Blarney Stone a health hazard, says survey

Hygiene concerns cited in new list

Larger Text

Print

E-mail

17 Comments

Kissing the Blarney Stone is not one travel writer's idea of fun.

Tweet

The Blarney Stone is on the list of worst sites in the world to visit because of the "“trace bits of spit left behind with every pucker.”

Ranking 55th on the list of 101 destinations, the Cork attraction was deemed unworthy of a visit in Catherine Price’s new book '101 Places Not to See Before You Die.’

Previously, Tripadvisor.com had named the Blarney Stone as the least hygienic tourist destination in the world because thousands kiss exactly the same spot.

The castle is already suffering from a lack of visitors.  The numbers are down from 400,000 to 338,000 last year and are only expected to get worse in 2010. The attraction is anticipating numbers to fall below 300,000 this year.

Blarney Castle owner Sir Charles Colthurst joked that the low number of visitors will reduce the amount of saliva on the stone that travel writer Price finds so disgusting.

 “To my knowledge no one has ever caught anything from kissing the stone. I had an esteemed expert clarify that you cannot catch any disease from kissing the stone,” Sir Charles told the Irish Times.

Price’s book also places Euro Disney, the world bog snorkeling championship, Beijing’s Tap Water Museum, and the Los Angeles porn convention as sites not worth your time.
 

Print

E-mail

Tweet