Far from the madding crowd
FERMANAGH Lakeland Tourism has reported a large increase in staycation enquiries in the county over the summer.
Fermanagh has a very low population density — only 63,000 people live in an area that stretches from the shores of Lough Neagh to a couple of miles from the Atlantic Ocean. So if social distancing is high on your agenda, as indeed it should be, Fermanagh could be the place for you.
In the days before social distancing you could have fitted the entire population into Croke Park and still have had room for nearly everybody in neighbouring Leitrim too. To be fair, you’d still get quite a few of them in.
For further social distancing, hire one of Fermanagh’s ‘Wee Red Boats’. Lough Erne has 150 or so islands, some inhabited (by humans) some by wild goats; many are ideal for stopping off and having a picnic.
For further social distancing, buy a set of uilleann pipes (as I did) from Martin Preshaw in Mullinameen — he’s one of the top pipe makers in Ireland. With any luck, you’ll soon be playing reels, jigs, maybe the odd slow air on one of his beautiful instruments. Or if you’re like me, you’ll still be struggling after 20 years. But at least keeping people 2m away is no problem; 2km, more like.
If you think the pipes aren’t for you, and you decide to opt for island social distancing on the Erne, head for Devenish; it comes complete with a round tower and high cross. This is one of the finest monastic sites in Ireland. You can climb the 12th century round tower for a magnificent technicolour view of the lough, or contemplate how at one time this was close to the epicentre of the Land of Saints and Scholars.
Time for a stroll. The Cuilcagh Boardwalk Trail meanders through one of the largest expanses of blanket bogs in Europe. The habitat is a haven for golden plovers, red grouse, hen harriers, merlins and the Irish hare. Cuilcagh Mountain Park, along with the Marble Arch cave system, makes up a UNESCOdesignated European Geopark.
The Marble Arch caves make up a mesmerising world of rivers, waterfalls, winding underground passages and lofty subterranean chambers houses — this is one of Europe’s finest and most accessible collection of stalagmites and stalactites. Spectacular walkways through this Tolkienesque underworld of waterways give access to the caves where seeping acid water, lime and carbon dioxide have interacted since the Ice Age to produce chambers of silent beauty. Powerful, brilliant lighting reveals huge caverns and shimmering white terraces in all their undisturbed splendour.
Not far away is Florence Court, the former demesne of the Earls of Enniskillen. The attractions of the Palladian Mansion include two travelling chests of Queen Mary and King William III (King Billy himself), excellent rococo plasterwork and a painting attributed to Poussin.
However, keen horticulturalists will want to rush past the fine antique Irish furniture and head for the gardens. As well as more trees than you could shake a very long stick at, the park is also home to the Florence Court Yew, from which the strain known as the Irish yew — familiar in graveyards throughout the world — was propagated. Every Irish yew specimen in the world — no matter where you see it — will have this original plant’s DNA. The seminal tree, grown from a seedling circa 1750, can be found lurking unassumingly near the main house.
They say that travel broadens the mind. But if like me you think you’re probably broad-minded enough already, a short jaunt to Fermanagh might just be the ideal break. You’ll be able to take to the water, read, relax, walk in the rain, go home happy.