Holiday in Northern Ireland - County Fermanagh

County Fermanagh
Fermanagh is by far the most waterlogged county in Northern Ireland, and has the longest border with the Republic of Ireland. The county is split it two by the vast expanse of Upper and Lower Lough Erne, which takes up almost a third of the county, and is some 50 miles in length with the county town of Enniskillen standing on an isthmus halfway along. With its connection to the Shannon via the Shannon-Erne Waterway Canal, this makes the longest navigable inland waterway in Europe. Renting a holiday cottage in County Fermanagh is a great way to explore Ireland and there is a huge choice of self-catering accommodation to be found.

The upper lough is not so much a lough as a collection of channels and islands with, in its upper reaches, the Crom Estate. The National Trust has managed the 1,900 acres for the last twenty-five years maintaining the estate, and giving the public access to this beautiful and tranquil place. On the grounds you will find not only the last area of oak woodland in Ireland, but also a great variety of rare wildlife. Along with the largest heronry in Ireland, a number of elusive pine martens, the estate is also home to two rare butterflies – the purple hair streak and the wood white. There are flocks of geese on the lough, a small herd of fallow deer in the deer park, and two romantic castles to wander around. The present castle, the home of the Earls of Erne, stands on raised ground overlooking the water. Built in the 1830s by the architect Edward Blore, who was also responsible for sections of Buckingham Palace and a substantial amount of Windsor Castle, with assistance from the watercolour artist William Gilpin, this neo-Tudor mansion is quite magnificently sited. The interior is no less impressive with the entrance hall featuring a magnificent staircase, flanked by a huge pair of elk antlers, and is considered on of Blore’s finest creations. There are various buildings in the grounds including several follies and the Crichton Tower, but the largest by far is the Old Castle. This Plantation castle survived two sieges during the 17th century, the longest by King James’ army who went away empty-handed, but was burnt down by a careless maid in 1740. The ruins have a colourful history, including a story concerning buried treasure, and its setting is certainly romantic, situated as it is right on the lough shore. This part of the estate is also home to probably the oldest trees in Ireland, two magnificent yews, under which the last Earl O’Neill is said to have bid farewell to his lady love before going into exile, and an unusual crenellated ha-ha.

Northwest along the shores of the lough, you come to the impressive 18th century grandeur of Castle Coole. The house, set in 1,500 of parkland, was designed by James Wyatt, the principle architect of the time, and he presented his client, the first Earl of Belmore, with a stunning building that almost bankrupted him. So much did the construction cost that his son took 20 years to complete the furnishings and decorations. The house is reckoned to be the finest neo-classical country house in Ireland, and bearing in mind that it cost a staggering 100,000 pounds to finish, this is hardly surprising as the leading craftsmen of the day were all employed on its construction. The great hall is stuffed with marble chimneypieces, scaglioli columns, ornate plasterwork, and Regency furniture, exactly as it would have looked on its completion. Probably the most popular room in the house is the State Bedroom. George VI was due to come and stay at Castle Coole but unfortunately he decided to remain with one of his mistresses, Lady Conyngham, so the room remained unused. The Earl showed his displeasure at this snub by decorating the walls with Hogarth’s ‘The Rake’s Progress’. The oval saloon, drawing room, and the dining room are all floored with Irish oak, and most of the original furniture and furnishings are still in place in the rooms for which they were designed and built. The outbuildings are also worth a visit, and you can take a walk through the servants tunnel to the stable yard, and see the family’s ‘omnibus’. In the parkland, and still swimming on Lough Coole, is a flock of graylag geese, the only non-migratory flock in the world, that have been here for the last 300 years. Legend has it that the Belmore family will remain at Coole as long as the geese do. The present Earl currently lives in a house in the park. The National Trust, who own the property, have recently spent over 3,500,000 pounds on an extensive renovation of the exterior, which is clad in Portland stone, as the iron pins that held the original façade in place were found to have rotted so badly that they, and a large quantity of the stone, had to be replaced. The new look, seen from the tree-lined avenue, is worth the entrance money alone.

Three miles away is the only town of any size in the county, Enniskillen, which is a great place to rent a holiday cottage in Fermanagh. Situated strategically between the two loughs, Enniskillen guards one of the main routes into Ulster and this is demonstrated by the large Tudor castle that stands on the river. This houses the proud history of the town’s two regiments, the Royal Inniskilling Dragoons and the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, and has a fine display of uniforms, weapons, standards, and other memorabilia. Taking pride of place is the bugle sounded at the charge of the Fusiliers in the Battle of the Somme. During the Plantation years the town was expanded and became a staging port on the route from Ballyshannon to the interior. [It was this route that the Portland stone for Castle Coole took, finally ending up on ox drawn carts.] Enniskillen is a natural place to base yourself for a tour of Fermanagh, being socially and geographically at its centre, and has all the facilities you would expect from a medium sized market town, and gives you the opportunity to cruise either one of the two loughs, or both if you have the time. If you want to rent a self-catering holiday cottage in Enniskillen then the choice of quality holiday houses to hire is immense - Fermanagh is a great place for a holiday in Ireland. The Buttermarket in the centre of the town is a restored 19th century Dairy Market and now houses an excellent array of local crafts, ranging from fly-tying to pottery. The town is famous for its genuine hospitality, and there is a gem of a bar on the main street, an unreconstructed Victorian pub, that is the epitome of this friendliness.

For a superb view of Enniskillen and the surrounding countryside, take a short walk to Forthill Park where you will find Coles Monument. Started in 1845, and taking twelve years to complete, this fluted column was built in memory of General Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole, younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Enniskillen and one of the Duke of Wellington’s generals during the Napoleonic Wars. If you take the 108 spiral steps to the top you will find a viewing platform that allows you to look out over the town and the loughs - and you will get a great view of some of the quality Irish holiday cottages in Enniskillen. This was undoubtedly built to give work to those who were suffering as a result of the famine, and there are many such monuments and follies all over Ireland, the result of benevolent landowners trying to do their best for their starving tenants. The two loughs supposedly have an island for every day of the year and the best known of these is Devenish Island. This can be reached by ferry from Tory and has some of the best monastic ruins in Northern Ireland including its superb, undamaged, 12th century round tower. The first ecclesiastical building was founded on the island in 540 AD, and over the ensuing years it became a significant place of learning. Despite the institutions being destroyed many times, the enclave was always rebuilt and in 1259 served as an important meeting place between the Chieftains of the O’Connors and O’Neills. As it is only accessible by water this has always been a safe place for important treaties, and it was here that these two warring clans agreed to unite against the English. This alliance lasted only one year before they were defeated at the battle of Down where The O’Neill was killed. The gradual decline in monastic power allowed these once powerful sites to fall into disrepair, but the remains give some idea of their past influence.

Situated on White Island, near the village of Kesh, is a collection of somewhat enigmatic carved figures. Set into the north wall of the now ruined 12th century abbey, these strange carvings seem to depict various different characters, and the six complete figures are joined by a blank roughly cut stone, and one with just a face, suggesting that the stones were placed in the wall first and then carved in-situ. These figures are not unique, however, as there are two Janus figures on nearby Boa Island, dating from the 1st century AD, and on a much later font in Cleckheaton in Yorkshire. Self-catering cottages near Kesh range from luxury cottages to hire to self-catering homes to rent with log fires.

At the northernmost point of the lough is the village of Pettigo - there are lots of idyllic holiday cottages to rent near Pettigo. Pettigo was the final staging post for pilgrims on their way to St Patrick’s Purgatory, and more recently has become a bit of a ‘smugglers paradise’ because the river, which runs through the centre of it, is also the boundary between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Local people say that the fish in the river are bilingual. If your intention is to tour the western counties of Ireland then Pettigo is a relaxed and charming place to make your base and rent a holiday home.

Five miles from Pettigo, and only the same number from the Atlantic Ocean is the pottery town of Belleek. This is a lively village, again set on the border, and has been enhanced by the retention of the cast-iron street furniture so usually purged by modernising local authorities, and also the renovation of many of the old wooden shop fronts. This is where the River Erne leaves Northern Ireland and makes its final, short journey to the sea. Belleek is also where you could collect your own boat for a cruise up the lough or rent a lovely holiday cottage near Belleek. The pottery factory is famous throughout the world and there are regular tours that show the craftsmen, and women, making the fine Parian ware that has been manufactured here for nearly 150 years. The process involves a mixture of Cornish china clay, Norwegian feldspar, and crushed glass, all beaten together by wooden paddles to squeeze out any air. This is then stretched into long worms, which the workers transform into basket ware artefacts, before finally being decorated. In the entrance hall of the Visitor Centre is the extraordinary Belleek International Centre Piece, which was exhibited in the Paris Exhibition of 1900 where it was awarded its fourth Gold Medal. It stands 28 inches high and over 16 inches at its widest point and is a concoction of Irish harps, Irish wolfhounds, flowers, leaves, and chains, with each piece having been individually hand made. Naturally there is a shop here where all types of Belleek ware are on sale, but the best basket ware is likely to dent your bank balance considerably.

Fermanagh is renowned throughout the world for its fishing, and the River Erne is one of the finest rivers to try and catch a wild Atlantic salmon - there are lots of holiday cottages near the River Erne if you want a fishing holiday in Ireland. Until the development of the town there was a magnificent salmon leap in the centre of Beleek, but to avoid flooding it was decided to remove thousands of tons of rock from the river-bed to smooth the passage of water. Although this has helped the fish make an easier passage upstream, the sight of a salmon leaping is truly one of nature’s finest.

The road that follows the south side of the lower lough is trapped between the water and a ridge of hills, and there are plenty of places to stop and wander off on a forest trail. The most spectacular being in the Lough Navar Forest, with almost all the signposted walks leading you to the Cliffs of Magho, a dramatic viewing point that gives an uninterrupted vista of the lough below, and on clear days you can see well into Donegal, to the north, and as far as Benbulben in Sligo, to the south. On, or near, the lough shore you will come across the ruins of two Plantation period castles, Tully and Monea, both incidentally burnt down in 1641. Tully was never rebuilt but Monea was, only to suffer a similar fate fifty years later, and was finally abandoned the weather in 1750. This is by far the most isolated area of the county only punctuated by a few secluded villages and remote farms, some of these offer bed and breakfast accommodation, or lovely self-catering cottages in Fermanagh.

Having now returned to Enniskillen, it is just a short journey due south to see another fine Palladian mansion, Florence Court. The 18th century was the golden age in Ireland for showing the world how rich you really were, and what better way than to commission a huge country house in grand landscaped parkland. There are few houses that can rival Florence Court, either in its setting, or its appearance, on both sides of the Irish Sea. The house was built for the Cole family, the same family that had established Enniskillen, and was constructed in several stages. Firstly the three storey central block, which was finished in about 1750, and secondly the flanking colonnades, which completed some twenty-five years later. At the same time as the colonnades were built the rear of the house was also remodelled as can be seen once you get inside. The rather blunt Baroque style of the exterior is echoed in the main hall, with its massive sandstone chimneypiece and plain flagged floor, and the adjacent library. By comparison the rooms to the rear of the house, the drawing room and especially the dining room, are bright and airy with vigorous Rococo plasterwork decorating the walls and ceilings. The dining room ceiling is a masterpiece in itself with four furiously puffing cherubs representing the four winds, and a swirl of birds and flowers all going together to make this the best example of such decoration outside Dublin. The walls of the grand staircase are decorated in a similarly opulent fashion, but unfortunately the ceiling in the drawing room was lost in a fire in 1955. Much more would have been burnt had the late Duchess of Westminster not been passing by, and, finding the servants making little attempt to save any of the family treasures, especially the butler who was discovered removing a pair of his master’s socks, she organised a human chain and thus saved much of house’s contents. Regrettably the Martial decorations in the schoolroom were destroyed along with the Chinese wallpaper in the red room and much else besides. The National Trust had only acquired the house the previous year, but the contents and the surrounding land still remained in the possession of the family, now the Earls of Enniskillen, and it was left to the Trust to pay for the restoration work. A further twist in the history of the house occurred in January 1974 when the 6th Earl, and his unpopular American wife, left Florence Court for Scotland taking the contents with them and leaving the Trust with a rather sad empty house. Happily though, this turn of events has been rectified by purchases, donations, and bequests with the emphasis being on acquiring 18th century Irish furniture and furnishings and one such piece is of particular interest. In the Countess’s bedroom, concealed in the bedside commode, is a fine early Belleek chamber pot with a picture of William Gladstone strategically placed on the bottom. As Prime Minister, Gladstone had forfeited the support of many of the Irish aristocratic families for his support for Irish Home Rule, a policy that threatened their continued supremacy in the island.

The house was sited in an area that according to a contemporary account was ‘a majestic wilderness….. so wild that it was scarce inhabited by any human creatures but ye O’s and Mac’s, who ranged through the woods like so many freebooters pillaging all that came in their way’. Well it is not like that these days, and the parkland is typical of so many of the period that followed in the footsteps of Capability Brown. In the parkland that was created by the head gardener William King you can find a walled garden, the Ice House, a summerhouse, an eel house, and the original Irish Yew, from which all Irish Yew trees come.

Outside the bounds of the park, you enter the Florence Court Forest Park and thousands of acres of walking and a couple of viewpoints that look over the surrounding area, which is uninterrupted countryside as far as the Irish border. Nearby is one of only 25 UNESCO Global Geoparks in the world, the Marble Arch Caves. A tour through these caves starts with a boat trip along the subterranean river, and then proceeds on foot. The caves are extensively lit and show a glittering array of geological formations including stalactites, stalagmites, and waterfalls, and the winding paths take you through the stunning caverns. There is also the Moses Bridge where you feel that you are literally walking on water. The tour through the caves can be affected by heavy rain, so it is recommended that you telephone in advance to avoid any disappointment.

The village of Bellcoo, like Enniskillen, is situated between two loughs, upper and lower Lough McNean, and this pretty place is the perfect place from which to rent a holiday cottage and explore the Cuilcagh Mountains. This isolated part of Fermanagh county is ideal for those seeking peace and quiet, excellent fishing, and uninterrupted walking in the surrounding area, and there is an opportunity to walk through the local Sculpture Park. There are many local farmhouses that offer self-catering accommodation and therefore the chance to extend your stay in this remote part of the county.

Near Bellcoo is the home Margaret Gallagher, a listed thatched cottage with no running water, central heating, or electricity. She loves the old-fashioned life and has kept her home as an example of how rural life used to be, and she prides herself on promoting awareness of this disappearing existence. There is a wealth of holiday cottages in Fermanagh to rent - a luxury house to hire, vacation homes in Fermanagh, holiday cottages near Enniskillen, luxury cottages to rent, cottages with log fires in Northern Ireland, holiday cottages by Lough Erne and idyllic Irish holiday cottages for a perfect short break or weekend holiday.

The northern side of Lough Erne is fertile agricultural land and is littered with small villages offering a warm welcome to all travellers, and the shores of the lough are littered with more charming thatched cottages, a by-product of the reed beds that surround this side of the lake. This also makes navigation of the upper lough a trifle more difficult and should only be attempted with a comprehensive chart. The lower lough, by comparison is much more open but when the wind gets up the swell can resemble that of the open sea.

There are many more places of interest in Fermanagh, none more so than the Irish Lace Museum in Bellanaleck, three miles south of Enniskillen. This houses more than 700 examples of the lace makers craft, including some from all five types of lace made in Ireland, and includes some of the finest pieces made in the country. There is also a shop attached to the museum, here you can buy almost anything that the lace makers can produce from parasols to christening gowns.

Irish tourist information

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