Stop 3. Cork and Muskerry Light Railway Line
Six Days’ Notice! On 2nd August 1887, the people of Cork were given 6 days’ notice via an advertisement, for the opening of the Cork & Muskerry Light Railway Line to Blarney – marketing today is a lot more expansive…and expensive! And so the ‘Muskerry Tram’ was born, making its maiden journey on 8th August…
Stop 2. Blarney House and Domain
A Scottish baronial style house built in 1872/4 by Sir George St. John Colthurst, replaced the original family home built in the early 18th century by Sir James St. John Jefferyes and accidentally destroyed by fire in the 1820’s. Nearby is ‘The Rock Close’ reputed to have been built on a druidic site from pre-historic…
Stop 1. Blarney Castle
The current castle was built in 1446 by Cormac Laidir MacCarthy, the ninth Lord of Muskerry. Blarney was the most important of the MacCarthy castles and became the main dwelling place of future MacCarthy chiefs. It was captured during Elizabethan and Cromwellian times, confiscated and sold in 1688 to Sir James St. John Jefferyes from…