Ireland – Blarney Castle and Cobh

On another bus tour from Cork, we are off to Blarney Castle (thirteenth and fifteenth century). Our Irish friends tells us that the Blarney Stone is where the soldiers used to relieve themselves, and all this nonsense of kissing the Stone is a cruel trick played on tourists. This is Ireland, and when the myths conflict, our heads spin.

The bus parks behind the Blarney Woolen Mills. For our fee, the ticket office adds a super-convenient, card-sized, fold-out map.

The Castle is in a thinly wooded park, giving romantic views of the Tower, Dungeons, and Keep as we advance from the north. Ominous signs along the path warn of the wait times, but there is no queue today. The taller half-round tower is left from a large Gothic mansion burned in the 1820s. The smaller round Watch Tower sits near the stream (Blarney River).

Near the gate, visitors take exaggerated pictures at the stockades. A souvenir stand with a wide variety of Castle-y and Stone-y merchandise is nearby. Another counter offers 'official certificates' and 'kissing photos' taken by the staff at eye-popping prices. After gazing at all the merchandise, we look up and follow the crenellations on three sides of the tower block. The north face of the Keep is sheer and imposing, with rough edges from some age-old battle – the Castle itself is an honest and serious piece of defensive construction.

 

 

 

 

We enter a double-height volume. The fold-out map tells us this is the Ground Floor Room – clever. The newer stair structure takes us to the old spiral stair in the northwest corner. As we wind our way up, we pass a series of rooms and features: the Earl's Bedroom (with oriel window), the Young Ladies Room, the Kitchen. Near the top, we join the queue, which continues around the parapet to the Stone.

A small bell tower stands alone on the opposite side – it has no myth and no queue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the south-facing windows, an older man contorts himself into the machicolation. The staff helps him down, then holds him, while managing their photo gear: the camera is in a big metal box mounted to the back of the wall, with an LCD screen on a pole.

Once free of the crowd, we wander the parapet and enjoy fantastic vistas. The exit stair is the spiral in the northeast corner. It delivers us to the Murder Hole, where we may pour death upon our fellow travelers (thus reducing wait times).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back outside, we return to the south facade see the Blarney Stone. We note the small opening between the corbels, as well as the metal strapping and safety bars. Another thing we notice is the woven textile in the opening of the Ground Floor Room – perhaps the sun was too strong at the time to see it from inside.

 

 

We make a quick loop down the Battlements and back in the Poison Garden. The informational signs bear the skull and crossbones – beautiful but deadly.

The tower keep and defensive line arrangement is somehow reminiscent of the Deeping Wall from the Two Towers. Instead of the Helm's Horn, an Irish piper is playing near the stream (watch that culvert).

 

 

 

 

 

We rest a bit at the tables of the Coach House Cafe. Less deadly flowers surround the Stable Yards. The pocket map says it's a short walk to Blarney House, which is on a loop that returns to the Castle. 

 

 

 

The placard describes Blarney House (nineteenth century) as 'Scottish Baronial' style (never heard of it). The house features: a round corner tower stepped gables, heavy masonry, a Corinthian framed window over an Ionic portico, round turrets, chimneys, and another low 'defensive' wall.

We complete the circuit just below the Coach House, where we find the entrance to the Rock Close. This is a fantasy garden filled with unusual attractions: Waterfall, Water Garden and Boardwalk, Dolmen, Wishing Steps, Druids Circle, Fairy Glade, and so forth.

The Castle, the grounds, the trees, the landscape, and the history are all so beguiling. We wonder if 'magic stones' and 'fairy circles' are necessary.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

After motoring south to Kinsale Harbor, at the mouth of the Bandon River, the bus stops at Charles Fort (seventeenth century). It is an irregularly shaped star fortress, with five bastions facing the fields, and (more or less) three points turned to the water.

The levels and building are shaped in a way to confuse tourists, but they accentuate the sight lines within parts of the fort and out to the Harbor. Ruined buildings trace the southern and eastern perimeters. Low, jagged walls with gable ends hunker in the little valleys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we enter the old barracks, we are lost and cannot find our way back to the bus. After a few hurried dead-ends, we find the passage through, and return just in time – never good to be the last on the bus.

 

 

 

 

Our lunch stop is Kinsale (pop 5,281 in 2016), which feels like Kilkenny's mini-me – colorful, small-scale, and inviting. The bus leaves us by the marina near Pier Road. We walk up Main Street to the Church of St Multose (Anglican, twelfth and eighteenth centuries).

 

 

 

 

 

Inside, St Multose is quite plain. Narrow aisles with memorials are on the south side, and a baptistry and a larger chapel are on the north side. The Church features a few marvelous old marker stones and several intense stained-glass pieces. Many of the windows appear to be dedicated to officers and soldiers who died in the Great War (WWI), including several from Gallipoli.

The triptych on the south side includes scenes of the Last Supper, and Christ Bearing the Cross.

Appropriately, two naval scenes adorn the chapel. An elaborate triptych depicts a fishing boat, and honors the Daunt family (William, Archdeacon and Rector of St Multose; Henry Thomas; and Frances Katherine). Another five-panel window portrays Christ, under a lighthouse beacon, a halo, and a helmet (?); He offers solace to a boy in a rowboat. To His right, angels look down on Captain Edward Crump Dorman (killed at Gallipoli, May 1915). To His left, another angel looks upon Lieutenant Commander Thomas Stephen Lewis Dorman (lost on HMS Lavender, torpedoed, May 1917).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day's last stop is in Cobh (pop 12,800 in 2016). The bus drops us at the roundabout in front of the Cobh Heritage Centre. We stroll near the waters of Cork Harbor, past the enormous ship in the cruise terminal, and along John F Kennedy Park. When we reach Pearce's Square, the Cathedral's spire leaps into view.

 

 

 

After several large Anglican cathedrals, St Colman's Cathedral (nineteenth century) is Catholic. The architects are E W Pugin and G C Ashlin. With yesterday's visit still fresh, we compare and contrast the Gothic Revival designs with William Burges at St Fin Barre's, as these two churches are from nearly the same time.

The Cathedral rises on a massive retaining wall of pointed arches, which is wrapped by a ramp and stair. It is the unquestioned crown of this small seaport. Our research simply does not prepare us for the Cathedral's presence. While St Fin Barre's has three spires, St Colmans' has one, but that one is tremendous. It is both a bell tower and a clock tower and must contain all that machinery. The spire's taper is next level.

Octagonal towers frame the south transept, with a burst of menacing gargoyles. Seamed copper sheets cover the chapels, and a parade of figures encircles the apse. Over the aisle, flying buttresses support the fish-scale slate roof, capped with metal latticework. Statues of saints holding churches are at the mid-level. And, facing the Harbor waters at the top of the transeptal gable, the latticework reaches up to provide the 'stella' for Stella Maris (St Mary Star of the Sea).

 

 

The west facade strains our necks. It's very hard to grasp without crossing the street to some distance. But it's four o'clock, and lacking time and depth, we do our best.

Christ Enthroned (Salvator Mundi) is the focus of the tympanum over the central portal. Similar to St Fin Barre's, the symbols for the Four Evangelists are in the corners: St Matthew's angel, St John's eagle, St Luke's ox, and St Mark's lion. To His right is St Ita, holding a rose, and Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy (fifteenth century Bishop). To His left is St Colman, holding the Cathedral, and St Brendan with an anchor. St Colman is also at the very top, still holding the Cathedral.

Below this group, the Twelve Apostles stand in line: St Philip (cross), St Thomas (square), St James (major, shell and pilgrim's staff), St John (baptist, chalice), St Simon (crosscut saw), St Peter (Keys of Heaven), St Paul (martyr's sword), St Matthew (quill and book), St Jude (an image of Christ), St Andrew (saltire cross), St Bartholomew (flaying knife), and St James (minor, fuller's club).

An elegant rendering of the Madonna and Child gestures between the doors, more 'classically' relaxed and polished than the other figures. They also appear to be of a different stone than the tympanum. They, perhaps, offer a more generous welcome than St Fin Barre's bridegroom.

Deo optimo maximo subinvoc Santi Colmani

The tympana over the lateral portals are more triangular in proportion; the Annunciation is to the north and the Baptism of Jesus is to the south. To the immediate left and right of the central portal are St Joseph (flowering rod) and St John the Baptist (camel robe).

Small demons hide in the gutters of each Gothic gable.

 

 

 

Inside, St Colman's feels much bigger than St Fin Barre's – especially in length. Your eyes are drawn, not to a blue ceiling (St Fin Barre's), but right to the dramatically lit altarpiece. The ceiling is dark wood, with a few bright bosses at the rib joints.

But below the ceiling vault, the carved surface is alive. The space even seems brighter despite the less obvious artificial lighting. Industrial fixtures in St Fin Barre's triforium illuminate the nave, but here the triforium is dark, and the natural light from the clerestory works on the grid of shamrocks and other vegetal motifs in the cream-toned stonework.

St Colman's artwork expresses a story or theme by equating elements of the Old and New Testaments. For example, the first bay on the north shows Eliseus raising the Widow's son (top, rosette), a story which involves raising the dead. In the two tall panels, Jesus performs The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus and The Raising of Lazarus – as in the Old, so in the New.

Under the remarkable spire is the Mortuary Chapel; the tracery of the wrought iron gates echoes in the mortuary altar, with sunflowers and grapes. Though the spire is above, an oculus tops the vault; the glass panels show the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. In the tympanum, over the exterior door, is St Philip baptizing the Ethiopian (Baptism of Jesus is on the reverse side).

Looking across the aisles, scenes from the Stations of the Cross sit above the confessional and small chapels. 

 

 

 

 

In the next bay, the rosette shows Moses draws water from a rock; the two panels show Curing the Woman with issue of blood and Cure of Blind Man. Next, the rosette shows The Sun stands still for Joshua; the two panels show Jesus walks on water and Miraculous Draft of Fishes. So, the south carries a narrative of 'miracles'. The image of the Fishes is particularly compelling, with the waves, the nets, and the light through the sail. The architectural elements at the top of each panel ties the series together.

The pulpit is amongst the pews. Not sure the reasoning, perhaps the delivery is easier or the sight lines over the congregation are nicer. But for the worshippers, this creates more obstructed view seats of the altar, and the folks in front of the pulpit are facing the wrong way (aren't they?).

In the south transept, there are two lateral chapels: the Sacred Heart Chapel and the Chapel of the Pieta. From the crossing, we can also look back at the western rose window and forward to the altar.

 

 

 

The design of the high altar is by Ashley, forty-five feet high. The large aedicula on the north wing contains the Nativity, and on the south is the Ascension (birth and death/rising). The base of the altar table are three panels that also illustrate sacrifices, but from the Old Testament: Abel, Melchisdech, and Abraham (visible in the photo).

At the north end of the altar is St Patrick and on the right St Brigid – patron saints of Ireland.

Both transeptal rose windows have an eight-petal rosette surrounded by eight six-petal rosettes.

In the north transept, over a sculpted scene of the Marriage of Our Lady, the window tells the story of St Joseph; and the small rosettes contain scenes of the Holy Family. Interestingly, just below the rose are 'family values' represented by seven angels: Amor, Obedientia, Oratio, Prudentia, Patientia, Termperantia, Fidelitas.

In the south transept, over a sculpted scene of the Christ on the Cross, the window spotlights Our Lady Star of the Sea; and the rosettes hold 'eight lights', such as the Nativity (top), Sailors looking to the Star of the Sea (lower right), Sailors praying (bottom).The seven figures are also 'lights' (those who sacrificed), such as Moses (panel four) and Noah (panel five), while at the center, Christ sending the Holy Spirit.

The lateral chapels on the north side are The Lady Chapel (photo below, LED halo) and the Blessed Thaddeus Chapel.

 

 

 

 

Near the center of the north aisle is a small chapel to Our Lady of Good Counsel (Mater Prudens). Above, the stained-glass image of Moses in the Bulrushes is in the rosette. Below that, in the two tall panels are The Good Samaritan and The Lost Sheep. So, weaving the Old and the New applied to the idea of lost and found, or of giving a helping hand. In the instance of the north stained-glass, the narrative is a series of 'parables' or lessons.

At the end of the north aisle is the Baptistry (very dark). The glass panels here are of Baptism of Christ in the Jordan, and St Patrick baptising the daughters of the King of Ireland.

 

 

 

We eventually come back to the west rose, an octofoil center with twelve radial leaves, and twelve five-petal rosettes. In the middle is Christ, as described in St John's vision of the Throne (Apocalypse 4:1-11), surrounded by the "four and twenty seats":

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

 

 

Before we step into the vestibule, we spend our remaining time with the docent. He tells stories about the Cathedral's history and indicates details with a laser pointer. We purchase a small booklet with listings of all the artwork, his last copy (Official Guide, English, 2018, the source for much of this post). This includes a wonderful perspective etching of the nave and aisles.

 

Now armed with information, it would be fantastic to restart the tour, but our bus is waiting. Of all the places on our Ireland trip, we already want to return to Cobh.