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| RUINS, CONG ABBEY, CO. GALWAY. -These magnificent monastic remains are justly considered unsurpassed in Ireland. For fifteen weary years they sheltered in their shadowy cloisters the unfortunate and unwarlike Roderick O'Conor, the last Ard Righ, or High King, of Ireland, whose weakness allowed his country to fall an easy prey to the wiles of the unscrupulous Henry II. Instead of battling for his crown at the head of his devoted army, as his gallant predecessors would have done, Roderick acquiesced in the sway of the Norman and took refuge from the world in the cell of an anchorite. He forgot that there is a time for fighting as well as for praying, and that God aids only such patriots as are willing to aid themselves. This degenerate O'Connor very closely resembled in character the inconsequential Henry VI of England. The Gaelic of Cong is Cunga, which means a neck of land, or isthmus. The abbey dates from the 12th century, and is situated between Loughs Mask and Corrib. Native guides point out the grave of King Roderick in the aisle of the abbey, but credible history says that his dust reposes in saintly Clonmacnois, on the banks of the Shannon. Near the abbey is a fine specimen of the Celtic stone cross, richly carved, commemorative of abbots who passed away hundreds of years ago. The processional Cross of Cong, one of the grandest specimens of early Irish art, is preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. |
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