The island town is known for its vibrant town centre, long history and stunning waterside setting nestled between the two sides of a glistening freshwater lake
“It’s a heavenly place to live,” says Barry Flanagan as we bob along on the sparkling water.
Barry is a water taxi tour guide in Enskillen, where he spends his days enthusing about the town. He combines his unique talent for talking, honed during ten years on local radio, with boating skills learned on the waterways of his hometown.
“Enniskillen is Ireland’s only island town. It is completely surrounded by water. We’re so lucky we live here,” he adds in a borderlands brogue.
If you’re from the centre of Ireland, then you’ll have heard of the town of 14,000. Enniskillen is known for its vibrant town centre, long history and stunning waterside setting nestled between Upper and Lower Lough Erne in County Fermanagh.
Yet despite all these winning features, Enniskillen is little enough known that it was recently voted Ireland’s most underrated town.
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And, as I discovered, underrated it certainly is.
The first place to start when discovering its delights is on the water. Lough Erne is the third largest freshwater lake in the UK and stretches across the south-western border. There is a brightness and cleanliness about the place. Flooded drumlin landscape stretches away from the loch past reedswamps, islets, and devilish-looking cormorants drying their wings in the sunshine.
With the water taxis chugging by, it’s easy to mistake its waterways for rural Netherlands or the Croatian delta of Vid. At least, in the brief moments when sleet showers are replaced by sunshine.
It’s also got a lot of history.
A short boat ride out of town takes you to Devenish Island. “There are 254 islands on Lough Erne, and Devenish Island is the jewel. It is a 6th-century monastic sight,” Barry explains.
Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries cleared Devenish of its once bustling 1,000-person population, but the remains of the buildings have stayed, including a perfectly preserved tower.
Rising up on a nearby hill is the imposing Enneskillen Royal Grammar School, where Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett were pupils at a similar time as two truanting young lads who managed to blow up the nearby 1613 Portora Castle using explosive skills honed in the chemistry lab.
Made of sturdier stuff is the 600-year-old Enskillen Castle. Guarding one of the few passes into Ulster, it has remained strategically important since the charmingly named Hugh the Hospitable swung open its drawbridge.
The British took it over in the 17th century, turning it into a plantation stronghold for English and Scottish settler ‘undertakers’ tasked with controlling confiscated Gaelic land.
Despite such dicey moves, it remains remarkably intact today and serves as an enjoyable low-key museum.
“Fermanagh is a small county, but it packs a huge punch,” Barry enthuses as our tour comes to a close with a quick sail past Erne Water Taxi’s newest vessel, a completely solar-powered party boat.
“Would you believe in Fermanagh we have 14 plantation castles, three National Trust properties, a geopark that runs across the border, the Stairway to Heaven, and the Marble Arch Caves. It’s a heavenly place to live and we’re so lucky we live here.”
Any local who has spent an evening in Blakes of the Hollow will certainly agree. The Victorian pub is one of the most famous in Ireland and was packed to the rafters when I visited. The vibe inside is excellent and oiled by £5 pints of Guinness and live music on the weekends.
Wander several flights down from the pub, and you’ll get to 28 at the Hollow, an award-winning restaurant run by husband and wife team, Glen Wheeler and Zara McHugh. The food and service is as exceptional as I had expected, given no fewer than three people at my hotel had suggested I check it out.
The hotel in question is the Lough Erne Resort, a curious place that’s part 5* hotel, part timeshare estate made up of crenelated mansions that run along the lakefront. OAP bellboys greet you at the door as you walk into the grand foyer, where wood fires crackle in the grates. The rooms are enormous and comfortable, designed as they are for golfers to relax after a hard day’s thwacking on the 36-hole course.
Once you’re up and at them the next day, a coffee and a croissant at FOLK will fuel you up enough for a proper rummage at Lougherne Vintage.
Sitting in the quaint Butter Market part of town, the shop is packed full of goodies plundered by Katie Murphy and her husband from bootfairs across Europe. Unlike most vintage shop proprietors, Katie does not get her goods from eBay and Vintage, instead putting in the hard yards early on Sunday mornings. The result is a shop brimming with genuine treasures, including a Vivienne Westwood dress for a very reasonable price.
Like Enniskillen as a whole, drop by and you’re sure to unearth a hidden gem or two.
Book it
Rooms at Lough Erne Resort cost from £131.
Inneskillen is a two-hour bus ride from Belfast, costing £36.