Leaving Waterford, Karl set out on his bike to Cork, the most southern and largest county of Ireland bordering Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. As reported by Karl to the Montreal Star: “Blarney Castle is only six miles from the southern capital, Cork, and the famous “Blarney stone,” which we read of in history at school is still to be found there, and it is certainly quite smooth, whether it is worked that way by people kissing it as the history tells us, remains to be seen.”

The Blarney Castle we see today is the third castle erected on this site built in 1446 by Dermot McCarthy, the King of the Province of Munster. The Castle houses the infamous Blarney stone that you can kiss to receive the gift of the gab — eloquence or persuasiveness or flattery.

There are a number of legends about where the stone came from but still, no one knows for sure. What has prevailed over the centuries is the process to have your lips connect with that stone. First, you need to climb 127 steps up to the parapet, then lean backwards holding tightly onto a railing 100 feet up and pucker-up. Today, there are attendants to guide you through the process but 100 years ago visitors had to hang upside down with people holding onto their ankles to kiss the stone, a practice that ended when a poor grip cost someone his life.

There’s no mention of Karl kissing the stone, so being true to following Karl’s journey, I also passed on the opportunity for the gift of blarney. But I certainly encountered many people from the County of Cork who were obviously intimate with that stone.

I’ve written about the Stranger I met on a plane from Tipperary - if you want to experience the gift of blarney, check out this GlobeTrotter Tale.