Perhaps fitting for a place with its name, Blarney -- that icon of Ireland to foreign eyes -- is often not what it seems, and is as clouded with ill winds in this troubled tourist season as any place in this rapidly changing land. Forget for a moment Blarney’s gab stone and schlock. With its magnificent castle, welcoming spirit and broad public green, the place has its genuine appeal – which Blarney, being Blarney, of course markets to death. Missing Tourists On a brilliantly sunny 4th of July, the village glowed with a parade of vintage Corvette Stingrays, and throngs of children cavorting and adults sunbathing before a bandstand where local musicians strummed away. A far field hosted a rock-em/sock-em American football game – dubbed “the Blarney Bowl” – between Cork and...Read more »
