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Blarney Castle & Rock of Cashel Private Car Trip from Dublin
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From €114 per person
There’s a reason millions of visitors make the trip to Blarney Castle - and this private tour from Dublin gives you the full story of why the stone became such a legend.
Your private car picks you up directly from your Dublin accommodation and takes you south through the Irish countryside to Blarney Castle, built nearly 600 years ago by the chieftain Cormac MacCarthy. Skip-the-line tickets are included, so you head straight in. Your History Expert guide explains the legend of the Blarney Stone - including who has kissed it over the centuries and the old tale of why Queen Elizabeth I refused to take possession of the castle itself. Then it’s your turn to lean backwards over the battlements and kiss the Stone of Eloquence.
The castle is more than the stone, though. You’ll explore the ornate banqueting hall and family room, and there’s a Witch’s Cave to track down in the gardens. Free time for lunch and a look at the souvenir shop before your driver takes you back to Dublin.
If you want more from the day, the 11-hour option adds two further stops. You’ll pull in outside Cahir Castle - one of the largest and best-preserved in Ireland and a filming location for Excalibur and The Tudors - and then visit inside the Rock of Cashel, the dramatic hilltop fortress known as the soul of Ireland, where St. Patrick is said to have converted the King of Munster.
The skip-the-line tickets are one of the best reasons to book a private tour here - in peak summer the queue for the Blarney Stone can run to two hours, and you bypass it entirely. The word “blarney” entered English because Elizabeth I wrote a letter complaining that Cormac MacCarthy sent smooth talk and excuses instead of submission. A Victorian castle owner turned that frustration into a marketing legend. Your History Expert guide will have more on how the story evolved.
Beyond the Stone itself, the Rock Close in the castle grounds is the detail most visitors miss. It’s a Victorian rock garden laid out with druidic names - the Wishing Steps (walk them backwards with your eyes closed for a wish), the Witch’s Kitchen, a standing stone - and it’s considerably quieter than the main castle queue. Give it twenty minutes before you head to lunch.
If you’re on the extended 11-hour option, the Rock of Cashel stop includes Cormac’s Chapel, consecrated in 1134, which has the only surviving Romanesque frescoes in Ireland. They were discovered under centuries of limewash in the 1980s. The walk up to the Rock from the car park is five minutes and the approach on foot is part of how the place works - you see the walls rising above you on the climb.
The Cahir Castle exterior stop on the extended tour gives you a look at one of the most intact medieval fortresses in Ireland. The Butler family held it for six centuries. Cromwell sent a polite letter in 1650 and the garrison handed over the keys rather than repeat what Essex’s cannon had done fifty years earlier - which is why so much of it is still standing. If you want to go inside on a future trip, spend the afternoon at Cahir and follow the river path south to John Nash’s Swiss Cottage.