Blarney {corc Blarnan} Co. Cork

Took the train down to Co. Cork this weekend to check out Blarney!

Eats

Breakfast: I’ve heard great things about Farmgate Café which looked really cute, but we just barely missed the breakfast time. Instead, we wandered The English Market and each found our own breakfast eats (for Dad this meant sausage and potatoes, for Mom and I pastries). Definitely recommend a walk around this adorable market if you get the chance! There was a little bit of everything :)

Coffee Stop: Spent a bit at VeloCoffee shop while waiting for our bus to Blarney. Had a great almond milk latte to warm up for the rest of our trip!

Coffee Stop #2: We also stopped at the café by Castle Blarney for another warm up of Bailey’s Coffee before going into the castle. It was a chilly day, large amounts of coffee were obviously necessary ;)

Dinner: For dinner we stopped at a great little gastropub called Gallaghers. The food was great and the atmosphere was even better! We even had Cork-local Murphy’s Stout and Stonewall Cider. Loved everything about this pub!

Places to See

Check Out the Graffiti Car Park (White Street Car Park)

This was a bit of a walk from where we were, but it was SO COOL. As a working car parking lot, it was full of cars, but the walls surrounding it were layered up with tons of really great graffiti art!

Blarney Castle

This castle is way more than meets the eye! We got to go in and climb to the top through the tiniest and tallest of spiral stairs I think I’ve ever seen (this is definitely not a trek for the claustrophobic type). The views from the top were amazing so we spent some time up there after kissing the Blarney Stone! That’s right, we climbed to the top of a castle to kiss and magical rock. It’s said that those who kiss the Blarney Stone (or eloquence stone) are endowed with the “Gift of Gab”.

Things to Do

Shop Patrick’s Street in Cork

So much great shopping in this area! European and American names alike, we could hav spent hours exploring here! This is also where the entrance for the English Market is.

Wander the grounds and gardens surrounding Blarney Castle

We spent most of our time in Blarney exploring these grounds. From the stories of the Blarney Witch to some seriously confusing stone obelisk formations, there were so many cool things to see on and off the paths. There’s even a poison garden located near the castle, so maybe try not to touch every cool thing you see.

Explore the Blarney Woolen Mills

This is the largest Irish shop in the world, so we definitely had to check it out! All the wool sweaters, blankets, and Claddagh rings you could ever need are in this building and in every variety. This made a great last stop in Blarney before heading back to Cork.

Notes for next time

St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral

Shakey Bridge (Daly’s Bridge)

Ring the Shandon Bells (Church of St. Anne)

Other pubs I’ve read good things about:

All of these are said to have live music regularly and some of the best Murphy’s and Beamish in town.

I'll try to update this post if/when I return to Cork since there's so much to do in this city and in Blarney! Had a great little day trip, and I'm super happy I got to spend it with the 'rents!

Until next time,

-B

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