What is Blarney Castle?
[[File:Blarney Castle-14-2017-gje.jpg|thumb|right|Blarney Castle]] '''Blarney Castle''' is a 15th-century [[castle]] in [[County Cork]] in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]. Blarney is in the historic [[Provinces of Ireland|Irish Province]] of [[Munster]]. The '''Blarney Stone''' is in the castle. The Blarney Stone is one of the biggest [[tourist attraction]]s in Ireland. ==Description== Blarney Castle is a well preserved 15th century building. It is in the small town of [[Blarney]], [[County Cork]] in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]].<ref name=Gerard>{{cite book |title=The Hidden Places of Ireland |author=David Gerard |publisher=Travel Publishing |year=2004}}</ref> Blarney is about 6 miles [[northwest]] of the city of [[Cork (city)|Cork]]. There are not many good buildings in County Cork that were built before the 19th century. The castle is also one of Ireland's oldest and most historic castles. The [[wall]]s of the castle are up to 18 feet thick.<ref name=Gerard/> ==History== Blarney Castle was [[built]] in 1446 by [[Dermot MacCarthy]].<ref name=Gerard/> He was [[King of South Munster]].<ref name=Gerard/> The castle is the third building on the site. The first was built of [[wood]]. In about 1210 a stone building was built in place of the wooden one. Finally, in 1446 the current castle was built by MacCarthy.<ref name=official>{{cite web |url=http://www.blarneycastle.ie/pages/history |title=Blarney Castle: History |publisher=Blarney Castle}}</ref> [[Queen Elizabeth I]] of England wanted the castle. She told the [[Earl of Leicester]] to get it for her. However, he was never able to get it because MacCarthy always made excuses to stop it happening.<ref name=official/> [[Oliver Cromwell]]'s army won the castle by force. They did not capture the soldiers living in it though. They had escaped through [[tunnel]]s and [[cave]]s underneath.<ref name=official/> ==The Blarney Stone== The Blarney Stone is a slab of [[limestone]]. The size of the stone is about 4 feet long and 1 foot wide. It is built into the castle's