Page 177 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Ireland

C ORK AND KERR Y  175

addition, the 16th-century celebrations that climax in a d Blarney Castle
tower, was added by the pilgrimage to the island on the Road Map B5. Blarney, Co Cork.
Franciscan Bishop of Ross. The following Sunday. Tel 021 438 5252. £ to Cork.
friary was ransacked by the The Lee flows through many Open daily. Closed 24 & 25 Dec. &
English in 1642 but much of Irish-speaking market towns 7 grounds only, no charge. =
significance remains, and villages. Some, such ∑ blarneycastle.ie
including the church, as Ballingeary, with its
infirmary, fine fine lake side views, Visitors from all over the world
lancet windows, have good angling. flock to this ruined castle to see
refectory and a The town is also the legendary Blarney Stone.
walled court yard. noted for its Irish Kissing the stone is a long-
There are also language college. standing tradition, intended to
sections of Further east, near confer a magical eloquence. It is
cloisters and wine the town of set in the wall below the castle
cellars. In keeping Inchigeela, stand battlements and, in order to kiss
with Franciscan the ruins of Carrig- it, the visitor is grasped by the
tradition, the nacurra Castle. feet and suspended backwards
complex is plain Further downstream under the parapet.
to the point of Lancet window in ruined church lies the Gearagh, Little remains of the castle
austerity. Yet at Timoleague Abbey an alluvial stretch today except the keep, built
such restraint of marsh and in 1446 by Dermot McCarthy.
belied the friars’ penchant for woods which has been desig- Its design is typical of a 15th-
high living: the friary pros pered nated a wildlife sanctuary. century tower house (see p24).
on trade in smuggled Spanish The river then passes The vaulted first floor was
wines, easily delivered thanks through the Sullane valley, home once the Great Hall. To reach
to its position on the then of the thriving market town of the battlements you need to
navigable creek. Macroom. The hulk of a medieval climb the 127 steps to the
castle, with its restored entrance, top of the keep.
lies just off the main square. In The castle grounds offer some
s River Lee 1654, Cromwell granted the attractive walks, includ ing a
castle to Sir William Penn. His son, grove of ancient yew trees and
Road Map B6. Co Cork. £ @ to
Cork. n Cork (021 425 5100). who was to found the American limestone rock formations at
state of Pennsylvania, also lived Rock Close. Blarney House, a
Carving a course through farm- here for a time. Scottish baronial mansion and
and woodland to Cork city (see Between Macroom and the residence of the Colthurst
pp178–80), the River Lee begins Cork, the Lee Valley passes family since the 18th century, is
its journey in the lake of the through a hydroelectric power only open to the public from
enchanting Gougane Barra scheme surrounded by artificial April to mid-June.
Park. The shores of the lake are lakes, water meadows and A short walk from the castle,
linked by a causeway to Holy wooded banks. Just outside Blarney has a pretty village
Island, where St Finbarr, the Cork, on the south bank of the green with welcoming pubs
patron saint of Cork, founded river is Ballincollig, home to and some craft shops. The
a monastery. The Feast of St Fin the fascinating former Royal Blarney Woollen Mills sells
Barre, on 25 September, signals Gunpowder Mills. garments and souvenirs.

Battlemented keep and ruined towers of Blarney Castle

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