In May 2019, Jim and I had the great pleasure and good fortune to return to Ireland for the first time in 22 years. After traveling for a week on our own in the eastern counties, we joined members of the group whom we had first met in Prague in 2017. We spent the week exploring the south and west of Ireland, visiting castles, ancient priories, and Neolithic dolmens and stone circles in that beautiful, magical land.

One of our final stops was legendary Blarney Castle in County Cork. No, we did not stand in line for 90 minutes to kiss the fabled Blarney Stone, but we did want to tour the Poison Garden. The grounds of Blarney Castle, like those of Alnwick Castle Gardens in Northumberland, UK, harbor beds filled with toxic plants gathered from all over the world.I wish I could report that I took some great photos of exotic poisonous plants, but I soon discovered that I wasn’t the only tourist who wanted to visit Blarney’s garden of deadly delights. Everyone who wasn’t in line to kiss t...