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Chapter 7: Cunga Fheichín (Cong) Return to table of contents Refer to Map |
Cong--in Irish, Cunga, "narrows" so called from its situation upon the isthmus that here divides Loch Mask from Loch Coirib, and also Cunga Fheichín, in remembrance of its patron saint--is an island formed by a number of streams that surround it on all sides. There is water everywhere--gliding by in the broad river; gushing from the surrounding rocks; oiling up in vast pools that supply several mills; oozing through the crevices of stones; rising in the interior of caverns; appearing and disappearing wherever its wayward nature wills; passing in and out everywhere, except where man tried to turn it--into the monster dry canal. The village, which is approachable by four bridges, and occupies a small hill, is T-shaped, and consisted in 1861 of 88 houses, and 469. It is a market town, and was formerly a great milling depot; to which latter circumstance, and the patronage of the adjoining extensive ecclesiastical establishment, it no doubt owed its origin. As the tourist approaches it, a good view of the eastern end of its old abbey is presented; and, turning up by the main street, he has before him the ancient cross, figured and described at page 94. Outside the confines of this village, the scene presents a remarkable contrast--upon the south and east, all is bare, grey limestone rock; while on the west and south lies a beautiful, well-wooded, and highly cultivated demesne, through which glides the clear stream of the Cong River. The eastern roads lead to The Neale, Ballinrobe, and Kilmaine, and by Headford to Galway; and its south-western to Loch Measca, and through Joyce's Country by Mám into Conamara.The northern and western streams divide the village from the county of Galway. |
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