The book describes Gaelic society and the castle's role within its clan organisation. A detailed history of the MacCarthy Muskerry clan charts their rise to power and their ultimate loss of Blarney after the battle of the Boyne. The families who owned the castle (the MacCarthys, the Jefferies and the Colthursts) are described, together with the major national and international events and social movements with which they were often intimately involved. The cult of the "picturesque" and a growing interest in Irish traditions during the nineteenth century, together with the development of the railways, transformed Blarney from a derelict ruin to a major tourist attractionFinally, the book attempts to illuminate some of the traditions surrounding the famous Blarney Stone.