The alteration struck me very forcibly. In 1815, I remember a large
square of neat cottages, and the area, a green shaded by fine old trees.
Most of the cottages are now roofless; the trees have been cut down, and
on my last visit, in 1821, a crop of barley was ripening in the square.


"the clam'rous rooks
Ask for their wonted seat, but ask in vain!
Their ancient home is level'd with the earth,
Never to wave again its leafy head,
Or yield a covert to the feather'd choir,
Who now, with broken song, remote and shy,
Seek other bowers, their native branches gone!"


This prepared me to expect a similar change in the grounds of the
castle, where much timber has been also felled; but the grounds still
are beautiful, rock and water being features in the landscape, the
picturesque effect of which neglect cannot injure.

The castle consists of a massive square tower, that rises broad and
boldly above surrounding trees, on a precipitous rock over a stream
called the Awmartin; and attached to the east side is an extensive
dwelling-house, erected about a century since by Sir James Jeffreys, who
purchased or obtained this estate from the crown, and in whose family it
still continues.

Blarney Castle was built about the middle of the fifteenth century,
by Cormac MacCarty, or Carthy surnamed Laider, or the Strong. He was
descended from the kings of Cork, and was esteemed so powerful a