Retired Nomads Part 4: Blarney Castle & Jameson Whiskey Distillery

Sunday July 12, 2026

I booked a small group tour with Elegant Irish Tours Blarney Castle Tour from Dublin - Elegant Irish Tours (24 people)

It was a bit chaotic at the port as there were tours for Elegant Irish Tours & Paddywagon Tours. I booked through Elegant, but they said the tour would be run by Paddywagon. Both types of vans were there, and we were waiting for the Paddywagon van to show up. The group we were standing with was going to Blarney Castle and another site. Not what we had booked. I checked with the Elegant Irish Tours van and that was the correct one. No problem, they were still waiting for others to show up. The people waiting for Paddywagon were still waiting and our guide assured them he was on his way as we drove off. Our guide was Joe and he was a great guide. (informative, helpful and had a sense of humor)

We drove straight to Blarney Castle to be ahead of the Princess “Big Bus Tours” and we had “skip the lines” tickets. En- route, we had a panoramic drive through Cork City, and our guide pointed out various things.

The guide got us in and gave us the time to return to the van. We headed straight to the castle to get in line to kiss the Blarney Stone.

Prior to visiting we had watched a few videos of the process of kissing the stone. We knew it involved lying on our back and leaning backward into an open gap over a roughly 85-foot drop to kiss the underside of the stone with the help of a castle attendant. We climbed the125 narrow, winding uneven stone steps up to the top of the castle to reach the stone. There was one last bailout place in the line and quite a few people did just that. There were some handrails and ropes to help you maneuver the winding stairway . The line was long but went quickly. We passed the time talking with the couple in front of us. They were also from Florida (the area referred to as the “redneck riviera” which honestly has the most beautiful beaches in our state) They were also off the ship and were on a larger tour group than we were. She wondered why we weren’t wearing the stickers.

We managed to lie down and scoot back and the attendant was very good at assisting you and dropping you back (instructing you were to kiss) and pulling you back out. You are free to take photos of each other, but we decided it was easier to let the professional there do it and we bought them afterwards.

We went back down the stairs and wandered around the beautiful gardens. (there was a map that was quite useless) It was lunchtime and we went in search of the restaurant we saw a sign for earlier. It was a fast-food type of place and we both got mini quiches. (both were good) We went back for ice cream.

There were a couple of people playing bagpipes and I managed to get a short video of him playing the Outlander theme song, which is a traditional Scottish song called the "Skye Boat Song" dating back to the late 19th century and describes events from the 18th century. (video only on the web albums) Seems everywhere we heard bagpipers I would catch only a sliver of them doing that song.

We still had quite a bit of free time left so we wandered the gardens and I got my token magnet.

from the balcony

from the van

arrival at Blarney Castle

we could see the people kissing the stone in the 3rd "window" from the left

the guy who assists with hoisting you backwards to kiss the stone

climbing the narrow winding stairs

views from the windows

someone in the process of kissing the stone

in line you could read the story about the Stone

me kissing the stone - yes, they sanitize it between each person

Greg kissing the stone

European Robin

Badger's Cave

Coal House Cafe

bacon & cheese and veggie & goat cheese - both were good

European Robin

Seven Sisters

Our next stop was the Jameson @ Midleton whiskey distillery. It was an interesting tour and we got to sample 3 types and it also included a free drink. (mixed whiskey or plain ginger ale. I don’t really drink but I did taste them. Greg and I liked the Spot one the best. (not that we would ever buy any and drink it) I had the ginger ale and it was like drinking candied ginger. Yum! Greg got Jameson & ginger. (and it was a heavy pour)

arrival at Jameson Distillery

the middle section are the doors to the start of the tour - all real bottles of whiskey

closeup of the bottles on the wall

the room for the rare and expensive bottles

one of the bars

start of the tour

platform boots worn in the malting process

Distiller's Cottage

largest water wheel we have ever seen

the guide taking us through the tour

the banding process

each barrel labeled

the tasting - Jameson, Spot Whiskeys, Redbreast

we were at separate tables (we were about last to go in)

where she made our drinks

On our return to the ship, we get a quick overview of Cobh, seeing the last departure point of Titanic on her fateful maiden voyage and visited St. Coleman's Cathedral; the final place of worship for many Irish emigrants.

general area of Titanic departure

St. Coleman's Cathedral

ceiling

floor

We were then given a choice to be dropped off at the ship or in Cobh and we opted to explore a bit more. While we were there a young lady who was an influencer asked me to take some photos of her. Greg came over and I said he’d be better at it, and she was very clear about what she wanted. The church wasn’t important as it was more about the beautiful buildings. (and her of course!) That out of the way we wandered the interesting area.

We stopped to see the Annie Moore Statue. It honors Annie Moore, a 15-year-old girl from County Cork who was the very first immigrant processed at Ellis Island in New York in 1892.

I have video of the busker performing - yikes!

in the Cobh Heritage Centre

Annie Moore Statue

Back on the ship we got a few more photos and had dinner in the dining room and went to the show which was a vocalist named Laura Evans celebrating country legends.