The world famous village that is home to the Blarney Stone has been forced to move its St Patrick’s Day parade – by the local squire!
Blarney Castle owner Sir Charles Colthurst has caused outrage after refusing permission for the annual festival to take place in the village square.
Colthurst, who owns the square through aristocratic inheritance according to the Irish Independent, has shocked locals with his decision.
He hit the headlines last year for growing pot in a hidden garden at the castle.
The landlord, whose castle and Blarney Stone attracts over 300,000 visitors a year, has claimed he fears he will sued for injury and hasn’t got sufficient insurance cover.
As a result of his decision, the festival organisers have moved the venue to the local GAA club and altered the route of its St Patrick’s Day parade.
Parade organiser Kevin Conway told the newspaper that he feels the issues raised are ‘trivial’ and said the stance taken by Colthurst has caused major headaches for the parade organisers just 72 hours before the gala event.
“We have a record entry for the Blarney parade this year, it is all about providing entertainment for people and persuading tourists to come to Blarney and spend their money here,” said Conway.
“We have now had to ensure that every stall and attraction is moved from the square out to Blarney
GAA grounds. But we are very grateful to the GAA for allowing us to use their facilities - otherwise we don’t know what we’d do.”
Colthurst did not respond to queries from the Irish Independent but a five-page letter sent on his behalf to Blarney Community Council raised specific concerns about insurance and cited the risks associated with some stalls.
The paper reports that the letter bluntly warned that he believed the public liability insurance cover in place was not sufficient and left him open to possible claims.
Festival spokesman Tom O’Dwyer told the paper that they were shocked by the late notice given.
“We found out about this at 6.05pm on Tuesday. This isn’t the first festival we have had on the square, this would have been the fifth,” he said.
“We have had two previous St Patrick’s Day festivals and two September ‘Fun Days’. So we don’t understand why there was suddenly a problem with insurance this year.”
Colthurst previously hit the headlines in 2010 when he called for the minimum wage to be cut and argued that Ireland had become too uncompetitive compared to other European countries.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.BARNEYKX | Apr 01, 2012, 04:58 PM EDT
You are not allowed to take a photo of anyone kissing the blarney stone,you are photographed automatically and can buy it for 10 euros what a rip off a good mate for bertie ahern the place should be pulled down its a dnger to people of Ireland
bunclogher1 | Mar 16, 2012, 01:15 PM EDT
AM I READING RIGHT. GET HIM THE HELL OUT OF THE COUNTRY
irishpjk | Mar 16, 2012, 08:33 AM EDT
The man needs to be told that he is on stolen property. The people need to take back what is theirs.
oldboreen | Mar 16, 2012, 06:57 AM EDT
All lands owned by the old Anglo ruling class, should have been appropriated by the Free State in 1922. It wasn't, and we have to live with the consequences. Colthurst and his ilk, are still 'Lording it'over the Irish to this day.It has suited successive Irish governments to maintain the status quo.
TayandCake | Mar 15, 2012, 08:52 PM EDT
But will the local people do as they are told by some tatty ponse or will they go against the grain in their own town. If they toe this blokes line then they are worst then him, COWARDS!!!
Meanolgrouch | Mar 15, 2012, 07:07 PM EDT
(ahem) hermitTalker, dear, by "non-US citizen's son" would you be meaning our best-ever president, Mr. Barack O'Bama? He's as American as apple pie by way of his mother. Nobody else would ever have been so crudely challenged about legitimacy of office - but he's a black man and Democrat to boot. In my book he deserves as much respect as the sainted Michael Collins, and I don't say that about anybody. As for the news story in particular, I'd throw the English invaders out by any means they required, and God Bless Gerry Adams all the way. The latter gentleman predicts a border vote soon, I see. He'd make a great leader of a United Ireland.
seanomelb | Mar 15, 2012, 06:21 PM EDT
Return the stolen land to the rightful owners.The biggest mistake since the treaty was the return of Irish lands stolen by the British establishment to the Irish state. Captain Colthurst died in 1966 the fiftieth anniversary of the Skeffington murder and the Easter Rebellion.
padraigocleirigh | Mar 15, 2012, 05:50 PM EDT
Lest we forget. Was it an ancestor of Sir Charles, Captain J.C. Bowen-Colthurst of Cork, with a similar anti-Irish outlook? But so much more lethal. In 1916 during the Rising, he ordered the death by firing squad of Francis Sheehy-Skeffington and two other journalists, all three victims non-combatants. Capt. Colthurst was tried by court martial (he pled not guilty by reason of insanity) and acquitted. He was hospitalized in western Canada for treatment. Years later he was released. He received a military pension, till his death from natural causes, all the while hiding from IRA gunmen seeking retribution.
julesdud1 | Mar 15, 2012, 05:08 PM EDT
I've been to Blarney Castle several yra ago. He obviously does not keep up the place. It was a sad sight & the people who worked there were obviously unhappy. One of them told us that several of them have peed on the stone that makes Colthurst money. If he's really worried about liablity, he needs to repair the old castle & clean that stone!! I went back 2 yrs ago with my sons who were 27 & 29. Neither of them wanted to go up there. They couldn't believe how nasty the place was! By contrast the town is lovely & the people are lovely. BOYCOTT the dangerously unkempt castle & SUPPORT the lovely little town. PS does Colthurst maintain the square? Does the local government have the powers of eminint domain? What is good for the greater good of the people & to be put to use by the people, can be bought at a fair price whether the ancestral rights owner wants to sell or not!
DaithiSuibhne | Mar 15, 2012, 03:38 PM EDT
Are we sure this isn't more 'Blarney'? And if not I'm quite sure Colthurst's head would look good on a spike overlooking the surrounding countryside from the castle parapet.
CitizenWhy | Mar 15, 2012, 01:52 PM EDT
Time to end aristocratic inheritance.
pilib04 | Mar 15, 2012, 12:41 PM EDT
From what is reported, I can certainly understand a fear of liability over a St. Patrick's Day parade. However, I am curious as to what ancestral ownership means. It's always hard to side with the landowner, but in this dispute wouldn't it be simple for the council to put up the liability insurance? Finally, how many communities with significant parades have liability insurance?
CarriageHorse | Mar 15, 2012, 12:36 PM EDT
Well, NOW we have an actual modern-day example of why so many of our ancestors chose to emmigrate from the "old country" and come to a place where landloards don't own your fricking town square. At least in the USA only our elected officials can ban us from using the public square and we can always vote them out. The Irish still aven't gotten ride of that old "Landlord" mentality those English invaders brought with them. Were this guy's ancestors native Irish or English usurpers? I have always wanted to visit Ireland. But if I go, this is one Irish-American who will not spend a single penny to see the Blarney Stone or the castle of this pompous Charles Colthurst.
hermitTalker | Mar 15, 2012, 11:08 AM EDT
Perhaps he feared they might trample on his POT......of Gold of course. One never knows with invading colonists. See what happened in the USA when a non-US citizen's son got into high office.
IronMountainMovies | Mar 15, 2012, 10:37 AM EDT
If a picket was put on his Blarney castle to stop visitors paying him money to kiss a stone, then perhaps his attitude might be somewhat adjusted.
JimmieM | Mar 15, 2012, 10:11 AM EDT
it appears that you have achieved ..."critical mass"... in terms of lawyer to citizen ratio...over here in the US we achieved this long ago....what is mean s is that as the lawyer ratio goes up you are more likely to be sued, on the bright side you may be able to sue your neighbor and take him for everything he has...it is great for the fence business and more and more people fence off places of interests for fear of being sued...good luck with all that...