- A popular St. Patrick's Day tradition involving bending over backwards to kiss a stone at the top of an Irish castle has been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic .
- In an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Ireland canceled all St. Patrick's Day parades and has limited mass public gatherings through March 29.
- As of March 16, Ireland has 223 confirmed cases of the coronavirus . In total, more than 189,000 people have been infected across 145 countries , the majority of which is in China.
- This is the first time in 600 years that visitors have been unable to kiss the mythical Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle in Cork, Ireland.
- Legend has it has that the Blarney Stone bestows upon the kisser the gift of eloquence and persuasiveness.
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Reed Kaestner/Getty Images
To contain the spread of the coronavirus, Ireland has canceled parades and limited public gatherings through the end of March. Following suit, Blarney Castle, a popular tourist destination in near Cork, has barred visitors from partaking in a cherished, 600-year-old tradition: kissing a mythical limestone block while upside down.
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