A powerhouse of local knowledge with deep family ties to the area
The significant place it occupied in the socio-economic history of Enniskillen and the county until the 1950s is also outlined.
My feeling is that buildings are often imbued with human traits. As we stood in front of the vestiges of this sorrowful scene before the reimagining began, it had the appearance of an aged, draconian disciplinarian from a different era, decrepit and devoid of any punitive power.
Catherine grew up in Enniskillen. Her father was born and lived in Queen Street. Her maternal grandmother was from Wellington Place, and her mother loved nothing more than spending school holidays staying at her house.
She is the granddaughter and, indeed, the great-granddaughter of an RUC and an RIC man respectively.
Two of her uncles served in and survived the Boer War, and the First World War.
Several visits to Enniskillen to meet Catherine have included meanders along the Broadmeadow.
It’s somewhere that has a special place in her heart, and that she thinks of as a home from home.
She has walked here many times, perhaps even thousands of times. As a child holding her mother’s hand, as a mother holding her own children’s hands, and with friends, groups from work, strangers and friends yet to be made.
She is immensely proud of Fermanagh’s rich and varied heritage and believes it is enveloped in the most beautiful of settings, surrounded and moulded by Lough Erne – what she calls “the great spine of the county”.
Her ability to move from one period of history to another is effortless. She explains that Christianity found its way to Fermanagh along the lough with the foundation of many early churches and monastic settlements near the river and on the islands.
Perhaps the most significant and most beautiful of these is Devenish Island, or Daimhinis, meaning ‘Ox Island’.
St. Molaise founded a monastery here in the Sixth Century and the huge Round Tower – a reflection of the wealth and importance of the monastery – can be seen for miles around.
The tower provides a hugely significant visual and physical reminder of early Christian life in Fermanagh, and continues to perplex experts in terms of how the stonemasons created this perfectly tapered tower centuries ago.
The surviving stone buildings and the individual dressed stones are also testament to the incredible workmanship of these early settlers.
Many other conspicuous monasteries and churches were established in places that include Galloon, Aghalurcher, Belleisle, Gola, Derryvullen, Derrybrusk, Cleenish, Inishkeen, Lisgoole, Rossorry, Inishmacsaint and White Island.
Catherine is devout in her belief that it’s high time that this unique ecclesiastical heritage is given its rightful place in the contemporary representation of
Fermanagh’s story.
The Lough Erne Pilgrim Way will create a journey linking ten of these monastic sites. The project is led by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and delivered in partnership with Waterways Ireland, the Department for Communities Historic Environment Division, and Lough Erne Landscape Partnership, with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Inspired by the historic pilgrimage route along the Erne to Lough Derg in Donegal, the notion is to increase awareness and understanding of the history and heritage of the great island monasteries for visitors, residents and communities.
As well as their spiritual importance, the monasteries became important scholastic centres. Monks learned how to read and write, as these were fundamental skills for the role they had within their confines.
Both monks and nuns became critical figures, because they provided good quality education. Monasteries and convents established the best schools and had strict rules.
The majority of the students who were educated within these hallowed walls were children of wealthy townspeople and nobles whose parents or families were benefactors of the schools.
Catherine believes that education at this time also facilitated the dissemination of culture and heritage,
“Today, we have hospitals, schools and libraries. But in the Middle Ages, it was the monks who provided many of these services. Along with the nuns, they worked as teachers, writers, librarians, publishers, doctors, and nurses.”
Books were rare and expensive in the early Middle Ages because they had to be written by hand. The monks didn’t just copy the words – they also decorated the first letters of the text and the borders of the manuscripts with elaborate patterns and motifs. Today, these handwritten books are invaluable pieces of art.
For centuries, Fermanagh has captured the eye of many writers and poets, some more famous than others.
Catherine’s great-uncle, Gerry Quinn, lived in Strand Street, Enniskillen. He was a painter, a poet and a gentleman in the true sense of the word. He wrote this poem to reflect the deep affection he had for his county.
My Garden of Dreams
To scenes so enchanting When sunlight is dancing
On waters of crystal In lakes and in streams Comes peaceful reflection Of nature’s perfection In County Fermanagh My garden of dreams.
Where green hills are fading In mountain blue shading
And the purple rich heather Cloud kissed wearing shadows Twine cornfields and meadows In County Fermanagh My garden of dreams.
With calm air receiving Birds’ sweet song at evening Ere wildfowl broadcast down The silver moonbeams
From night’s silent hours Dawn’s lustre on flowers In County Fermanagh My garden of dreams.
O’er this wonderful place
Such a strange magic lies
The heart need but wish
For its castle to rise
Just when the rainbow’s short sorrow One wistful eye gleams
In County Fermanagh
My garden of dreams.
Catherine is in no doubt that the beauty of a place often goes hand in hand with the heritage, history and stories of the buildings, bridges, rivers, churches, monasteries, streets and schools that were here long before we were, and will be here long after we are gone.
Whether it’s the Workhouse, the monasteries, the Broadmeadow, or the many other parts of the county that she has been pivotal in developing through her role at Fermanagh and Omagh District
Council, her fervour never wains.
She remains passionately aware of both the individual and collective value of the unique attributes that criss-cross this exhilarating landscape. The fact that this proud Fermanagh woman excels in extolling their virtues is a blessing for which we should be truly thankful.
Anne Marie Mcaleese is a broadcaster, writer and author who considers Fermanagh as one of her favourite places. You can listen to her every Saturday morning on BBC Radio Ulster’s, ‘Your Place and Mine’, 8am-9am.