"He's talking a load of Blarney!" Have you ever wondered why the Irish (and several other nations) seem to make a castle in County Cork the subject of their conversation? Or want to kiss a stone?
The Meaning of Blarney
If we are stating that something is "a lot of Blarney", we are not referring to an actual locality in Ireland. Instead we are (dis-)qualifying the message as being not true. Or maybe containing a morsel of truth somewhere. But the story having been blown out of all proportions, taken from its context, added to and embroided upon, told in a very partizan way, changed beyond recognition or twisted to evoke our sympathy. Or all of this.
Blarney is not a simple lie or being economical with the truth. Blarney is the full frontal assault on our emotions, intended to bypass our capacity for rational thought. Blarney is the ultimate weapon of massive distraction. Wielded in the hands of a professional it can achieve anything by giving away nothing.
The Origin of Blarney
The word "blarney" has a royal pedigree and its roots in Blarney. During the reformation Queen Elizabeth I was trying to come to grips with the Irish. While not adverse to fire and sword if necessary, Elizabeth also employed diplomacy and frequently met her Irish subjects face to face.
She might have had second thoughts about the wisdom of doing so when she met Cormac MacCarthy and her match. As the current lord of Blarney Castle Cormac tried to keep his independence. At the same time he tried to avoid giving away too much of anything to the crown. Thus Elizabeth's demands were met not by deeds but by extensive elaborations on why something could not be done, at least not immediately or without modification. In short - Cormac tried to talk and bluff his way out of it.
One day Elizabeth cracked and screamed, "This is all blarney, what he says he never means." With this the Virgin Queen had given birth to a new phrase in the English language.
The Blarney Stone
Whosoever wishes to be as eloquent as the best of the best might want to make his or her way to Blarney. There the Blarney Stone waits, one of Ireland's genuine tourist traps. For ages - in 1825 Father Prout already waxed lyrical about the stone and its supposed "gift of the gab".
