Cong, County Mayo

Cong Conga or Cunga
Village
Cong Location in Ireland
Coordinates:
Country	Ireland
Province	Connacht
County	County Galway and County Mayo
Elevation	21 m (69 ft)
Population (2011)
• Urban	178
• Rural	750
Time zone	WET (UTC+0)
• Summer (DST)	IST (WEST) (UTC-1)
Irish Grid Reference	M150545

Cong (Irish: Conga, from Cúnga Fheichín meaning "Saint Feichin's narrows") is a village straddling the borders of County Galway and County Mayo, in Ireland. Cong is situated on an island formed by a number of streams that surround it on all sides. Cong is located on the isthmus connecting Loughs Corrib and Mask, near the towns of Headford and Ballinrobe and the villages of Clonbur, The Neale and Cross.

Cong is known for its underground streams that connect Lough Corrib with Lough Mask to the north. It was also the home of Sir William Wilde, historian and father to prominent playwright, novelist, poet, and short story writer Oscar Wilde.

File:AshfordCastleFromLough.JPG

Ashford Castle

Cong is the home of Ashford Castle, a luxury hotel, which was converted from a Victorian faux lakeside castle, built by the Guinness family. Ashford Castle is a tourist attraction in its own right. Cong also features a ruined medieval abbey, Cong Abbey, where Rory O'Connor, the last High King of Ireland, spent his last years. It also is the origin of a piece of Celtic art in the form of a metal cross shrine called the Cross of Cong. The 'Cross of Cong' is now held in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. There is a High Cross in the village.

The 1111 Synod of Ráth Breasail included Cong (Cunga Féichin) among the five dioceses it approved for Connacht, but in 1152 the Synod of Kells excluded it from its list and assigned what would be its territory to the archdiocese of Tuam. No longer a residential bishopric, Cunga Féichin is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.

File:Carrownagower Bridge, Cong Canal - geograph.org.uk - 147637.jpg

Carrownagower Bridge, Cong Canal.

The Cong Canal, built over five years by Benjamin Guinness in the 1850s, was a failure. Though it was only 3 miles long it could not hold water, being dug into porous limestone. The intention was to join Loughs Corrib and Mask and create a safe transport link from Sligo to Galway, avoiding the need to pass west coast of Ireland. Now it is commonly known as the "Dry Canal"; the water level can vary between zero  inches and 12 feet depending on the time of year (summer dry, winter full). and is three miles in length. Built heritage features of the canal remain.

Cong was the filming location for John Ford's 1952 Oscar-winning film, The Quiet Man, featuring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara and Barry Fitzgerald. Much of the movie was filmed on the grounds of Ashford Castle. The town and castle area remain little changed since 1952, and Cong's connection with the movie make it a tourist attraction. (The movie is still celebrated by the local "Quiet Man Fan Club").

Roman Catholic records for Cong did not commence until 1870. Church of Ireland records from the 18th and 19th centuries have survived and are held at the South Mayo Family Research Centre in nearby Ballinrobe.

Annalistic references

From the Annals of the Four Masters:

• M1184.12. Donnell O'Flanagan, Lord of Clann-Cahill, died at Conga-Feichin Cong.

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

Gallery of Images

• Ashford Castle 640x480.jpg

  Autumn Leaves at Ashford Castle

• Congabbeyout.jpg

  Exterior of the Old Abbey

• Cong lock.jpg

  Lock on the Dry Canal

• Monk fishhouse 640x480.jpg

  Monk Fishhouse