o do what was
desired, but never could be got to come to the sticking point. The
Queen, it is told, when one of his speeches was brought to her, said,
"This is all Blarney; what he says he never means."

By the Great Southern and Western Railway the castle can also be
reached. By this route a good stretch of the Upper Lee is seen, with
Carrigrohane Castle, which belonged to the M'Sweeneys, beetling high on
a rock, and the line runs through the picturesque valley of the
Sournagh, which may be likened to a Swiss ravine. All the remains of the
former greatness of Blarney consists of the ruins of two mansions, one
of the fifteenth century, and the other of the Elizabethan period. In
its time the place was one of considerable strength, and was erected by
Cormac MacCarthy Laider, or the Strong-handed chief of his name. Most of
the outworks and defences are gone. The old square keep, ivy-crowned,
rises from a huge limestone rock, around which the Coomaun or crooked
river winds. The Castle is over 120 feet high; the great staircase at
the right-hand side leads through the entire building, here and there
small vaulted chambers being set in the massive walls, which are in
places nine feet thick. The arched room, of which the projecting window
with three lights overlooks the streamlet below, is known as the Earl's
Chamber. The last fight in which Blarney Castle figured, was that in
which the Confederates held out for King Charles in 1642. It fell before
the superior ordnance of Cromwell's commander, Ireton. It was never
afterwards used for a dwelling-house, being almost completely
dismantled. From the summit of the Castle a good view of the surrounding
country can be had. To the west lies Muskerry, with what Ruskin calls
"the would-be hills" rising towards Mushera Mountain. To the north is
St. Ann's Hydropathic Establishment, on a gentle slope, surrounded by
well-wooded parks. In the village beneath is the well-known Blarney
Tweed Factory of Messrs. Martin Mahony Brothers, through which visitors
may be shown when convenient to the courteous proprietors. The "Rock
Close," which is at the foot of the Castle at the southern side, is one
beautiful jungle of foliage, in which myrtle, ivy, and arbutus
intertwine with the rowan tree and the silver hazel.

[Illustration: Blarney Castle.]

If we have gone to Blarney on the "outside jaunting-car," the return
journey may be made by Bawnafinny, Kerry Pike, and the Sournagh Valley,
and Nort