Blarney Castle--the castle and the grounds are privately owned. Very large area and very nicely kept.
Blarney Castle--bordering the stream, they all come home wagging their tails behind them (and mooing).
Blarney Castle--approaching the castle; watchtower on the far left and two obviously different eras of tower to the main keep.
Blarney Castle--crow taking off. I just had to.
Blarney Castle--the castle hasn't been occupied in hundreds of years but the grounds are kept up with walkways and greenery.
Blarney Castle--the main keep. It's one of the taller castles we were in, about 100+ feet.
Blarney Castle--there were three doorways on the right. One was supposed to have been a dungeon.
Blarney Castle--
Blarney Castle--Here I was in one of the openings. They believed water had been stored in one in times of siege. I just clicked my flash because I couldn't see.
Blarney Castle--to the left of the very small crawlspace was this other partial stairs up, now blocked.
Blarney Castle--this got smaller and smaller and I had to stop. Next time I'll have a light.
Blarney Castle--As I turned to leave I spotted steps and cautiously, slowly stepped forward, and bonked my noste on the ledge at the top. Didn't break it but bruised it.
Blarney Castle--October and beautiful colours in the gardens, which were more extensive than we had time to go through.
Blarney Castle--the watchtower which was probably much higher at one time. The construction looks older too.
Blarney Castle--tower detail. In the mortar between the stones were little stones pushed in as decoration.
Blarney Castle--a view from the watchtower. I love that little tower at front.
Blarney Castle--built in 1200, destroyed by the king of Munster in 1446, I like the details on the little Rapunzel tower.
Blarney Castle--the gardens were more extensive than we had time to go through. But beautiful in the fall.
Blarney Castle--the keep is on the left.
Blarney Castle--into the castle proper.
Blarney Castle--from inside the castle. Part of it had been knocked down in the destruction.
Blarney Castle--a room floor with arrow slot. The castle was nothing but a very old shell.
Blarney Castle--the very worn and steepest (and longest) of all the stairs in the castles we saw.
Blarney Castle--this says a young ladies room. The floor was very rough stone and must have either once had floorboards and/or rushes.
Blarney Castle--a view up to the different levels, now open in the middle but was probably once roofed in wood.
Blarney Castle--a view from near the very top of the ramparts. There's still a ways to go.
Blarney Castle--one of the crenellations and near the Blarney Stone, which is really just a section of wall.
Blarney Castle--this looks through to the ground way below. I imagine that at one time arrows and boiling liquids were poured through these slots. Now there are bars to keep people from slipping through.
Blarney Castle--from the top looking in on the three floor levels below.
Blarney Castle--the blarney stone is behind me and the hearth is down on the main floor. That groove in the floor seems to have been for greases and such to flow into and out of the keep.
Blarney Castle--what do I know of distances. I was probably closer to 200 feet up.
Blarney Castle--the grounds went through several gates on the right. I imagine that little stream was once a larger river but perhaps not too large.
Blarney Castle--looking off to the left.
Blarney Castle--the rough and tumble top. You can see the uneven stones of the base to the right.
Blarney Castle--a sample of the rough state of the rooms. This was the most dilapidated of the castles we saw (except the ruins of Kinbane).
Blarney Castle--a gnarled tree.
Blarney Castle--a pink bloom on the grounds.
Blarney Castle--a wall and culvert. I had to go back around as the walk was a lengthy one from here.
Blarney Castle--one of the plants.
Blarney Castle--looking down on the culvert and algae.
