County Fermanagh
came together. This spirit of togetherness reached its symbolic peak when the Queen came in 2012 2 during her Diamond Jubilee. She went to a thanksgiving service in St Macartin’s, Enniskillen’s Anglican Cathedral, then walked across the street to St Michael’s – her first visit to a Catholic church in Ireland, North or South.
St Macartin’s and St Michael’s are both beautiful and St Macartin’s in particular is full of history. A plaque records the numerous bloody battles of the Royal Inniskilling (sic) Fusiliers, from Waterloo to Gallipoli. Another plaque remembers 25 local members of the Ulster Defence Regiment killed during The Troubles, including three brothers from the same family. Here on the frayed edge of the United Kingdom, past and present merge.
Enniskillen has its sombre side, but it’s not all doom and gloom. A new generation has grown up with no first-hand knowledge of The Troubles. Babies born here since the Good Friday Agreement are now starting families of their own. This is a bustling market town, full of old-fashioned shops and handsome Victorian and Georgian houses, and its setting is stunning, on an island surrounded by the River Erne. Enniskillen’s ancient castle houses a fine museum, charting every chapter of its tangled story, from Gaelic Chieftains to Protestant Plantations, from Celtic prehistory to the present day.
There are plenty of good places to eat – and drink, of course. Blakes of the Hollow is the most atmospheric pub; the Jolly Sandwich is the nicest spot for a light lunch. The best hotel, the Lough Erne Resort, is a few miles out of town, on the waterfront. It’s renowned for its two golf courses but you don’t have to be a golfer to enjoy staying here. The rooms are supremely comfy, the restaurant is first class and the views across the water are wonderful. You can see why David Cameron chose to stage the 2013 G8 Summit here.
Before I left for home I went back to Forthill, my favourite spot in Enniskillen. The fortress that gave this hill its name was demolished in the 19th century. Only the foundations survive. A park was planted in its place, with a grandstand for brass bands to play in.
Its crowning glory is a colossal column, dedicated to General Sir Galbraith Lowry Coles (Coles was a local toff who served as MP for Enniskillen & Fermanagh, and fought for Wellington in the Peninsular War). You get a great view from the top. The town lies sprea spread out like a map, surrounded by si silver lakes and soft green hills.
H Happy Days isn’t the only liter literary festival in Enniskillen. Hal Half a century before Beckett, Os Oscar Wilde also attended Po Portora Royal School, and, sp spurred on by the success of H Happy Days, in 2015 Sean D Doran launched a Wilde W Weekend of events and r readings to commemorate him. S Sean believes Coles Monument inspir inspired Wilde’s fairytale The Happy Prince, and who’s to say he’s wrong? You can see the column from the school. When he was a schoolboy, Wilde would have seen it every day. There’s no Wilde Weekend this year but last year Sean painted this statue gold, just like the statue in the story, and though he thought the rain would wash it clean, it’s still golden today. Not everyone approves, but I’m sure Wilde would have loved it – and for me it feels like a fitting symbol of Enniskillen’s regeneration. This town has seen the worst of times, but after all that it’s been through it seems happy days are here again.
Happy Days runs from 2nd–5th August 2018 ; further details from www.artsoverborders.com