Day 10 - On the Road to Galway by way of Cong

Good evening all.  We are all checked into our room at the Sliding Rock B&B.  Which is right over the Sliding Rock Pub.  We are nearly in the center of Galway, across the street from University Hospital of Galway.  Which from the looks of it is very very big teaching hospital.  We are also very close to the National University of Ireland - Galway.  So we've gone from a couple of tiny little towns to downtown in a big City.

Here are is the link to todays pics, enjoy: Day 10 To Galway and the Quiet Man

Once we left Lisdoonvarna and got thru the Burrens, we decided to make a side trip and go on up to Cong - or as it is better known: The Quiet Man Village.  If you look at the map you can see Cong is not exactly on the way to Galway.  As a matter of fact, not even close.  But we wanted to go and see it even if it was commercialized.

Once we left Lisdoonvarna we had to pass through an area (and National Park) called the Burrens.  This is an interesting place.  The Burrens are basically great rock mountains.  Not rock mountains likes the Rockies with craggy rocks.  These are domed hills and they are solid rock.  Except on some of the surfaces where either rocks had been broken for use by humans, or they just broke up on the own.  But it defining geologic feature of this whole part of Ireland.  It is the geologic formations that extend into the water and define the Aran Islands geology.  And once you see you see this landscape you will not have to ask yourself why there are some many stonewalls, stone houses, stone castles and stone churches in this part of Ireland.  Free building materials.  

The mountains of the Burren as drop down to an inlet off Galway Bay

This is referred to as the Burrens lowland.
Where the Mountains come down to the Bay. (At Low Tide)

Yea that's us again in front of the Burren Lowlands

We probably passed another dozen former castles and/or tower houses on the road today.  Seems like at the head of every little bay or inlet along Galway Bay there was castle or tower house.  Most falling in in desperate condition.  We were told that the stones from these castle, churches and such are constantly being reused in new houses, and for retaining walls along roads. 

We made our way past Galway and on into Cong.  The village of Cong itself is a another beautiful  little Irish village.  If you were to drive through it, you might catch that the place is famous for something, though not be sure for what.  There are signs and some other things that would key you off.  But nothing like you would see in America.  It is all very subtle and only very slightly takes away from the village's charm if you are walking around (with a map in your hands as we were.)  If this Movie was filmed in America, there would be billboards, neon lights all the other advertising that goes with American commercialization. 

It was a Monday afternoon and there were possibly another 10 or 15 Quiet Man fanatics walking around snapping photo's.  Just down from the square, right next to the ruins of a huge 8th century Church and Abbey, there is a statue of John Wayne holding Maureen O'Hara.  

Us at the John Wayne & Maureen Ohara Statue
("Sean and Mary Kate")

There is a small visitors center and museum (where you can by the $5 map, or sign up for a walking tour, or a private car tour.)  The visitor center is an "exact replica" of the exterior of the "White O Morn" cottage from the movie.  Only this White O Morn was in downtown Cong sitting between 2 other buildings.  The original cottage used as White O Morn in the movie no longer exists. We just walked around the village on our own for about an hour with our map and found most everything that was noted on the map.

Pat Cohan Pub
"...Here we pronounce it CO-HAN..."
(It looks like it is just a storefront now)

The good Reverend Playfair house.


 

We walked around the village for about an hour, our $5 map to the village in hand leading to us places like, Pat Cohen Pub, downtown in movie village, the Reverend Playfair house, the church were they played patty-fingers in the holy water, and the road scene at the end movie where the whole town stands behind the stone wall and "...waves like good protestants... " when the Bishop leaves town.  

The funniest named place was the "dying man house."  This was the house they had the old guy with the beard lying in bed, obviously dying, with the priest praying over him, when he hears the fight he jumps up to go watch.  The house has a small sign on it that says "DYING MAN HOUSE"  There is also a small sign in the window that says the "dying man" was director John Fords brother, and the priest was Maureen Ohara's brother.    

Our self paced walking tour of the village, we ate lunch in the Danaher (for "Red Will Danaher") Pub.  It was an obvious take off from the movie, but once in side there was only a few pictures from the movie.  We had a great lunch that included a really delicious stew and some vegetable soup.  

After lunch we walked around a little more and took some more pictures.  Including of course more pictures of "Iconic Ancient Irish Ruins"  (the Abbey")   

We did find one of the few remaining things on our "Ireland try-to-do list" We found a village square which still had its many centuries old high cross still standing.  That was cool. Most of the small villages have lost these old stone monuments to road widening and cars hitting them.  But we found one in Cong.  It was clear it was broken off at least once.  But it was repaired.

We figured it out and were sure we had dilly dallied in Cong long enough to make sure that our timing was such that we would get back to downtown Galway exactly in time to drive through the peak of rush hour traffic.  Which we did (4:40) and which is the same as any other city's rush hour traffic.   

So here we are in Galway.  At Slipping Rock.  We will be here tomorrow night also.  We have not set events or anything to go see.  I'll look around the internet tonight to find us things to tomorrow.

So here are is the link to todays pics, enjoy: Day 10 To Galway and the Quiet Man

Thanks

Anita and Jim