POSTED FROM

ENNISKILLEN

CO. FERMANAGH · IE

Enniskillen
Inis Ceithleann, Co. Fermanagh

The Ireland's Hidden Heartlands
STOP 09 / 09

Inis Ceithleann · Co. Fermanagh

An island town between two loughs, and the school that produced Wilde and Beckett.

Enniskillen is an island town - genuinely on an island, in the river, between two loughs. The bridges are not decorative. You are surrounded by water the whole time you are in the town centre, and the lakes extend for thirty kilometres on either side. Fermanagh is a third water by area and Enniskillen sits in the middle of all of it.

The town has a harder history than its lakeside setting suggests. Enniskillen Castle, built by the Maguires in the 15th century and taken during the Plantation, now houses the county museum and the Inniskillings military collection. On 8 November 1987, a Remembrance Sunday bomb at the war memorial killed eleven people. One more died from injuries in December 2000. The memorial is still there. The town goes quiet on that day every year.

The school on the hill - Portora Royal, founded 1608 - educated Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett in the same building a generation apart. Wilde from 1864, Beckett from 1920. Both ended up in Paris. Both won the Nobel. The town doesn't pretend this wasn't an accident of geography, but it can't quite help mentioning it.

What to do: take the ferry to Devenish Island in the morning. Walk the town in the afternoon. Have a pint in Blake's of the Hollow in the evening, in a Victorian bar that looks exactly as it did in 1887. The Erne is the reason to stay a second night - a boat on Lower Lough Erne covers more ground and sees more Fermanagh than a week of driving.

Population

14,086

Pubs

20and counting

Walk score

Island centre in 20 minutes end to end

Founded

c. 15th century (Maguire stronghold)

Coords

54.3444° N, 7.6328° W

01 / 09

At a glance.

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

01 The island

Built on water, held together by bridges.

Enniskillen sits on an island between Upper and Lower Lough Erne. Two channels of the River Erne wrap around the town centre. The lakes stretch thirty kilometres in each direction. You notice the water everywhere.

Walks & outings → 02 Portora Royal

One school, two Nobel laureates.

Portora Royal School on the hill above town was founded in 1608. Oscar Wilde was a pupil from 1864 to 1871. Samuel Beckett from 1920 to 1923. The plaque on the wall has both names. The town is quietly proud and tries not to overdo it.

Stories & lore → 03 The Erne

Waterway, lakescape, flyway.

Lough Erne is one of the largest lake systems in Ireland. Ninety-odd islands. Devenish has a 6th-century monastery. White Island has carved stone figures nobody has fully explained. The water is the main event.

Getting on the water →

02 / 09

The pubs.

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

Blake's of the Hollow

Tiled floors, whiskey, snugs

Victorian pub, est. 1887

6 Church Street. Refurbished in 1887 by Richard Herbert, bought by Catherine Blake in 1929. The floor tiles are original Victorian - identical pattern to the Catholic church a hundred yards away, which was built first. Four large casks on the bar back. Enclosed snugs. One of the better-preserved Victorian pub interiors in Ireland.

Crow's Nest

Town-centre, lively

Bar & grill

On High Street. Music at weekends. A step up from the average town-centre bar without going full restaurant. Popular with a mixed crowd.

The Tap Room

Smaller, beer-focused

Craft beer bar

Good selection of local and Irish craft beers. The kind of place that knows what it's doing. Quieter than the High Street pubs.

03 / 09

Where to eat.

Place	Type	€	Local note
Catalina Restaurant	Hotel restaurant, 3 AA Rosettes	€€€	At the Lough Erne Resort, 5km outside town. Modern Irish cuisine using local and seasonal produce. Named after the Catalina flying boats that patrolled the lough in WWII. Book ahead. The drive out along the lough shore is worth it in daylight.
The Hollow Bar & Kitchen	Pub food	€€	Connected to Blake's of the Hollow. Good food in a great room. Order something local and eat it next to the Victorian tiles.
Franco's Restaurant	Italian-Irish	€€	A long-running Enniskillen institution on Queen Elizabeth Road. The kind of Italian restaurant that every Irish town either had or wished it had. Still going, still reliable.

04 / 09

Where to sleep.

Place	Type	Local note
Lough Erne Resort	5-star hotel	On a 600-acre peninsula between Castle Hume Lough and Lower Lough Erne. 120 bedrooms, a Nick Faldo-designed golf course (opened 2009), a Thai spa. G8 summit was held here in 2013. Twenty minutes from town - you need a car, but the setting earns it.
Killyhevlin Lakeside Hotel	Lakeside hotel	On the southern shore of Lough Erne, a mile from town. Views across the water. More accessible than Lough Erne Resort and half the price.
Manor House Country Hotel	Country house hotel	On the shore of Lower Lough Erne at Killadeas, 10km north. Victorian manor house. Jetty on the lough. The kind of place where you sit outside after dinner and watch the light go off the water.
Belmore Court & Motel	Motel	No frills, central, well-run. If you just need a bed in town and are spending your money on the boats and the restaurants, this is the sensible choice.

05 / 09

Stories & lore.

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

One school, two Nobel laureates

Wilde and Beckett

Portora Royal School stands on a hill above town, founded by Royal Charter in 1608. Oscar Wilde arrived in 1864, aged ten. He won a classical scholarship before leaving in 1871. Samuel Beckett arrived in 1920, aged fourteen, and left in 1923 for Trinity College Dublin. Both became the defining writers of their era. Both ended up in Paris. The school has plaques for both of them. It closed as a grammar school in 2016 and merged with Enniskillen Collegiate Grammar School to form Enniskillen Royal Grammar School. The building is still there on the hill.

The bombing that stopped the town

Remembrance Sunday, 1987

On 8 November 1987, a Provisional IRA bomb detonated beside the war memorial in Enniskillen during a Remembrance Sunday ceremony. Eleven people died that day. Gordon Wilson, who held his daughter Marie's hand as she died in the rubble, gave a radio interview that evening forgiving the bombers. The broadcast went around the world. A twelfth victim, Ronnie Hill, died in December 2000, having been in a coma for thirteen years. The cenotaph still stands where the bomb went off.

A monastery in the middle of a lake

Devenish Island

In Lower Lough Erne, a short ferry from Trory Point, is Devenish Island. The monastery was founded in the 6th century by Saint Molaise. The 30-metre round tower is 12th century and still intact - one of the best-preserved in Ireland. Viking raids in 837 AD. Burning in 1157. An Augustinian priory added in the 15th century. The carved stone cross in the graveyard is 15th century and unlike anything else you'll see that day. The ferry runs in summer. Go.

The regiments born in the siege

The Inniskillings

During the Siege of Derry in 1689, Protestant defenders of Enniskillen raised two regiments that held the town against Jacobite forces. From those improvised defenders came the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the Royal Inniskilling Dragoons - regiments that served through the Boer War, both World Wars, and into the modern British Army. Enniskillen Castle houses the Inniskillings Museum, which covers the full history. It is considerably more interesting than most regimental museums.

06 / 09

Things to do outside.

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

Devenish Island Ferry & Walk Catch the ferry from Trory Point (signposted off the A32 north of town, about 4km). The island circuit takes an hour. Round tower, St Molaise's House, the Augustinian priory, the carved cross. One of the genuinely remarkable early-medieval sites in Ulster. Runs summer only - check the timetable before you drive out.

Island circuit ~2 kmdistance

Half daytime

Cole's Monument Loop, Forthill Park The 96-foot column in Forthill Park commemorates Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole, son of the First Earl of Enniskillen. Climb the internal stairs for a view over the town, the river and both loughs. The park itself is a good 20-minute walk from the town centre.

1.5 kmdistance

45 min + tower climbtime

Castle Island & Town Walk Walk the length of the island: Enniskillen Castle at the west end, the East Bridge at the other, the main street running between them. Cross both bridges and do a circuit of both channels. Takes less than an hour and gives you the whole town.

3 kmdistance

1 hourtime

Lower Lough Erne Boat Trip Erne Tours runs lake cruises from the Round O Jetty near the castle, including trips to Devenish Island. To do it properly, hire a cruiser for a day and go north up the lower lake. White Island (carved stone figures), Boa Island (ancient Janus figures), Castle Caldwell. The lough reveals itself slowly from the water in a way it never does from the road.

Up to full daydistance

Half or full daytime

07 / 09

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The lough water level drops and the ferry to Devenish starts running again in April. Good walking weather before the summer traffic arrives. The light on Lower Lough Erne in May is worth the trip on its own.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Busy. Boats and activity holidays fill the lough. Lough Erne Resort is at full price. Book everything - especially the Devenish ferry and any lough cruises. The long Ulster evenings in late June are genuinely special.

◐ Mind yourself

Autumn

Sep-Oct

The best season. The visitors clear out, the prices drop, the lake light turns gold and orange. The Devenish ferry usually runs until late October. Excellent for walking.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Cold and quiet. The ferry stops. Some hotel restaurants close or reduce hours. Enniskillen itself functions normally year-round - it's a working town - but the lakescape loses a lot of its appeal in grey weather.

◐ Mind yourself

08 / 09

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

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

The Lough Erne Resort if you're not staying

The Catalina Restaurant is worth the drive for dinner, but turning up to look at the lobby is a bit strange. The golf course requires a booking. Go to stay or go to eat - don't make it a sightseeing stop.

Driving the lough shore without getting on the water

The B-roads around Lower Lough Erne are beautiful but they give you glimpses, not the thing itself. Hire a boat or take a cruise. The islands only make sense from water level.

The tourist pubs on the main drag at the weekend

Blake's of the Hollow is the destination. Everything else on the high street at weekend evening hour is more or less interchangeable. Go for Blake's and stay there.

Ticking Fermanagh in a day

Enniskillen proper is half a day. Devenish Island is another half. The Marble Arch Caves, Florencecourt, and Belleek pottery each need an hour or two. One day is a stress run. Two nights is a county.

Getting there.

By car

Belfast to Enniskillen is 1h 30m on the A4/M1. Dublin is 2h 30m via the A3 and N3 through Cavan. Derry is 1h 20m on the A5.

By bus

Translink Ulsterbus runs frequently from Belfast Europa (route 261, roughly hourly, about 2h). Bus Éireann route 30 connects to Dublin (3 hours). Local services to Lisnaskea, Irvinestown, and Kesh.

By train

No train. The nearest stations are Portadown (50 min by bus) and Sligo (over 2 hours by road).

By air

Belfast International (BFS) is 1h 15m. Belfast City (BHD) is 1h 30m. Dublin (DUB) is 2h 30m. Ireland West (NOC/Knock) is 1h 30m.