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DERRYGONNELLY

CO. FERMANAGH · IE

Derrygonnelly
Doire Ó gConaile, Co. Fermanagh

The Ireland's Hidden Heartlands
STOP 07 / 07

Doire Ó gConaile · Co. Fermanagh

Two pubs, one October festival, and a clifftop view that stops conversation dead.

Derrygonnelly is a small village at the southwestern edge of Fermanagh, on the road between Enniskillen and Garrison. The name translates from Irish as the oak grove of the O'Connellys - the family whose inauguration site this was before any planter ever set foot here. The plantations arrived in the early 1600s and left their mark in ruined castles and roofless churches scattered around the townland.

The village itself is compact and largely unchanged. Two pubs on or near the main street. A primary school. The old creamery converted into an environmental education centre. What draws people in is what surrounds it: the lakes, the forest, and the limestone escarpment of the Magho Cliffs. You come for the landscape and find yourself staying for a pint.

Every October, on the second weekend of the month, the village holds the Eddie Duffy and Mick Hoy Traditional Music Festival. Both men were Derrygonnelly musicians and, by all accounts, central figures in the county's trad scene. The festival spreads across the village's pubs and draws players from across Ireland. For most of the year the village is quiet. For that weekend it is not.

Tully Castle is a short drive northwest, on Blaney Bay on the south shore of Lower Lough Erne. What remains is a roofless tower house and the foundations of the bawn. The site is in State Care and open to visitors. The story attached to it - a Christmas Day massacre in 1641, a surrendered garrison, a safe conduct that was not honoured - is one of the grimmer episodes in a grim era. Worth reading before you visit.

Population

574

Pubs

2and counting

Walk score

Village in 10 minutes; forest in 20 by car

Founded

Plantation era, early 17th century

Coords

54.3833° N, 7.8167° W

01 / 07

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 Magho Cliffs viewpoint

Three hundred metres up, four counties below.

Drive the Lough Navar Forest road and the trees eventually give way. The Magho Cliffs viewpoint looks north across the full spread of Lower Lough Erne. On a clear day you get Donegal, Tyrone and Sligo from the same spot.

Walks & outings → 02 Tully Castle

A Plantation castle with a Christmas Day ending.

Built for a Scottish planter, Sir John Hume, Tully Castle survived the Ulster Plantation and fell on Christmas Day 1641. Rory Maguire arrived with a large following and burned it. The Humes never came back. The ruin sits on the shore of Lower Lough Erne.

Stories & lore → 03 Lough Navar Forest

Old forest, Geopark credentials, small waterfalls.

Lough Navar is part of the Cuilcagh Lakelands Geopark. The seven-mile forest drive threads through spruce and oak. The Correl Glen walk on the opposite side of the road finds waterfalls near the entrance. Neither trail requires a guide or prior experience.

Walks & outings →

02 / 07

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

Old Pals Bar

Local, curious, a pint unlike most

Bar & microbrewery

On Main Street, 75 Main Street to be exact. Old Pals is where Inish Mac Saint brews its beers on site - small batches, real ale, IPA. Norman behind the bar is the kind of host who knows the area and is willing to talk about it. The trad festival bases itself here in October.

Creightons Bar

Family-run, unhurried, pool table in the back

Traditional local

Family-run for years. The walls are covered in photographs and accumulated objects that tell the story of the bar better than any signage would. They pull a good pint of Guinness. There is a room with a pool table. Staff are the kind who know what's worth seeing in the area.

03 / 07

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

Tully Castle

Christmas Day, 1641

Sir John Hume built Tully Castle on the shore of Lower Lough Erne as part of the Ulster Plantation. The castle passed to his family and sat on Blaney Bay as a symbol of the new order in Fermanagh. That order unravelled violently in 1641. Rory Maguire - fighting to reclaim his family's lands - arrived at Tully on Christmas Eve with a large following. Most of the men in the castle were away. Lady Mary Hume surrendered, having received what she believed was an assurance of safe conduct for everyone inside. On Christmas Day, 69 women and children and 16 men were killed. The Humes were spared. The castle was burned. They never returned.

Lough Navar Forest

The view from Magho

The Magho Cliffs are a limestone escarpment along the northern edge of Lough Navar Forest, running for 5.5 miles and rising to 300 metres above sea level. The viewpoint at the top looks north across Lower Lough Erne - the full width of it, islands and all. On a clear day the view extends into Donegal, Tyrone and Sligo simultaneously. It is a view that requires no commentary. Most people stand there quietly for longer than they intended.

Doire Ó gConaile

The oak grove

Before the Plantation, before the castles and the churches, Derrygonnelly was a site of inauguration for Irish kings. The name derives from the Irish for the oak grove of the O'Connellys. Oak groves were ceremonial places in early Irish culture - significant, deliberate, political. The Plantation-era ruins scattered around the townland came afterwards. The name was there first.

The October festival

Eddie and Mick

Eddie Duffy and Mick Hoy were musicians from Derrygonnelly whose names are well known in Irish traditional music circles. Each October, on the second weekend of the month, the village holds a festival in their memory. Players come from across Ireland and from further afield. The festival runs across the village pubs for three days, Friday to Sunday. There is no headline act. The session is the thing.

04 / 07

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Magho Cliffs Viewpoint - Lough Navar Forest Drive Take the B81 Derrygonnelly to Garrison road, turn left at the T-junction onto Glennasheevar Road and the forest entrance is on the right after about 3 miles. The drive winds through old forest to the Magho Cliffs viewpoint - the main event. Open daily from 10am until sunset. Picnic areas and smaller viewpoints along the route.

7-mile forest drive; short walk to viewpoint from car parkdistance

Half day with stopstime

Correl Glen On the opposite side of the road from the Lough Navar Forest entrance. A woodland walk along a glen with small waterfalls near the entrance. Easier underfoot than the forest drive and navigable in most weather. No charge to enter.

c. 3 kmdistance

1-1.5 hourstime

Blackslee Trail - Aghameelan Viewpoint Starting from the Aghameelan Viewpoint car park inside Lough Navar Forest. Waymarked trail along forest roads through the oldest section of the forest, leading to a waterfall at the far end. Views over Fermanagh and into Cavan on the return.

4 milesdistance

2-2.5 hourstime

05 / 07

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

Forest trails are quiet and the lough light is at its best. The Correl Glen waterfalls run well after winter rain.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Long evenings on the lough. The forest drive is at its best with full leaf cover. Tourism is light compared to the west coast - no crowds.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

October is the month to be here. The Eddie Duffy and Mick Hoy Trad Festival is the second weekend. The forest colour is exceptional.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

The forest drive is passable but check conditions. The village pubs are open and warm. Not much else is happening.

◐ Mind yourself

06 / 07

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Driving to Tully Castle without reading the history first

It looks like a pleasant ruin on a lough shore. It is that. It is also the site of a 1641 massacre. Knowing what happened there changes what you see.

The forest drive in bad visibility

The viewpoint is the whole point. Driving seven miles of forest road to arrive at a wall of cloud is a waste of an afternoon. Check the forecast.

Expecting a food scene

Derrygonnelly is a small village with a couple of pubs. There is no restaurant to book. Eat in Enniskillen before you come, or plan around the pub.

Getting there.

By car

Enniskillen to Derrygonnelly is about 16km southwest on the A46 and B81. Around 20 minutes. You will need a car - the forest and castle are not walkable from the village.

By bus

Ulsterbus route 59 runs between Enniskillen and Derrygonnelly via Monea, several journeys a day on weekdays. No Saturday or Sunday service.