Blarney was one of the first clubs to join the Gaelic Athletic Association, on its formation, in 1884. A now defunct townland, Killishal, believed to contain the site of an ancient church, bordered this area. The Blarney G.A.A. Club established a permanent base at its present location in 1957 and is a thriving, hugely supported…

Lodges & Lodgers! This is the gate lodge to Blarney Castle and the private entrance is in use daily. Gate lodges or porter’s lodges began their existence in Ireland in the early 1700s as a method of security, guarding access to the homes of the landed gentry. By the late nineteenth century they had become…

PROSSER HOUSE – THE BUTLER DID IT! In 1786 Thomas Prosser opened an eatery here and was offering Sunday lunch for sixpence. He had previously been employed as a butler in Blarney Castle so he was obviously an entrepreneur! Thomas’s son John Prosser was deported to Van Dieman’s Land (now Tasmania) for crimes committed. In…

Smith’s Hotel: Originally known as Smith’s Hotel, the Blarney Castle Hotel has been in the Forrest family for three generations. THE STOLEN LINEN There were two Sinclair brothers living in the adjoining house. They had originally been brought to Blarney as weavers but subsequently raided a neighbouring linen establishment in in Six Mile Water, Whitechurch….

The Police Station: TIMEBOMBS The building you see before you is the police station. Back in 1920 when Ireland answered to the Crown, the IRA were trying to take out the Royal Irish Constabulary. They wanted them removed from the villages because they were seen as the eyes and ears of British administration. An IRA…

YOU’RE BOOKED! Next stop: Who stole the station clock? And the bomb that went wrong.

STOCKING UP! In 1776, Arthur Young a renowned self- appointed English travel & agricultural writer visited Blarney on his tour around Ireland. He wrote an account of the village and village life at the time. The house/restaurant you see before you here was known as ‘The Market House’ in 1776 and is immortalised in Arthur…

Timothy Mahony operated a small textile mill here in the mid 18th century. This was rebuilt and expanded in 1824 for the spinning and weaving of wool and employed some 800 people in the 1880s. It developed an international reputation and was the main industry in the area until it closed in 1973. The mill…

Millstream Row is a small row of houses on the left side of the road that leads locals and visitors alike directly into Blarney Village. It was the first-built (c.1861) terrace of a number of similar terraces which can be seen locally. Consisting of two storied houses, they were built by the Mahony Bros., the…

Waterloo: Water under the bridge Waterloo is located 2.5km north of the famous village of Blarney. It was named by an absentee landlord named George Putland to commemorate the 1815 battle of Waterloo. That year Putland’s bridge was built across the river Martin joining lands on both sides of the river previously only accessible by…