Blarney, it’s all Blarney. Or, as many Irish and other English speakers might say, “He’s talking a lot about Blarney!” But have you ever wondered where this saying comes from, and why exactly is his name Blarney?
Essentially, when the Irish (and several other nations) speak of Blarney, they are referring to a myth that began in a hidden castle in County Cork. And to really talk about Blarney, you have to go there just to kiss a stone.
However, as famous as the phrase is now, originally the saying was not about speaking Blarney, but about speaking Blarney, which meant talking too much in a very evasive way. This kind of behavior drove the good Queen Elizabeth I crazy. The Queen may not have been a fan, but Blarney gave us a very brief and descriptive addition to the English language. So how do you define “Blarney”, and what does “Blarney” mean now?
The meaning of Blarney
If we are claiming that something is ‘a lot of Blarney’, we are probably not referring to a real place in Ireland. In contrast, saying that something is Blarney is the same as saying that you believe the message is false. Or maybe it contains a morsel of truth somewhere, but calling it Blarney means that the story has been exploited in all its proportions, taken from its context, added and embroidered, told in a very skewed way, changed beyond recognition, adorned to suit the speaker’s needs, or simply twisted to evoke our sympathy.
In most Blarney situations, all of these exaggerations can be present.
Blarney, you should know, is not a simple outright lie or “fake news.” Blarney is the total frontal assault on your emotions, meant to elude your capacity for rational thought. Blarney is the ultimate weapon to charm you and convince you of something that might not be true. Wielded in the hands of a Blarney professional, you can accomplish anything without giving anything away. The message loses its importance, the intestinal reaction of empathy is the new desired result.
However, “talking Blarney” is not necessarily a bad thing, and these exaggerations are not intended to be bad or difficult. “That’s a lot of Blarney” is like saying “No way!” for some older generations, with an Irish twist. If it is said that someone speaks Blarney, or that a story is a Blarney burden, no one has been hurt (yet). It’s smoother than “cheating liar.” and more like “I think you might be pulling my leg a little bit here,” which makes the whole thing a bit understandable, even forgivable.
The origin of Blarney
The use of the word “Blarney” in this context has a royal pedigree and its ultimate roots in Blarney, County Cork. During the Reformation, Queen Elizabeth I was trying to get acquainted with her Irish subjects. While not averse to exercising her full royal and military power when necessary, Elizabeth also employed diplomacy, often coming face to face with her Irish subjects. Well, at least he met with the Irish Lords; after all, she was not a woman to associate with peasants.
Even she, however, might have had doubts about the wisdom of doing so after meeting Cormac MacCarthy, and with him her partner in the art of no-compromise diplomacy. As the current lord of Blarney Castle, Cormac tried everything legal (or at least not strictly illegal) to maintain his independence and not submit to the British throne. At the same time, he tried to avoid giving too much to the crown. His goal was to be left alone to dominate his little corner of Ireland.
Therefore, Queen Elizabeth’s demands of the Lord of Blarney were regularly ignored and almost never met. Instead, the Irish lord offered for extensive elaborations on why something could not or could be done in the unspecified future, at least not immediately, and generally not without some modification (which would always be to his advantage). In short, Cormac tried to speak and splutter his way out, hoping Elizabeth would just forget about him. He was the original Irish chancer.
But forget that the Virgin Queen did not. And Cormac became a real pain in the real back. So much so that one day Elizabeth broke down and screamed, “This is all Blarney, what he says he never wants to say.” And with this, the most powerful woman on Earth had given birth to a new phrase in the English language.
Blarney stone
Anyone who wants to be as eloquent as the best of the best could come to Blarney Castle. The famous Blarney Stone awaits there, although some say it is one of Ireland’s genuine tourist traps. It has been known for centuries that he gives the “gift of talk,” and even Father Prout was talking about the stone in 1825.
Worth it? If you need better skills to influence people and win friends, you better have a self-help book. Because, after all, talking Blarney all the time will probably annoy people. In the long term at least. However, thanks to the folklore that surrounds it, Blarney Castle is one of the most visited sites in all of Ireland and kissing the stone can definitely be part of your Emerald Isle bucket list.
