Blarney Smooches All Around!

 'Tis there's the stone that whoever kisses
He never misses to grow eloquent;
'Tis he may clamber to a lady's chamber,
Or become a member of Parliament.
"A noble spouter he'll sure turn out, or
An out and outer to be let alone;
Don't try to hinder him, or to bewilder him,
For he is a pilgrim from the Blarney stone."

- Irish Bard Francis Sylvester Mahony

When you compile a list of spots you hope to visit during any trip to Ireland, invariably, most travellers will almost immediately box-check the Blarney Castle and its legendary Blarney Stone in County Cork, which we were fortunate enough to visit on both Jackie AND Scott's shared birthday.

The best known legend of the kissing the Blarney Stone is that it endows the kisser with the gift of gab, or great eloquence or skill at flattery. 

Challenge accepted.

The current incarnation of Blarney Castle dates back to around 1446, though another edifice stood on the same spot for about two prior centuries.  The standing one is a tower house, a type of fortification built by Gaelic lords and the Anglo-Irish between the 15th and 17th centuries. Tower houses are typically four or five stories tall with one or two main chambers, plus several ancillary chambers on each floor.

Blarney Castle also features a Murder Hole, whcih was a hole in the floor of the second level of the castle, which is now fitted with an iron gate so that no tourists fall though.  When the castle walls were breached and the enemy had entered the castle at the ground floor, the occupants could stand on the level above and throw objects down onto the people entering - weapons including boiling hot liquids to burn their enemies alive.

The castle walls are 18 feet thick at the base, gradually sloping inwards as they rise. This makes the building more stable but would also have helped with defense - when an object was dropped from the top it would bounce off the wall on the way down and fly outwards into the enemy.

Great fun storming this particular castle!

Some readers of this blog will say they would never kiss the stone because they've heard from locals the urban legends that someone empties their bladders upon the wall nightly.

My hot take:  I travelled to a new country to experience something thousands of others do every day.  If you're fine with the concept of kissing a block of limestone about two feet wide that hundreds of others have already gotten up close and personal with before you on any given day, you can just apply an abundance of sanitizer to your lips post-event.  Which we did.

The view from high atop Blarney.  I never knew heading into this trip that the stone in question was actually 85 feet above the ground.  Stupidly, I always thought it was at the base of the castle and never understood the heights people would scale to see the vaunted stone.

Finally, after climbing the narrow inner staircases that were so constricting I couldn't keep my backpack on, we made it to the top, and it was time for a series of smooches.  Supposedly four out of ten of the people who make it the top of the castle opt out rather than hang over the wall.  We were not going to be those four.

Make no mistake, it's not a simple physical task.  You have to grab two iron rails on either side of your head, slide over backwards, and crane down several about two feet while your upper torso tries to remain flat on the top of the castle parapet walkway.  In my case, one of my sneakers came off as I tried to anchor my ample-sized torso on solid ground.

Take off your baseball hats, and remove any sunglasses, or for that matter, ANY loose items on your body, for fear of them falling through the wrought-iron gate that supposedly prevents you from falling upside-down to your certain death below.

There's two men atop the castle - one who takes your pic for documentation purposes, and another who offers one arm to somewhat help you keep your bearings as you begin your upside-down descent into the castle wall opening.

  

Atop the castle as you approach the much heralded stone, you can read of the series of legends and lore that  swirl around the myth involving the stone and its historic kiss.

You decide which of the versions you choose to believe as you absorb the pics of Sue, Scott, Jack and I experiencing Irish history and officially garnering the gift of gab.

The first version claims  the stone was used by Jacob as a pillow when he dreamed of the ladder extending up to heaven with angels ascending and descending on it, and that it was brought from the Holy Land after the Crusades. First kiss!

Another legend, appropriate for Scottish Scott, is that it was given to the MacCarthy Chieftain by Robert Bruce in thanks for support he offered by sending 5,000-foot soldiers to Scotland to help him against Edward II, and that it was part of the Stone of Scone, on which the Kings of Scotland were inaugurated. Second smooch!

A third version, for my bewitching wife, accounts that Cormac McTaidhg Láidir MacCarthy, rescued an old woman from drowning in a river and that she turned out to be a witch. In gratitude she told him of a certain stone already in the castle that had magic properties and that he could benefit by kissing it.

Third peck!

The most elaborate and romantic legend concerns the Queen of the Fairies, who was the beautiful daughter of a leading druid. She fell in love with a gallant young chieftain who broke her heart by not returning her love. He was killed in battle, and she found his body on a stone on the banks of the river lee. His blood had soaked into the stone. There she grieved, her tears joining his blood in the stone which she continually kissed. This caused her magical powers to be absorbed by the stone itself. Cormac Láidir MacCarthy, was advised by the Queen of the Fairies that this stone, on which she had wept, had been built into his castle and that if he kissed it his difficulties would be resolved.

Fourth smack!

Having officially now acquired the gift of gab, I'm happy to say the experience, while not for the faint of heart, was one of most memorable pieces of historic lore that we got to take in, and kudos to my three fellow travelers for puckering up and soldiering on despite the physically challenging requirements of the task!

Back on solid ground, we stood at the base of Blarney and looked back up to see the stone we just smooched.  The block of light in the center of the pic shows where we hung suspended just a tad earlier.

The view from the rear of the castle

In the rear of the Blarney Castle proper stands Blarney House, built in 1874.  The house, built in Scottish Baronial style is made of light blue hammer dressed limestone and fronts Blarney Lake.

In the gardens alongside Blarney House, Jackie went out on a limb for this quality pic

One of the stranger sights we've taken in on our Ireland trek at the base of Blarney Castle was the Poison Garden, seen over our left shoulders in the pic below.  All of the plants within the garden can be found in the wild or in gardens, and yet the products of these plants are responsible for millions of deaths each year!  Yikes! Within the walls of this particular garden, you'll find deadly nightshade, the opium poppy, hellebore, poison hemlock, wolfsbane and European mandrake, and God only knows how many other killer plants.

Some other quick fun facts about this garden: The sign at the entrance says Enter At Your Own Risk.  Some of the more dangerous of the species are contained within steel cages to avoid them being sniffed, eaten or touched!  Children have to be accompanied by an adult in this stretch of the grounds.  

So of course, we just HAD to wander through!

And before we head out, one more special kiss inside the Poison Garden at Blarney Castle!

Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. - the 2024 Edition

75 years ago today, in Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey, Douglas Frederick and Adele Ann Springsteen brought their son, Bruce, into a world that had no idea of the rock and roll wildstorm that would be coming onto the music scene of a generation when, as a young teen, he picked up a guitar and began rewriting the course of music history.

And last weekend, some of us who have been the Disciples in the Church of Bruce Springsteen were fortunate enough to be standing on the sands of Asbury Park - six miles from his birthplace - when the Boss returned to his songwriting roots, and rolled out some of the greatest songs he penned in 1972 for his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. released in January, 1973.

Fellow E Streeter acolyte Barry Scanlon and I made the pilgrimage to the Jersey Shore and both stood in awe as Springsteen rolled out some of his greatest Jersey songs to commemorate his participation in the Sea, Hear, Now festival.  Between us, Barry and I have seen Bruce nearly 200 times.  And yet we both agreed, this experience, played out on the real estate where it all began for Bruce, tops the list of those shows with a once-in-a-lifetime night of nostalgic memories steeped in the Springsteen soundtrack of our lives.

Sea, Hear, Now featured three stages on the boardwalk and beach at Asbury Park, spanned two days, and spotlighted more than a dozen performers, including others like Norah Jones, the Black Crowes, Kool and the Gang, and many more.  Jersey's favored son was the closing act on Sunday night.

For many Springsteen followers, the general admission pit is the ONLY way they'll go for a show.  It's not usually the first go-to for us E Streeters proper, though it was the path of participation for many fellow friends at their first show in Saratoga, 1984.  For Sea, Hear, Now, the pit experience was just about the ONLY choice, with three tiers - Platinum, VIP, and General Admission.  Barry and I were lucky enough to score VIP tix, putting us about 16 "rows" away from the stage, and giving us an up-front viewing to rock history in the making.

In one of the day's first surprises, Springsteen took to the stage to join Phish's Trey Anastasio for a rocking rendition of Kitty's Back, performing under cloudless, blue skies.  Thousands of Springsteen's fans weren't even in place yet, and many could be seen scrambling for a spot on the sand when they realized the Boss had taken to the stage hours ahead of his 7:30 scheduled set.  For his part, Anastasio announced that a Springsteen show had been his first concert decades ago, and his fanboy zeal shone through his accomplished guitar work throughout the 10 minute plus version of Kitty's Back.

“Greetings, Asbury Park!” Springsteen announced to the packed beach when he and the E Street Band took to the stage of the festival at about 7:30 p.m.  The event, now in its sixth year, is the creative child of photographer Danny Clinch, who's captured more than his fair share of iconic Springsteen pics over the years, many of which are spotlighted in local galleries along the Jersey Shore.

After opening with Lonesome Day from the Rising album, and a song that's been a frequent flier from his recent setlists, Springsteen threw the mortality-themed playbook that has framed his tour of late into the nearby crashing surf.

“I wrote this song about 500 yards north of here on Loch Arbor Beach. We haven’t played it in a long fucking time. We got a lot of stuff we haven’t played in a long fucking time. Let’s see how we do.”  And with that, he and the band were off, racing through a trio of songs straight from Greetings - Blinded by the Light, Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street, (neither of which has been played live in seven years), and Growin' Up.

The trio of early greats were part of the 30-song, three-hour, fifteen minute set under the end-of-summer skies.

For this writer, there's a handful of songs that claim space in my Top 5 Springsteen songs, and this night, the Boss delivered three of them.  Truth be told, knowing the venue, there was only one song I silently sought, knowing it would yield an unforgettable and indelible memory for the rest of my life.

And sure enough, with an opening dedication to late E Street band keyboardist/accordionist Danny Federici, Bruce and the band, for the first time in eight years, launched into 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).  Indescribable chills.

Well the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin’ fortunes better than they do
This boardwalk life for me is through
You know you ought to quit this scene too
Sandy the aurora’s rising behind us, the pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh love me tonight and I promise I’ll love you forever

The actual number of fans in attendance has varied from report to report, ranging between 35,000 to 55,000 concert-goers.  This aerial drone photo via People magazine helps put things into perspective.

True confession time: for some of the emotional throwbacks of the evening, eyes were closed more than once, and it felt as though Bruce was belting out a classic for just one set of ears that was listening and feeding an internal flashback to more than four decades of memories tied to particular songs or lyrics.  And it wasn't just me feeling emotional under that Jersey sky either.  I saw multiple fans wiping away tears during specific highpoints of the night.

The night also featured the return of Thundercrack (first time performed live in eight years and a Martin Brewer favorite), and then in what was unquestionably the emotional one-two gut punch of the night, Meeting Across the River directly into Jungleland, much like their pairing on the iconic Born to Run third album from Bruce.

Outside the street's on fire in a real death waltz
Between what's flesh and what's fantasy
And the poets down here don't write nothing at all
They just stand back and let it all be
And in the quick of the night
They reach for their moment and try to make an honest stand
But they wind up wounded, not even dead
Tonight in Jungleland

Throughout the night, the wind breezed in from our right, coming off the ocean, where the waves constantly crashed onto the shoreline.

No one wanted the night to end, including Bruce and the band. Certainly not Barry and I.  For all our fellow E Streeters, unable to join us on the sand for that stretch of time, you were certainly there with us as Spirits in the Night.  The night encapsulated all of the 40+ years of memories into a three hour block of magic - the bachelor parties, overnight waits to get tickets, pre-wedding night shows, the memory-packed road trips, the emotional highs, the heartbreaks of the passage of time and band members' lives, the tailgates - all of it was there. Stealing a quote from Bruce's on-stage tributes: "If you’re here, and we’re here, then they’re here.” 

Happy to confirm, after three-quarters of a century, there is still Magic in the Night.

Happy Birthday, Bruce.

Dinosaurs on the Dunloe

Catching up on the second half of the Ring of Kerry, we heard about a botanical garden that featured dinosaur themed sculptures, which made for a must-stop-and-check-out, especially for my bride, who has a passion for all things dinosaurs.

Truth be told, if there was a real-life Jurassic Park, Jackie would probably still visit it, despite the repeated escapes, misadventures and inevitable Saurian disasters that lurk within its pens.  She just really digs dinosaurs, which works out very conveniently when it comes to being married to this old fossil.

 (Read this in the voice of John Hammond/Richard Attenborough) Welcome to the Kells Bay Gardens in the town of Cappamore in the Killinane parish!
The so-called Jewel of the Ring spans more than 30 acres and features dozens of sub-tropical plants.
And did I mention dinosaurs?

The garden also is home to Dinosaur Walk, which spotlights large dino sculptures made from the remains of various trees felled by storms through recent decades.

Here's the DoYouThinkTheySaurus

Jackie made it clear she wasn't sharing her smoothie with any of the garden's denizens.

The Mad Thinker - (First Appearance, Fantastic Four 15, January 1963)

I'm lucky I didn't start a forest fire with my deep thoughts.

On to the Sky Walk rope bridge 

From the Valley of the Dinosaur, it was time for one final stop along the Ring, an excursion into the Gap of Dunloe, a narrow mountain pass that runs about 7 miles and carves its way between the MacGillycuddy Reeks and Purple Mountain.  The Gap was formed about 25,000 years ago during Ireland's last Ice Age.  The river Loe runs through the carved pass, and to describe this "roadway" as narrow would be the understatement of the trip.

The Gap begins at Kate Kearney's Cottage, and for many, they only dare to venture into the area via a jaunting car, which is a horse-drawn wagon.  We made the attempt in our own wheels, and it was a hold-your-breath nailbiter!

One of the mandatory visits for us along the gap was the Wishing Bridge, complete with Irish lore that says a stop here grants its visitors a wish.  Needless to say, we made our secret wishes, the content of which will remain on the pathway - for now.

Me, I had already got my wish to see this land with this special lady

Again, can't say enough about this particular 11-hour adventure.  This is the kind of place I would love to return to and spend multiple days just hiking, exploring, and unearthing the endless secrets to be found within this unforgettable ring.

Truly, One Ring to rule them all.

Cliff Notes

Before we get to virtually visit what is likely the most beautiful place I've ever had the good fortune to experience, there's always time for CHOCOLATE! 

A quick stop at the Skellig Chocolate factory - sadly, no chocolate rivers to be found - yielded more chocolate than you'd expect to eat in one stop.  Samples galore await you at their counter, and then of course, there's the bags and bags of nearby shards of multiple flavors of chocolate to purchase and keep you stocked up for a good long while.  Or at least until the end of the day.  Highest props to their engaging and friendly staff, who provided lots of laughs for this wandering foursome.

With an ample amount of chocolate under our belts, we set off for the Kerry Cliffs.

I know it's a cliche, but photos cannot sufficiently do justice to a seascape that literally takes your breath away. And that has nothing to do with the unceasing winds that buffet you from atop the cliff promontories.

Prior to this visit, for most of my life, I confidently ranked Yosemite National Park in California as the most beautiful place I'd ever set foot in during my travels.

It's time to amend my rankings.

Fret not, Yosemite, you still hold the U.S. #1 seed, but these Ireland cliffs have just scaled to the top of the global leaderboard.

The Kerry Cliffs (Aillte Chiarraí) in Portmagee rise about 1,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean, and were supposedly formed in a desert environment about, oh, 400 million years ago!  Not quite sure how that data point, but who am I to dispute it?

The sights from this showcase in the Skellig Ring just ooze inspiration, romance, and awe.

And they're pretty good at inciting smiles all around to boot.

The Kerry Cliffs rise about 300 feet higher than the Cliffs of Moher (see previous blog entry), and are a bit less touristy, potentially because they're off the beaten path and the Ring of Kerry proper.

If only there was some way to have carved out a running path somewhere along the walls of these cliffs - now THAT would have been an epic run for the ages!

Jack is eyeballing the Skellig and Puffin Islands from high upon her perch

Shockingly, there was virtually ZERO crowd at this site.  Probably not more than a dozen other explorers when we hit the site mid-day.

I hear the views at sunset are unparalleled, and I can just imagine their grandeur

Comparing the first pic of this blog entry to the last, it looks like both chocolate and cliff formations are pretty darn soul-satisfying.

In the end, though, while the chocolate was delicious, I'd have to give the nod to the cliff experience.