placenamesCong
Conga
Buildings beyond Cong village preserve different forms of nineteenth-century rural life.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- Conga · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Cong · English · main form
Place & story
A forester’s house beside the lake
At Lislaughera, a forester’s house built in 1862 records the working side of the Ashford estate. The architectural inventory identifies Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness as its patron. A projecting turret-like section, patterned timber bargeboards and contrasting fieldstone and limestone dressings gave this small dwelling considerable architectural attention. Timber sash windows and internal boarded doors survived when it was surveyed. [2]
Castletown’s schoolhouse
Castletown School House stands in Funshinaugh and bears the date 1854. The inventory attributes its erection to Arthur Guinness. Its projecting porch carries a stone bellcote, while paired windows illuminate the schoolroom. After a period of ruin, restoration in 2006 reconstructed the interior while retaining stone hearths. The survey recorded it as disused in 2010, distinguishing restoration from a return to teaching. [3]
A farmhouse hearth under thatch
A farmhouse at Ballymacgibbon South was already present by 1838. It has opposing entrance doors and an attic beneath a steep thatched roof. Extensive renovation in 2006 changed much of the fabric, but the kitchen retained its hearth and rough limestone lintel. The building records a domestic tradition alongside the parish’s more formally designed estate houses and school buildings. [4]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Cong. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Lislaughera forester’s house, NIAH31312013 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Castletown School House, Funshinaugh, NIAH31312306 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Ballymacgibbon South farmhouse, NIAH31312301 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.