Easter 2004

The standing stones of Cornwall have been a part of my life for a long time but I’m also interested in other stones around the world.  The other two that I am interested in is the black stone of Mecca and the Blarney stone.  For almost 30 years I have planned a trip to the Blarney stone and other people have always said that it is just a bit of fun but as I know a bit about stones I had a feeling that it was going to be a bit different.

In Easter 2004 my daughter-in-law said to me “Ed would you like to come to Ireland on holiday with us?”   Yes I said but only if we can go and see the Blarney stone.  We won’t let you down she said we’ll take you.  So we set off for Ireland, heading up towards the west coast of Wales and we crossed over to Ireland.

When we arrived at Rosslare we headed down the coast road to Youghal. We had a rented cottage there.   Karen and Chris were worn out with the trip so I took the boys to the beach.  I must admit the beaches are not like home here in Cornwall but the sea was the same, the waves just gently kissing the gravel as they could barely roll over.  Just a sort of goodnight kiss to your loved one.

In the morning the weather was just beautiful. My son drove down as far as Cork where we took the Blarney road.  To my amazement it was only 30 minutes and we were there.  When we got there my daughter-in-law read to me about a witch who fell in the river and was saved by the owner of the castle and in return she gave him a stone and promised that she would teach him the magic of the stones and said that he would never want for anything.  I liked the story and this is why it took me 30 years to get here.  Anyhow we crossed over the river and Karen said "there's the castle it is behind the trees".  The way I could describe it to you would be like any other village church tower but wider.  We made our way along the path and started to climb the tower.  Chris and the boys decided to go on and I noticed how the steps were worn out by all the people who had gone to see the stone.

The man said lie down there under the stone and I’ll hold you up while you kiss the stone.  As I kissed the stone I knew then that this stone was magic and not fun as people had said to me.  It was very charged up with peace, love and happiness.  If you haven’t been then I suggest that you go and see it.

The energy and the power that the stone was giving out was from all the people who had put into it.  If the story of the witch had not been true then no one would have ever come top see the Blarney stone.  It was just like I thought it would be, it was just great.

It’s been a while now and I still feel on a high and I will until the day I die. 

So there you are I have kissed the Blarney stone and I probably won’t get a chance to touch the black stone of mecca but I would imagine that it would also be a very charged and powerful stone.

When we finally climbed down from the castle Karen found a cave where the witch was allowed to live.  There was a stone outside the cave and I felt the spirits of the old folk.  A lot of people had put money on the stone and nobody would dare touch it. 

I’ve noticed over the years that you can leave money around stones and no one would ever touch it.  People still respect the old customary ways which is a good thing as people should respect others.

Blarney castle was the most magical place that I had ever been.