IRELAND
County Mayo, Ireland
Cong, County Mayo, Ireland,
was the setting and the filming location
for John Ford's 1952 Oscar-winning film,
The Quiet Man
Cong
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Cong (Conga Fheichín or Cúnga Fheichín in Irish) is a village in County Mayo,
Republic of Ireland, next to the Galway border.
It is located on the north shore of Lough Corrib, near the town of Ballinrobe
and the villages of 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.
This picturesque village lies on the shores off Lough Corrib, just within County Mayo.
It is on the edge of Connemara. Cong, (in Gaelic Cung) means isthmus,
the village lies on the strip of land between Lough Corrib and Lough Mask.
For more photographs:-
Cong- Photos
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White O'Morn Cottage
The original cottage above showing the owner
at the time holding a baby and look at the chickens pecking
just outside the half door and the roses growing in the flowerbeds.
The tourist board are trying hard to make the owner of the derelect White O'Morn
see the sense of restoring the ruin to it's former glory.
That is something I would dearly love to see.
The owner is an American and has so far not agreed to allow restoration to go ahead.
The film brings thousands of tourists to Cong, Mayo every year
and most of the buildings used are still in good to perfect condition.
The original White O’Morn cottage is in a state of ruin.
All that remains on this tufted patch of earth is shaped pile of housing stones.
The thatch appears to have gone first, after which water seeped
into the 18-inch-thick stone walls and washed out the mortar,
peeling off the whitewash as the breakdown progressed season by season.
As it is now..........................................With kind permission of Patrick McCormick
During a visit in July of 2001 there was rumblings that the original cottage
would be restored and made into some kind of tourist attraction.
However, as recently as June 2003 it was still found crumbling
to the ground with no evidence of any construction project.
The word is that a Californian has owned the property
for 22 years and remains unmoved by requests to sell
so the cottage can be restored.
So sad that no one saw fit to preserve this lovely cottage for future generations.
It is just a pile of stones now and even they are disappearing as tourists
take them for souviniers.
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Cohan's Bar
.
An old photo of Pat Cohen's Bar.
It was actually a shop not a bar
but now it has been refurbished
and recreated faithfully as the bar.
It was beautifully outfitted by Gus Martin , GM Carpentry, Dublin
and is a faithful recreation of the one in the film.
Gus is a fervent fan of the film too so it must have been a labour of love.
they used stills of the film to make sure they got it just right.
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The Quiet Man Bridge
The Quiet Man Bridge
Over 50 years ago John Wayne and Barry Fitzgerald
sat on this bridge in a horse drawn carriage.
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Cong Church
St. Mary's Church Of Ireland
This is the pretty little church where Sean Thornton and Mary Kate Danagher
played "pattie fingers" in the holy water font.
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Ashford Castle
Just south of Cong is Ashford Castle, built in a Gothic revival style
by Arthur Guinness (Lord Ardilaun), is now a five star hotel with Golf Course.
One of Ireland's finest hotels, converted from a medieval lakeside castle,
and a tourist attraction in its own right.
Much of the movie was filmed on the grounds of Ashford Castle.
Duke, John Ford, and the other major stars, also stayed there during filming.
The famous fight scene was shot in the grounds of the castle,
Much memorabilia and special tours are available to commemorate the film.
The town and castle area remain little changed since 1952,
and Cong's connection with the movie make it a major tourist attraction
in that part of Mayo.
Fancy a holiday!:-
Ashford Castle
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Cong Abbey
Cong also has a fine example of a ruined medieval abbey,
and Celtic art in the form of a stone High cross called the Cross of Cong,
which shows Viking influences.
The majestic remains of Cong Abbey are the relics of the Augustinian abbe
y founded in the 12th century by Turlough O'Connor,
King of Connaught and High King of Ireland.
The Market Cross of Cong in the village commemorates tow
former abbots of the monastery.
The Cross of Cong, an ornate processional cross intended for the abbey,
is now in Dublin's National Museum.
The Cong Canal, also known as the "Dry Canal" was a failure,
primarily due to its inability to hold water. Now used as a drainage channel only,
the water level can vary between 6 inches and 12 feet depending on the time of year
(summer dry, winter full). Built heritage features of the canal remain.
Only two weeks of the production was spent in Ireland
because the local hotels couldn't accommodate the American crew.
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Playfairs Cottage
Then we have a truly beautiful cottage
that is still exactly the same today.
It was the location for the Playfairs-( actually the gate-house to Ashford Castle)
the Church of Ireland reverand and his wife.
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Danagher House
Above is the Danagher house.
It also survives and is located on the estate of Ashford Castle.
Just the same except in the film there was no glass porch at the front door.
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As it is today
This beautiful house is exactaly how it looks today as it did in the movie back in 1951
Its located on the grounds of Ashford Castle , and is very well taken care of
by the lovely May and Joe Murphy.
I hasten to add the house is not open to the public at any time and is strictly private.
With special thanks to Mike Ward
of Save The Quiet Man Cottage for the photograph and the above
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Ballyglunin Station
(Castletown Station)
The station used in the opening sequence and during the scene where John Wayne
slams the train doors looking for 'Maureen OHara later in the film is
Ballyglunin Station- south of the town of Tuam, Co. Galway.
It looks the same today as it did in 1951,
when the film was shot (although released in 1952).
The only major difference is that the bridge which crosses
the railway tracks is now gone.
This bridge was moved to Ballinasloe station, East Galway
(where it still stands today), after Ballyglunin closed down as a main line.
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The Stepping Stones
With kind permission of Gary McEwan- STQMC Group- Facebook
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Lettergesh Beach- Commera
The Inisfree Race Meet
The horse racing sequence was shot at
Lettergesh Beach- Commera
on the west coast of Ireland
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Cong River Fight Scene
Look towards the big tree on the banks of the Cong river on the right.
This is the location where Danagher is knocked into the river by Sean.
Danagher then says "you've had enough," Sean replies No,
so Danagher says "Well give a man a hand then"
Sean pulls him out of the river only to receive another punch from
Danagher which sends him reeling, the next time you watch this scene again
you will see the stones on the wall of Cong Abbey as the fight continues.
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Emily O'Connor's Shop
When Sean and Mary Kate take their wagon into town a store called
"Emily O'Connor" can be seen in the background.
This is actually a crafts store and is still in business to this day.
In the film, Cong Village doubled as both Innisfree and Castletown. One side of Cong was Innisfree and this side of the village was CastleTown. The scene shot here was a cattle fair, cast your mind back to the film as Mary Kate and Sean arrive in Castletown to do their shopping. It was here that Mary Kate spot's Danaher selling his crossbred sheep and says to Sean "now's a good time to get my money" Sean replies, "Money, money I'm sick of the talk of it! is that all you Danaher's think about money?". With that Mary Kate whips up her horse and leaves Sean to walk back to Innisfree. When Mary Kate leaves Sean in Castletown to walk back to Innisfree we see him walking up hills through fields, when in fact all he had to do was walk up the street, that's Hollywood for you. In the background we see Emily O'Connor's Craft shop and next to it is the post office which is still the same as in 1951.
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Fr.Lonergan's Gate
Now sadly stolen!!
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White O'Morn Replica Cottage
A replica of the famous thatched cottage in the movie is located at Maam Cross
County Galway, in the west of Ireland.
The first location is one of the last scenes in the film.
It is located opposite The Quiet Man Heritage Cottage at the flower bed
and is when the widow Tillane and Danagher start their courting.
They were on the trap with Michaeleen Og as chaperone.
"Hold on to your Hats," were Michealeen's strict instruction
to the courting couple
as his beautiful horse Napoleon took them passed the now
Heritage Cottage along Circular road here to your right.
For more information:-
The Replica Quiet Man Cottage
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Mary Kate's Willow Pattern Dishes
Mary Kate so loved her crockery and such.
She used the beautiful Willow pattern dishes.
Hondo
