Which castle in Ireland is famous for the Blarney Stone and the gift of eloquence?

Blarney Castle is the Irish castle famous for the Blarney Stone and its legendary gift of eloquence.

The castle stands in Blarney, near Cork, and its present stone keep was built in 1446 by Cormac Láidir MacCarthy of Muskerry. Earlier fortifications occupied the site, but the surviving stronghold is the medieval structure associated with the stone and its legends.

The Blarney Stone is a block of Carboniferous limestone set into the castle’s battlements. Tradition says that kissing it grants the “gift of the gab”—the ability to speak fluently, persuasively, or charmingly. Visitors traditionally lean backward over an opening near the parapet to kiss it, although modern rails and safety equipment make the ritual far less perilous than it once was.

A common mix-up is to treat the Blarney Stone as the castle’s name. The stone is the celebrated object inside Blarney Castle, while the castle itself is the landmark identified by the question. The word “blarney” later came to mean clever, flattering, or persuasive talk.