Cong (Irish: Conga , from Cúnga Fheichín means “Saint Feichin’s narrows”) is a village cross borders County Galway and County Mayo, Ireland. Cong is situated on an island formed by a number of streams that surround it on all sides. Cong located on the isthmus that connects the Loughs Corrib and Mask, near the cities of Headford and Ballinrobe and byarnaClonbur, The Neale and Cross.
Cong is known for its underground streams that connects Lough Corrib Lough Mask to the north. [1] It was also the home of Sir William Wilde, historian and father of prominent playwright, novelist, poet and short story writer Oscar Wilde.
Cong is home to Ashford Castle, a luxury hotel, converted from a Victorian faux Lake Castle, built by the Guinness familjen.Ashford Castle is a tourist attraction in its own right. Cong also has a ruined medieval abbey, Cong Abbey, where Rory O’Connor, the last högkung, spent his last years. [2] It is also the origin of a piece of Celtic art in the form of a metal cross shrine called Cross Cong. The “Cross Cong” now held in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. There is a High Cross in the village.
The 1111 Synod Ráth Breasail included Cong (Cunga Feichin) among the five pins that have been approved for Connacht, but in 1152 the Synod of Kells excluded it from their list and assigned to what would be the territory of the Archdiocese of Tuam. [3] [ 4] No longer a residential bishop is Cunga Feichin today indicated by the Catholic Church as an ordinary look. [5]
Cong Canal, built over five years by Benjamin Guinness in the 1850s, was a failure. Although it was only three miles long it could not hold water, buried in the porous limestone. The intention was to go Loughs Corrib and Mask and create a secure transport link from Sligo to Galway, avoiding the need to cross the west coast of Ireland. Now it is commonly known as “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 channel remains. [6] [7]
Cong was recording the location of John Ford’s 1952 Oscar -winning film, The Quiet Man , [8] with John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara and Barry Fitzgerald. A large part of the film was shot because of Ashford Castle. The city and the castle area remains little changed since 1952, and Cong connection with the film to make it a tourist attraction. (The film is still celebrated by local “Quiet Man Fan Club”). [9]
Catholic record for Cong not begin until 1870. The Church of Ireland records from the 18th and 19th centuries have survived and are held at the South Mayo Family Research Centre nearby Ballinrobe.
annalistic references
From the Annals of the Four Masters:
- M1184.12. Donnell O’Flanagan, Lord of Clann-Cahill, died on the conga-Feichin Cong.
See also
- List of towns and villages in Ireland
Gallery of images
- Autumn Leaves at Ashford Castle
- The exterior of the old Abbey
- Locks on the Dry Canal
- Monk Fish House
References
- Jump up ^ “Geological Survey of Ireland.” Retrieved 23 March 2015.
- Jump up ^ Webb, Alfred (1878). A Compendium of Irish Biography.Dublin: MH Gill and Son.
- Jump up ^ Michael John Brenan, The Ecclesiastical History of Ireland , Dublin 1864, pp. 120-121, 250
- Jump up ^ John Healy, “Tuam” in the Catholic Encyclopedia (New York 1912)
- Jump up ^ annuario pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 877
- Jump up ^ Brief history of the Cong Canal
- Jump up ^ Hugh McKnight (1987). Shell’s book waterways. David & Charles. p. 31. ISBN 0-7153-8239-X.
- Jump up ^ Cong in County Mayo Site
- Jump up ^ “The Quiet Man Cong”. Member of Travel Ireland Network.In 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2015.