Exploring The Quiet Man (1952) Film Locations In Cong, Ireland

0 Exploring The Quiet Man (1952) Film Locations in Cong, Ireland Aug 7 Written By Natalie Vereen-Davis

The Quiet Man (filmed 1952) is John Wayne's Irish film, and all of The Quiet Man film locations can be found in Cong, Ireland.

As someone who's a sucker for history, I'm always on the lookout for a fun, quirky, historical spot to add to our vacations. On our Ireland road trip, I discovered that one of the Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne movie locations was just a few miles from one of the fantastic airBnBs in Ireland so I decided to add it to our itinerary.

After all, when you get the chance to wander a real life set of one of the most famous American movies made in Ireland, you make a detour!

When I told my husband about it, he got so excited since "The Quiet Man" was one of his favorite John Wayne movies. He gave me a quick refresh on the movie's plot since I'd only seen it once, and off we went to find The Quiet Man in Ireland.

The film's location, Cong, Ireland, was our destination, and we were off in the hopes of immersing ourselves in the Hollywood of yesteryear.

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Updated 3/2022 | Written 6/2017

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What is The Quiet Man?

At its heart, The Quiet Man film takes John Wayne, the usual rough and tumble Western icon, and puts him in a very unexpected situation: his character has had enough of his life as a boxer in America and wants to settle down quietly on his family's old homestead in Western Ireland.

Of course, nothing is that simple in the movies, and Wayne's character, Sean Thorton, deals with many complications, including his feisty girlfriend (Maureen O'Hara), her inability to get her dowry from her brother, and Sean Thorton's own guilt over killing a fellow fighter in a match-gone-wrong.

This was the second of the 5 John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara movies that were made between 1950 and 1971, and it ended up winning the 1952 Oscar for Best Director (John Ford) and for Best Cinematography.

[Side note: we ended up crossing paths with John Ford again on our Las Vegas to Denver road trip: he was the reason why we all think of Monument Valley when we think American Westerns!]

The Quiet Man was well received by audiences and critics alike, and brought home the 1953 Oscar for Best Director (John Ford) and Best Cinematography (Winton Hoch and Archie Stout).

It was also nominated for Best Picture, but lost out to Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth.

Where was The Quiet Man Filmed?

If you love The Quiet Man film, you can’t get enough of classic films, or you're at all interested in Irish film history, you'll want to head to Cong, County Mayo, Ireland.

This small town is adorable, and it's easy to see why John Ford picked it as his filming location back in 1951.

Wandering the streets of the town in search of John Wayne and The Quiet Man film locations is probably at the top of the list on what to do in Cong, Ireland, but you can also go fishing in the nearby river, go hiking in the beautiful green countryside, or have lunch at Ashford Castle.

I wish we'd had a day or two to settle into Cong, but we were on our way to Connemara and beyond, so we'll have to add more time in Cong later on!

Where can I find The Quiet Man Filming Locations in Cong, Ireland?

As soon as you get to Cong, you'll immediately start to recognize elements from the film: it's surreal to walk around what was once a working John Wayne movie set in Ireland!

The Quiet Man Filming Locations Map