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On track with The Quiet ManTaken from the book Traveller's Trails - Ireland, this is a guide to themed tours around Ireland, broken into part days, days or weeks. Whilst the longer trails are planned with the car driver in mind, it is worth noting that Ireland is good cycling country, and that often cycles may be hired in local centres for a more intimate exploration of the countryside than can be managed in a car.
Congtwo day trailThe Quiet Man, one of whose producers was the late Lord Killanin, was directed by John Ford and released in 1952. Three of the “greats” of American cinema starred in the film, Maureen O’Hara, John Wayne and Barry Fitzgerald. In the film, Sean Thornton returns from the US to his home village of “Innisfree”. He wants to buy a cottage that’s owned by a widow, Sarah Tillane. His family had lived there for seven generations but Mrs Tillane says that her family has been in Ireland since Norman times. He outbids “Red” Will Danaher for the cottage and to make matters worse, Thornton starts courting Danaher’s sister. There is a great fight in the film between Thornton and Danaher over the dowry for Danaher’s sister, Mary Kate. She does get together with Sean Thornton, while Danaher ends up courting Mrs Tillane. It’s all hopelessly romantic, a rosy American view of old Ireland, but it’s still a classic film. The original cottage used in the film was at Maam Bridge and is now in ruins, but the replica, in Cong, is now the Quiet Man Heritage Centre. Here you can see all the newspaper clippings of the time, with such headlines as “Hollywood takes over village of Cong” and “Hollywood invades Maam Valley”. The original horse harness and reins used in the film can be seen here, while there’s a replica of the big bed used in the production. In the film, after Thornton and Mary Kate are married, she won’t sleep with him until the dowry has been paid. But the bed collapses nevertheless and Michaeleen Og Flynn, the local matchmaker, sees the collapsed bed the next day and thinks it was caused by passion! All the interior scenes for the film were shot in the US but nearly all the external scenes were filmed in Cong, which doubled for the fictitious village of Innisfree. The Catholic church was used for the interior scenes in church, while the Church of Ireland church was used for the exterior scenes. In the nearby river, some of the fight scenes were staged. The village pub, which featured in the film, was actually an old-fashioned grocery shop, now a gift shop. Other scenes were filmed at nearby Ashford Castle. A railway station near Tuam was used for the train scenes, while further afield some filming was done in Clifden, on Lettergesh beach at Killary Harbour and in the grounds of Kylemore Abbey. Even Thoor Ballylee, once a home to W.B. Yeats, was brought into the action, used for the sequence where the heroine throws off her stockings. It’s a very full itinerary that can usefully be spread over two days. For details on what to see and where to go, contact Gerry Collins; tel +353 (0)92 46089, email: quiet.man.cong@iol.ie or visit the website www.quietman-cong.com Quiet Man Heritage Centre, Cong, Co. Mayo; tel +353 (0)92 46293 (open daily, 17 March–31 October 10am–5pm). Tourist Information Office, Cong, Co. Mayo; tel +353 (0)92 46542 (open March–November). From the Appletree Press title: Travellers' Trails: Ireland. |
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