Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-04
A BIT OF BLARNEY
From Cork to Castle and the
WorId-Famous Stone.
BUT FEW HAVE KISSED IT
Perilous Pastime That REQUIRES a
Tackle and Strong Nerve.
IRISH TENANTS BUYING LAND
Operation of Wyndham Act Dissolv-
ing Great Estates-Financial Diff
ficulties Embarrass Landlord
and Tenant.

and Tenant
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and. the
Chicago Record Herald.
CORK, July % 1903.
Now, Terence. me by, tell the loidies
and gintlemen all We know. an kape the
rist to yoursilf.' was the parting injunc-
ton of the porter of the Imperial Hotel
to the jarvey of the jaunting car. as he
tucked the rugs around our legs and
started us off for Barney Castle. which
is five miles from town.
From Cork to Blarney.
1t is delightful drive. for the suburbs
of Cork are surrounded by fertile farms
just now. and the pastures are Illuminated
with buttercups and inclosed in hedges of
hawthorn that are bright with blossoms.
All nature seems to be in cheerful
mood these days. The frequent rains
which interfere considerably with motor
ing, give an appearance of freshness to
all the vegetation and vitality to the
trees and plants and flowers and every
thing growing. That is peculiar to Ireland
But We have not been much troubled
by the rain; not nearly so much as we
tales other people who have travelled over
here told us. The porters of the hotels
have common joke that 1T never rains
here on the 31st Of February which is
as much as to say that there is a shower
every other day in the year. but that is
not accurate. Showers do come and
cease with surprising suddenness and fire.
quency, and the rain falls as If it was
very heavy and had dropped long dis
lance. But If you carry an umbrella
md &c
are none the worse for it. The god of the
weather and. ST. Swithin, the saint to
whom the farmers pray for rain in dry
season. have been very good to us. We
have nothing to complain of and much to
be thankful for concerning the weather.
There is a little narrow gauge baby
railway which starts from outside the
campus of Queens College. in Cork. and
runs to Blarney, town of about 500 in
habitants. They are mostly farmers
who cultivate the surrounding soil and
breed cattle. while their wives and
daughters work in wooden factory be-
longing to the Mahoney brothers. which
is said to produce the best tweed in the
the shops in Cork. Nothing is sold at
the factory.
Barney Castle.
Blarney Castle, as everybody knows, is
one of the best preserved and most beau
tiful Of the many ruins of Ireland. and
is probably better known throughout the
world than any other because of the
marvellous qualities of famous stone
which forms a part of its walls AS
Father Prout in one of his verses ex-
presses it:
There is n stone there
That whoever kisses.
Oh, he never misses
To grow eloquent.
lis he that may chamber
To my ladys chamber
Or. become member
or parliament.
The castle stands on the banks of
dashing stream called the Comane, full
OF trout and we'll protected 1t is sur
rounded by q wonderful forest of cedars,
birch and beech trees that are centuries
old. Their trunks are entwined with IVY
and the rocks and hedges upon which the
castle stands are cushioned with the
same material. / don't know that l have
ever seen such luxurious ivy, such sump-
tuouS vegetation or such fragrant shade
out of the tropics. There are natural
caves and grottos in the cliffs all of
which used to serve a useful purpose in
ancient times, and are associated with
various fascinating legends. There is a
difficult ascent to natural terrace that
is called 1.-The witches stairs" A
thoughtful owner of this glorious forest
has placed benches at easy intervals
where visitors may sit and read the his
tory, traditions and legends of the place
and imagine that they can see the fairies
that dance by moonlight on the carpet
of ivy that cOnceals the earth. Every
step is haunted by a goblin a ghost
and every dark and gloomy corner has
been the scene of a tragedy.
A Bit of Irish History.
The castle is well kept and Sir George
Colthurst the owner. makes it as pleas
ant as he can for the thousands of tour
lists who come here every year from all
parts of the world, and of course large
majority of them are Americans. No
tourist thinks of visiting Ireland without
seeing Blarney Castle, and aside from
the legends and the satisfaction of hav
ing been here it is we'll worth the trouble.
The tower or keep which was the for
titled part Of the BUILDING, is almost in
tact except the floors. but the residential
portions have crumbled and fallen away.
The castle was built by COrmack Mac
Carthy. prince of Desmond. who ruled all
of ireland south of Cork in 1913. The
Desmond clan fought the Geraidines (the
followers. of the Earl of Kildare, whose
territory adjoincd them on the north) UNI
til 1887. when league was formed be-
tween the two clans with other princes.
against the English, who were kept pretty
busy within the Pale, as the territory i'm
mediately around Dublin was called.
Lady Eleanor MacCarthy saved the life
of Gerald Fitzgerald the son of Siken
Thomas. Earl of Kildare. who rebelled
against English authority. She succeeded
in escaping from the country with him
and took him to Rome. where that babe.
the only survivor of the vengeance of
Henry VIII was concealed and cared
for by a cardinal who happened to be a
distant relative. And it was thus through
the devotion Of brave woman that the
house of Kildare escaped extinction by
its hereditary enemies.
In the time of Queen Elizabeth how
ever, upon the suppression o. what is
known in history as the Geraldine re-
bellion. the vast estates of the Earl of
Desmond and those of the MacCarthys
and 40 other chiefs and landowners in
Munster were confiscated by parliament
that met in Dublin. and were given to
English adventures for two pence and
three pence an acre and sometimes for no
price at all. upon agreements that they
men.
Florence MacCarthy. the head of the
house at that date, was imprisoned In the
Tower Of London with Sir Walter Ra-
leigh. accused Of treason. and it was he
who outwitted Queen Elizabeth with his
.deludering'' until she coined the word
'blarney" to describe his fluent CONVERSE
ton.
The Famous Blarney Stone.
The famous Barney stone is as we'll
known as the King Of England. and also
the superstition that whoever kisses it
NIL