Blarney stoned as pot and opium plants found

Cops have raided the famed Blarney Castle and confiscated pot and opium plants growing in a hidden garden there.

Over 338,,000 people visit Blarney to kiss the Blarney Stone every year including hundreds of thousands of Americans.

The owner of Blarney Sir Charles Colthurst has been warned that he may face charges as a result of the find. He can be charged under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

He told the Irish Examiner that he was "more than a little taken aback" by what happened.

Police say that the species of marijuana plant, the cannabis sativa and opium plants were planted in the castles famed Poison Garden earlier this year .

Sir Charles said he was shocked by what happened.

"We let the police know early in the year that we wanted to apply for a licence to grow the plant and we didn’t hear much back from the gardaí until they suddenly arrived on Friday and told me that I was committing a crime.

"What annoys me is that there is poisonous plants like ragworth and yews on every public highway and nothing is done. I really felt as if we were being made scapegoats," he said.

"Tourists, and especially children, love the Poison Garden, especially having it adjacent to a medieval castle.

"We got the idea of the poison garden from the Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town, where the poison garden is mainly used as an educational facility. There is also a poison garden at Alnwick Castle where the Harry Potter movies were filmed and schools visit it regularly."

He claimed the opium and cannabis plants were out of public view and could not be accessed by visitors.

Superintendent Con Cadogan said he wouldn’t comment on the raid at the castle.