Cong, County Mayo: Movie Magic and High Society
October/14/2008 Ireland Journal
You would probably say I was exaggerating if I said that Jim stopped going to movies after John Wayne died. Well, he did actually go to two, but he slept through one and fidgeted through the other, so that was the end of my asking him to go with me. To say the very least, Jim is still a John Wayne fan thanks to endless TV reruns. We both agree that The Quiet Man was one of his best, so we decided to stay at Cong, where much of the movie's location scenes were shot.
It doesn't take long to see the village, just a short walk and you can take in some wonderful scenery, ranging from the trout-stocked river that flows next to the ruins of Cong Abbey, built in the 12th century by Augustinian monks . . .
. . . to charming country cottages . . .
. . . colorful village businesses . . .
. . . and the famous Market Cross.
Everywhere there are reminders of The Quiet Man, which has helped to support town enterprises since its filming in 1951, but fortunately for visitors and townspeople alike, tourism hasn't spoiled the village's magical atmosphere.
At the Quiet Man Heritage Center we viewed some of the props used in the film and recreations of several key set designs.
Then we took an enjoyable walking tour with an extremely knowledgeable guide who had members of our tour group act out several key scenes from the movie to demonstrate how the action unfolded. She chose Jim to play the part of "the dying man," who rose from his deathbed and runs down the street when he heard that the fight was on between Sean (John Wayne) and antagonist Red Will Danaher. That's the fastest I've seen Jim move in many years :-).
Next, she chose a couple from Califonia to reenact the famous "kiss scene" between Mary Kate (Maureen O'Hara) and Sean by the gate to Ashford Church.
I think they turned in the most enthusiastic performance of the day!
I'd recommend the tour to anyone who loves the film. Buy the DVD before you come, because you'll want to see it again to review the settings where you've walked in the steps of The Quiet Man cast.
We'll come back to Cong again, to visit some of the other film locations in Counties Galway and Mayo, and we'll spend several nights at the simply astonishing Ashford Castle, the gates of which literally back up to the village and where some of The Quiet Man scenes were filmed. As you enter the gates, you are flanked on each side by forest lands that darken your passage . . .
. . . until you emerge onto the rolling hills that now constitute the golf course that fronts the spectacular castle with a 700-year history that in 1985 was transformed by a group of Irish-American investors into one of the "Top 50 Resort Properties in Europe. You can see why, when you walk the grounds of this magnificent property, which is set on the northern shores of Lough Corrib.
Back in 1951, many of the The Quiet Man stars stayed at Ashford Castle, which had become an hotel operation in 1935. So . . . today you can live even more luxuriously than the stars by staying at Ashford Castle. Check out the wesite by clicking here.
It doesn't take long to see the village, just a short walk and you can take in some wonderful scenery, ranging from the trout-stocked river that flows next to the ruins of Cong Abbey, built in the 12th century by Augustinian monks . . .
. . . to charming country cottages . . .
. . . colorful village businesses . . .
. . . and the famous Market Cross.
Everywhere there are reminders of The Quiet Man, which has helped to support town enterprises since its filming in 1951, but fortunately for visitors and townspeople alike, tourism hasn't spoiled the village's magical atmosphere.
At the Quiet Man Heritage Center we viewed some of the props used in the film and recreations of several key set designs.
Then we took an enjoyable walking tour with an extremely knowledgeable guide who had members of our tour group act out several key scenes from the movie to demonstrate how the action unfolded. She chose Jim to play the part of "the dying man," who rose from his deathbed and runs down the street when he heard that the fight was on between Sean (John Wayne) and antagonist Red Will Danaher. That's the fastest I've seen Jim move in many years :-).
Next, she chose a couple from Califonia to reenact the famous "kiss scene" between Mary Kate (Maureen O'Hara) and Sean by the gate to Ashford Church.
I think they turned in the most enthusiastic performance of the day!
I'd recommend the tour to anyone who loves the film. Buy the DVD before you come, because you'll want to see it again to review the settings where you've walked in the steps of The Quiet Man cast.
We'll come back to Cong again, to visit some of the other film locations in Counties Galway and Mayo, and we'll spend several nights at the simply astonishing Ashford Castle, the gates of which literally back up to the village and where some of The Quiet Man scenes were filmed. As you enter the gates, you are flanked on each side by forest lands that darken your passage . . .
. . . until you emerge onto the rolling hills that now constitute the golf course that fronts the spectacular castle with a 700-year history that in 1985 was transformed by a group of Irish-American investors into one of the "Top 50 Resort Properties in Europe. You can see why, when you walk the grounds of this magnificent property, which is set on the northern shores of Lough Corrib.
Back in 1951, many of the The Quiet Man stars stayed at Ashford Castle, which had become an hotel operation in 1935. So . . . today you can live even more luxuriously than the stars by staying at Ashford Castle. Check out the wesite by clicking here.