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For many centuries,
as everyone knows, English monarchs tried to impose their will
on Ireland. Queen Elizabeth I, eager to extend the influence of
her government, sent a deputy to Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy, who
was Lord of Blarney, and demanded that he take the tenure of his
lands from the Crown. Cormac set out to visit the Queen and plead
for his traditional right to his land, but he despaired for success
for he was not fluent of speech.
Shortly after
starting his journey, he met an old woman who asked him why he
looked so forlorn. He told her his story and she said, "Cormac,
when Blarney Castle was built, one stone was put into place by
a man who predicted no one would ever be able to touch it again.
If you can kiss that stone, the gift of eloquence will be conferred
upon you."
Cormac traveled
back to his castle and succeeded in kissing the stone. He then
was able to go and address the Queen with speech so soft and words
so fair that as long as he lived, he never had to renounce his
right to his land. From that time forward, people have traveled
from many lands to try to kiss the Blarney stone and receive the
"gift of gab" and eloquence of speech.
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