Behind The 53rd Parallel: The Quiet Man & The Village of Cong
My family and I fell in love with Ireland the three or four times we vacationed there and found ourselves so captivated by the West of Ireland that we arranged to live there for a year. We rented a house in Galway and spent as much time in Connemara as we could.
Another favorite destination was the village of Cong.
The Monk’s Fishing House in Cong, photo by Ciaran Mchugh
The ruins of the 13th century Augustinian abbey are considered some of the finest examples of medieval architecture in the country; the abbey was home to Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, the last High King of Ireland.
The village is also a main location for the John Ford film, The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. Some key scenes in The 53rd Parallel take place in Cong during the filming of the movie. One of the novel’s main characters, Brian Burke, is from Cong and his cousin, Eamon, is John Wayne’s body double during the fist fight with Red Will Danaher.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH4OFXlvzKA&w=420&h=315]