The River Cong is a river in Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. Rising in the village of Cong

Cong, County Mayo

Cong is a village straddling the borders of County Galway and County Mayo, in Ireland. Cong is situated on an island formed by a number of streams that surround it on all sides...

, County Mayo

County Mayo

County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...

. It is the outflow from Lough Mask

Lough Mask

Lough Mask is a limestone lough of 22,000 acres in County Mayo, Ireland, north of Lough Corrib. Lough Mask is the upper of the two lakes, which empty into the Corrib River, through Galway, into Galway Bay. The lake is visited for its trout fishing...

, further to the north, that escapes through huge fissures in the cavernous limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 of the district and rises again in the village of Cong. It is about one mile long. The river is some 100 yards wide in places, and divided by an island at one point. It pushes down strongly past Ashford Castle

Ashford Castle

Ashford Castle is a medieval castle turned five star luxury hotel near Cong on the Mayo/Galway Border in Ireland, on the shore of Lough Corrib. Ashford Castle is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World organization.-History:...

.

The river is popular with fishermen having an excellent run of spring salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

. Fishing can start on opening day if the water is not too high. The peak of the spring run is in April and then the grilse come in May. June is particularly good, as is early July, and salmon are taken here in lesser numbers for the rest of the season. The river also holds excellent stocks of brown trout

Brown trout

The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....

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