Enniskillen

Iconic towers from the inside

Another weekend away this time experimenting with a Fermanagh Gites.

We were lodged in an apartment above a detached garage next to a recently built large villa out in the sticks somewhere between Enniskillen and Tempo - maybe, we never tried to find out. As a flat it wasn't too bad though more designed to accommodate a few fishermen exploring the local lakes and rivers. The odd thing was the heating.

Admittedly it was the middle of a cold February but it was a bit off trying to control the heating according to the owners expectations of what we would be doing. Periodically the electric heater would switch off when the circuit was tripped; when we would have to go next door and ask for it to be put on again. This got embarrassing for us and irritating for the owner who was trying to entertain some visitors. In the end, we gave up and bought our own heater - well we needed one for home anyway.

What with the erratic heating we did spend much of our time out exploring Enniskillen.

Central tower housing the museum

It had been a while since we visited the castle museum, probably when the kids had been wee. Not much has changed, museums are a bit like that. Wandering round the buildings inside the wall with a variety of cannon on display. Apart for the ancient towers, most of the structures were barracks for the troops rather than overtly military. Despite that and the frequency of cannons, the orderliness of everything did lend a military feel to the place. I suppose a few dioramas of events from the Inniskilling Fusiliers' history in the Crimera and the likes did encourage  the idea.

Inside the central building were the regimental museums of the Dragoons as well as the Fusiliers and local artefacts, especially on the Maguires, Fermanagh's pre-eminent family. Cabinets filled with colourful uniforms, flags and silver-ware from the officers mess probably dominate the displays but it is all presented very well. Definitely worth a visit, one of the best regimental museums I can remember visiting.

We also spent time sampling the wares of several local hostelries and wandering the centre of the town. It hasn't changed much since we used to live down this way. In fact, some careful observation at the fabric of the buildings will be rewarded as you realise how old the structures are despite the neon and bright lights of the shops and cafes. Timber frames, huge stone walls, boot scrapers and more are all tucked away in unexpected corners. In many ways the town remains as it was when the castle bristled with fusils with only a thin veneer of 21st century commercialism. In fact, parts like the Buttercrane Centre have been well restored; maybe not bustling as much as they were in their heyday and a good bit cleaner & tidier now than then.