To kiss the Blarney Stone
Preserved but no longer current.
In the wall of the castle at Blarney, about twenty feet from the top and difficult of access, is a triangular stone containing this inscription: "Cormac Mac Carthy fortis me fieri fecit, A.D. 1446." Tradition says that to whomsoever can kiss this is given the power of being able to obtain all his desires by cajolery.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “To kiss the Blarney Stone” mean?
In the wall of the castle at Blarney, about twenty feet from the top and difficult of access, is a triangular stone containing this inscription: "Cormac Mac Carthy fortis me fieri fecit, A.D. 1446." Tradition says that to whomsoever can kiss this is given the power of being able to obtain all his desires by cajolery.
Is “To kiss the Blarney Stone” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.