A scandal is hitting that well-known Irish tourist attraction, the Blarney Stone.
We’ve heard since childhood that if you kiss the famous stone, you’ll gain the gift of gab and great oratorical skills. Promoters even cite famous people who (supposedly) benefited from this eloquence-inspiring act, such as Sir Walter Scott and Winston Churchill.
Now a pair of archaeologists say that the real Blarney Stone is not the one everybody’s been kissing. They claim that for health and safety reasons - the owners of Blarney Castle have been guiding tourists to a “safer” stone for many decades. Does that mean Winston Churchill came by his oratorical skills naturally? That tourists brave kissing the same stone as millions of other people, without gaining an iota of verbal skill?
The marketing manager at Blarney Castle is reassuring the public that the archaeologists’ claims are just Blarney, and that the Blarney Stone you can kiss is really the one and only. Time will tell where the real Blarney lies.
And gee, a stone with its own marketing manager?? 
About: Ireland - The Blarney Stone a Load of Blarney?
We’ll be back to the Emerald Isle in June for our women’s tour of Ireland. I’ll wait for this battle to play out before taking my chances kissing any stone! In the meantime, stick with Toastmasters to improve your speaking skills.
6 responses so far ↓
1 cindy // Jun 5, 2008 at 1:51 pm
I can not believe it. We have all been misled! Who would have ever thought that they were kissing a stone for nothing!
2 atentale // Jun 5, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I think those kind of magical powers are all false. They may have historical significance and are fun to know like this one. But i would not kiss a stone!
Cheerio!
3 Angela // Jun 5, 2008 at 3:49 pm
I’ve honestly never heard the reason you are supposed to kiss the Blarney stone before. I guess I’ve missed out. Whether or not its a fake stone, I don’t think I’d be able to get past thinking about all the thousands of germs that must be on that thing. Ugh…
4 GypsyButterfly // Jun 6, 2008 at 2:06 pm
I always heard the person who kissed the stone would have good fortune. Not necessarily money, but, something positive would happen in their life.
The real stone or not, I think, it’s the power of suggestion. You kiss the stone, then, go on to ace that interview and get the job, for example. It’s not about the stone, but, because you were feeling optimistic and brought your best to it.
5 MelissaJo87 // Jun 6, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Wow, and to think people have been kissing the “wrong” stone for all these years. Yeah … a stone with it’s own marketing manager! LOL
6 Deanna Keahey // Jun 6, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Sounds like their marketing manager has his/her work cut out! They’ve got to get their stories straight — which rock, and what do you get out of it?
I like the theory about power of suggestion, so if you THINK you’ve just gotten lucky, or gotten the gift of gab, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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