Just on the periph­ery of Blar­ney vil­lage. Though it’s believed a set­tle­ment was estab­lished here as ear­ly as the 10th cen­tu­ry, the cas­tle was built around 1446 for the Mac­Carthy Chief­tains of Mun­ster. The Mac­Carthys had influ­ence over Blar­ney and Mun­ster through­out the many cen­turies of Anglo-Irish con­flict until the defeat of the old Irish nobles by the forces of King William of Orange at the Bat­tle of the Boyne in 1690. At this point, the Lord of Blar­ney was exiled and the cas­tle was aban­doned.