Further down the castle's timeline is the building of the High Victorian Blarney House, designed by John Lanyon for the following the castle's desertion for over 50 years. During the reign of Elizabeth I, the Queen commanded the Earl of Leicester to take possession of the castle when he failed to do so, it is said that she remarked his efforts and missives were all ‘blarney’, hence the castle's name. Following the generous supply of men from the castle's owner, Cormac McCarthy, King of Munster, to Robert the Bruce during the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Robert gifted Cormac the Stone of Scone, now known as the ‘Blarney Stone’, a relic shrouded in Irish lore. Certain parts of the castle remain open to the public, including the magnificent State Apartments, home to some of the greatest treasures in the Royal Collection and St George's Chapel, host to many royal weddings (including Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex's marriage to Meghan Markle), as well as the Queen's funeral.Īddress: Castle Hill, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1PD.īuilt by Gaelic lords and Anglo-Irish dignitaries between the 15th and 17th centuries, Blarney Castle is an unusually large tower house famed for its impregnability (in part thanks to its walls, 18 feet thick) as well as its role in Anglo-Irish history. Today, the castle is one of the official residences of Charles III. 1837-1901), received countless ambassadors, dignitaries and other royals, including Napoleon and Tsar Nicholas II.

1066-1087) in 1070 and completion by 1086, Windsor has been a mighty presence in British history: the Order of the Garter was created here in 1348, Oliver Cromwell used Windsor as his headquarters (and as a prison for Royalists, including Charles I) in 1642 and, under the reign of Queen Victoria (r.

Since its establishment by William the Conqueror (r. The oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world and longest-occupied palace in Europe, Windsor Castle has been the family home of British kings and queens for nearly a millennium.

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