The day tour to Cork comprises of 3 major stops, each of which has a rich history, filled with intrigue, politics and stories of interest.

Our first major stop is the Blarney Castle, then Cork City, and on the return journey, the Rock of Cashel. This section is for the keen historian, while our section "Of Special Interest" is more of a contemporary look at the different sites, with a focus on what they offer the visitor today.

Also included in this section is some additional information on the Curragh Camp, an area of historical significance in Irish contemporary history.

Curragh Camp

In part of the greater Curragh area in County Kildare, lies Curragh Camp. Today it is an army base and Military College and is the main training centre for the Irish Army. It is also well known for an incident called the "Curragh Mutiny" that happened in 1914, fuelling the separation of Ireland between North and South (Republic) as it is today.

In the spring of 1912, the liberal coalition British government introduced the 3rd Home rule Bill which proposed the creation of an independent Irish Parliament in Dublin. A large section of the Unionists (i.e. people loyal to the British Crown) located in the northern province of Ulster, objected to this and founded the Ulster Volunteers Paramilitary Group. During 1913, a number of British senior officers started expressing their concern that the British forces stationed in Ireland might refuse to act against this group, as both the army and the Ulster Volunteers shared the same loyalty to the British Empire.

In 1914, the then commander of the Curragh base, Sir Arthur Paget, was ordered to start preparations to move troops to Ulster, as to be able to deal with any violence that might break out there, as a precaution to the law being enacted. Acting on his own initiative, Paget offered the British officers under his command the choice of resignation, rather than fighting against the Ulster Volunteers. 57 of the 60 officers offered to resign or be dismissed, rather then to enforce the new Home Rule Act. The men were not technically guilty of mutiny, as they had not refused to carry out a direct order. The liberal government however, got a shock and backed down, claiming an "honest misunderstanding" and then re-instated the officers, while the War Office declared that the army would not be used to enforce the Home Rule Act as to prevent further similar incidents.

This put the British Government in a peculiar position. It fundamentally made a law which it was not willing to enforce. The men from the War Office, who declared that the army would not be used to maintain an Act of Parliament, were subsequently forced to resign themselves!

About a month later, the Ulster Volunteers covertly landed about 24000 rifles in the "Larne Gun Running Incident" without any interference. This re-enforced the Irish Nationalists' view that they could not expect support from the British army. The result of this incident was that the British Government then started considering some form of partitioning of Ireland between unionists and nationalists. The predominantly Unionist area today is called: Northern Ireland.

Blarney Castle

Blarney Castle has a long history of change of ownership. Its owners were usually of Catholic descent, which meant its inhabitants were in constant conflict with the English. The castle we see today is the 3rd generation of Castles on the same site.

Initially, a wooden structure was built in 1200, but was fortified with stone 10 years later. One story of the Blarney Stone originates as early as from 1314, when it was said that Cormac McCarthy, King of Munster, sent 5000 men to help Robert De Bruce against the English at the battle of Bannockbyrne. Legend has it that the latter King gave half of the 'Stone of Scone' to McCarthy in gratitude. The Stone was incorporated in the battlements, where it can now be kissed! X

This already indicated the McCarthy Clan's allegiance and was an indication of what was to follow. As in 1646, the Castle was besieged by Cromwellian forces during the Confederate Wars. Cromwell's lieutenant, Lord Broghill, planted a gun on Card Hill opposite the castle and bombarded the walls until it was breeched. To his surprise however, he found only 2 retainers inside. The rest of the garrison apparently fled through caves that led as far away as County Kerry. It was rumoured that the McCarthy's gold plate treasure was thrown into a nearby lake. After the restoration, the McCarthy's regained ownership of the castle, but alas, the 4th Earl of Cloncarthy was again ousted from Blarney Castle during the Williamite War in 1690, as he supported the Catholic King James II.

The castle was sold a couple of times and one of the owners even spent a fortune draining the nearby lake, only but to find the legend of the McCarthy gold plate being dropped into the lake was false!

Blarney House was built in 1874 in the Scottish Baronial style and became the permanent residence of the then Lady Colthurst overlooking the lake. This grand mansion can still be seen today.

For more folklore on the origins of the Blarney Stone, see our "Of Special Interest" section.

Cork City

Cork City, from the Irish "corcach" meaning swamp, is the 2nd largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the county has earned the nick name of Rebel County, with the Corconians often referring to the city as the "Real Capital of Ireland" and themselves as the "Rebels".

Cork was originally a Monastic settlement but only achieved an urban character in the 920's when Norseman settlers founded a trading port here. The city was once fully walled and some sections of the walls remain today. During the middle-ages, Cork was an outpost of old English culture in the middle of a mostly hostile Gaelic countryside and cut off from the English government in Dublin. Neighbouring Gaelic and Hyberno-Norman lords extorted black rent from its citizens in order to keep them from attacking the city. The city got its charter from King John in 1185 and its 1st Mayor in 1318.

Cork suffered a severe blow when, in 1349, the town's population was almost halved when the bubonic plague (also called The Black Death) hit the city.

Much later, in the war of independence, the centre of Cork was gutted by fire, started by the British Black and Tans and the city saw fierce fighting between the Irish gorillas and the UK forces.

Today Cork city is a vibrant city with a proud identity of its own, rivalling that of Dublin.

Rock of Cashel:

Also known as the Cashel of the Kings, in County Tipperary, is home to the ruins of a great Celtic cathedral. Even though legend associates it with St. Patrick, the name comes from "Caiseal", meaning stone fort. Archaeological evidence show of burials and church buildings from the 9th and 10th century, but it was only in the 12th century that the Rock developed as a major Christian Centre.

In 1101, Murtaigh O'Brien, King of Munster, gave the Rock to the church. A round tower, which is still standing today, was erected after this and in 1111; Cashel became the seat of the Archbishop.

Cormac's Chapel, a magnificent Romanesque church, that can still be seen today, was consecrated in 1134, possibly for Benedictine Monks and a Dominican Priory was established there a decade later. Cormac's Chapel today represents one of Ireland's best examples of the Irish Romanesque wall paintings. Due to the reformation of Henry VIII, it was covered over, only to be discovered again in the 1980's

The present cathedral was erected in the 13th century as well.

In 1647, during the Irish Confederate Wars, Cashel was sacked by the English. The parliamentarian troops massacred the confederate troops as well as the Roman Catholic clergy and looted or destroyed many important religious artefacts.

One of the reasons The Rock of Cashel is also of significance, is because of its having hosted the 2nd Synod of Cashel in 1172, where it is still argued today whether it was decided that in Ireland, all matters related to religion, were to follow the observances of the English church. The interpretation of this 7th Act could mean that the Irish bishops already swore fealty (loyalty) to King Henry at this time.

The Rock of Cashel today consists of the whole of Vicar's Choral; dated 15th century, Cormac's Chapel, dated 12th century and a Cathedral, dated 13th century.