The River Cong () is a short river of moderate flow in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, primarily in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

but also touching

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

Course

The river issues from the large springs in the village of Cong,

, springs for which the village is justly famous. The springs are fed by underground flow through caverns in the

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

bedrock of the district from

Lough Mask Lough Mask () is a limestone lake of about in Counties Mayo and Galway, Ireland, north of Lough Corrib. Lough Mask is the middle of the three lakes, which empty into the Corrib River, through Galway, into Galway Bay. Lough Carra flows into ...

, a little over to the north. The river is only about long but some wide in places. It is divided by an island at one point. It flows strongly past

Ashford Castle Ashford Castle is a mainly Victorian and medieval castle near Cong on the County Mayo–Galway border in Ireland. The castle has been expanded over the centuries and turned into a five star hotel. It is located on the County Galway side of Lo ...

and into

Lough Corrib Lough Corrib ( ; ) is a lake in the west of Ireland. The River Corrib or Galway River connects the lake to the sea at Galway. It is the largest lake within the Republic of Ireland and the second largest on the island of Ireland (after Lough Nea ...

Recreation

The river is popular with fishermen, having a State salmon hatchery and a strong spring

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

run. The peak of the spring run is in April and then the

grilse Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family Salmonidae, native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (''Salmo'') and North Pa ...

come in May. June to early July are particularly good, and salmon are taken in lesser numbers for the rest of the season. The river also holds stocks of ferox trout (

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

). The upper stretch has open access, while the lower part is managed by Ashford Castle, and local gillies are available.

The Cong Canal

The Cong Canal was designed to provide a navigable link between Lough Corrib at the village of Cong and Lough Mask, six kilometres to the north. The canal was abandoned unfinished in 1854. The canal was brought to wide public attention in 1872 by the writer William Wilde who coined the name ‘The Dry Canal’. The canal has become something of a tourist attraction in the village of Cong, County Mayo.

References

{{commons category, Cong River, Ireland, Cong River Cong Cong