss microbe
laden stone is carrying a joke too far,
and is presumptive evidence that the
one who does it does believe that
There is a stone there
That. whoever kisses,
oh! he never misses,
To grow eloquent"
I have had the royal honor of assist
ing at the ceremony several times by
holding to to the legs Of some who
came to scott and remained to kiss:
and was so far carried past my usual
reserve by the excitement Of the oc-
casion that I actually offered my serv-
ices to a young lady who looked long
ingly al the stone; but her delicate
laodssty overruled her evident desire,
and my well-meant ministrations were
declined. On leaving the castle we paid
our respects, and something besides. to
the old woman, who gave US a hearty
God bless you, sir, and give you
safe Journey" which we took as evil
dence that we had come up to her eX-
pectations at last. A blessing from
one so practiced in bestowing them Is
not to be regarded lightly.
We were sorry to leave Cork, for we
felt quite at home among these good
natured obliging people. who have
made for themselves so charming
city. But we had been looking over
the map, and there were some hun
dreds Of villages and places with an ir-
resistible attraction for US; so We set
our faces cOuntryWard and rode away
from Cork toward Macroom. This took
us up the Lee valley, through a fine
farming country. which is cultivated
to the very hilltop. Near Ballincollig
we crossed the Lee on the long. narrow.
many-arched Inniscarra bridge. one
Of those picturesque old bridges with
charming names which delight the
traveller in Ireland. From here we
bear southwark a little through Ovens,
past Crookstown, then northward TO
Macroon.
We turned off the main. road a little
way to visit Kilcrea Abbey, which
stands on the banks Of the River Bride
near an ancient bridge The abbey is
an interesting old ruin, standing in a
field back of a farmhouse. at the end
OF a double row of great trees. It's
walls and windows. gables and tower,
are all draped in dark green by rev.
erent Nature, which does its best to
follow after old Father Time, and cast
the mantle OF ivy over his misdeeds.
These old abbeys are favorite burying
places. Kilcrea is crowded with tombs
the most notable of which is that of
Herlihy, bishop of Ross. one of the
three Irish members of the Council of