blarney house and gardens

The Blarney Stone may have imparted the gift of eloquence but it did not necessarily bring good fortune. The MacCarthys forfeited their castle in the Williamite War and it was later acquired by the St. John Jefferyes family. In the 18th century James St. John Jefferys built a fanciful Georgian Gothic mansion attached to the old castle. But the house burned down and was never rebuilt.

Instead in 1874 a Scottish baronial mansion was built nearby overlooking Blarney Lake. The house in ashlar stone, features bartizans with conical turrets, corner turrets and stepped gables.