Cong, Co Mayo

One full day here in County Mayo before we start heading back to reality. We stayed over in Cong, a small village famous primarily for (and cashing in on) being the setting for the 1952 John Ford film The Quiet Man. (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045061/ in case you have been in a cave for the past 65 years). Did our tourist bit and made sure to hit some key sites.

The bar where Danagher and Thornton argues over who would buy a drink mid-fight

Cong Main Street – the fight continued out here after the pub scene

Beside all of this trivia, Cong is also home to a very cool 13th century abbey (the site was actually an abbey originally in the 7th century, but current ruins only date from the 1200s).

And Cong is also situated on extensive preserved forest land that was once owned by the Guinness family, including nearby Ashford Castle. We hiked about 4 miles of trails and climbed the Guinness Tower, built by (certainly at the direction of) B.L. Guinness in 1864. At the time it would have commanded a view for miles around, but now the trees have outgrown it and the view is limited.

Lough Corrib is the largest fresh water lake in Ireland and both Cong and Ashford Castle are situated nearby. We took a two hour lake cruise – primarily out to the island Inchagoill in the center, which is home to the ruins of both a 12th century and a fifth century church and grounds, the latter said to have been built by St. Patrick when he was exiled to the island by pagan Irish druids. We had a guided tour of the ruins, then back to Ashford and the public dock.

Three of the 10 depicted saints on 12th Century church – St. Brendan, St. Patrick and St. Brigid

Stone of Luguaedon – St Patrick’s navigator – oldest Christian markings in Europe – 470AD

Ashford Castle – 1288 – owned by Guinness family 1852-1938

Tomorrow, we leave Cong and will head west into Galway and Mayo before heading back down to Dublin for our trip home…