A Happy Birthday!

June 14th came and was a happy day indeed!  It was my 40th birthday!!  Could I be any place I loved better than Ireland?  I think not!  My sweet husband got me a new camera for my birthday which was sort of a surprise.  My MIL had kind of let it slip a little bit but she and my SIL recovered well so I still didn't know for sure.  No matter... I got a new camera and it is awesome!!!  I was shocked at the difference between the first few days pictures and the new ones!  It is a Canon T3i and I love it!!!  I wanted to kiss the Blarney Stone on my birthday and so we set off!  

We drove through the farmer's market in the town of Macroom.  We later came back here and ate dinner.

Our first view of Blarney Castle.  The first building to be here was a wooden structure built before A.D. 1200.  A stone fortification was built in 1210 A.D.  It was destroyed in 1446, but rebuilt by Cormac Laidir MacCarthy.    The castle changed hands many times through wars, battles,sieges and such. It was sold in the 1700's to the governor of Cork, Sir James St. John Jeffreyes.    Members of the Jefferyes family later built a mansion near the castle.  It was destroyed by fire and replaced in 1874 by another mansion called the Blarney House.  You can tour this today, but it seems you must be 6 years old to tour the house.  They wouldn't let Jemma tour.  My nieces looked at the guy and said, "She would act better and listen better than we would!"  In the mid 1800's, the Jefferyes family married into the Colthurst family and the Colthurst family still lives on the grounds.  So we didn't go there, but we did go to Blarney Castle!  It was beautiful!  

The castle is now in partial ruins with some rooms and battlements that are accessible.  At the top of the castle lies the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone.  You could really visualize what it would have been like here.  I love the picture below of the fireplace.  The floor is gone, but you can see where it once was.  Now that is a mantle!!!

The highlight was everyone kissing the Blarney Stone.  There are many legends as to the origin of the stone.  One is that it is the Lia Fáil—a magical stone upon which Irish kings were crowned.  Another is that Cormac Laidir MacCarthy was involved in a lawsuit and asked for assistance from the goddess, Clíodhna.  She told him to kiss the first stone he found in the morning on his way to court.  He did this and it resulted in him pleading his case with such eloquence that he won.  He then had the stone placed in the parapet of the castle.  From this it is said that the stone is said to give "the ability to deceive without offending."  Another story is that when Queen Elizabeth I was demanding an oath of loyalty from the Irish in order to maintain their lands, Cormac Teige McCarthy, the Lord of Blarney, wrote many letters to her promising loyalty, but never really gave in and gave an oath.  It was said that these letters were long and flowery but really just subtle diplomacy.  The queen said that McCarthy was giving her a lot of blarney giving rise to the legend.   The big joke was that I really didn't need more gift of gab, but I was determined!

I love this picture.  Not that I love that my child was afraid, but talk about capturing a moment!!!  The sign said that you should be 8 years old and anything under that was up to the person's discretion.  The gentleman looked at us and at Jemma and put his hand out to her!  We were relieved as I think she would have been so disappointed!  She did and was so proud of herself!  

Kirsten

Cole

You have to lay flat on your back, scooch back, grab the rails, hang upside down and give it a smooch!  Mom is terrified of heights and for her to do this was a small feat.  She was so scared, but did it!!  We were all so proud of her!

Me!!  Like I really needed help in the gab department!!

Joe

Vickie

She was so excited that she had kissed the Blarney Stone!

We had another awesome picnic lunch right there at the castle.  The had a stand that sold soups, sandwiches, drinks and snacks.  We got a few cups of tomato basil soup that was awesome!

This lady was playing right next to where we were eating.  Joe paid her and she played Happy Birthday while they all sang to me!

We left the castle and headed back to Macroom to wander and do some shopping.   This was our first big rain that we had in the evening.  We ate dinner at the Castle Hotel where I had my usual... fish and chips!  I feel I need to try it out everywhere to compare!  After dinner, we were walking back to the car and I stopped in a phone booth to call my parents on my birthday.  My dad didn't recognize the number so he just laid the phone down.  I couldn't get through, but I wasn't about to celebrate my birthday without talking to my daddy!  He finally picked up and I got through and low and behold, he slipped and fell while we were on the phone.  I was scared to death.  He assured me he was fine and we said our good byes.  I was so worried about him.  When I went to visit just a few weeks ago, I saw a black toenail and asked what happened.  That was from his fall in June!  His toe nail got stuck in the hole of his crocs.  He fell flat on his back.  Thank goodness he didn't hit his head.  That wasn't what I wanted on my birthday, but I was glad he was o.k.!  Now how silly is this... we only talked for about 4 minutes and it cost $35!!!  Crazy!!!!

Town of Macroom

Jemma admiring her new headband

Me and my sweetie.

It was an unforgettable birthday!!!!