County in Northern Ireland
County Fermanagh
A county where a single lake system threads through hundreds of islands, and one island holds a two-faced stone figure that nobody can fully explain.
Key information
- County
- County Fermanagh
- Nation
- Northern Ireland
- Population
- about 64,000 (2021 Census)
- Known for
- Lough Erne, Marble Arch Caves, Florence Court, Belleek Pottery
- What locals are called
- Fermanagh people, or Fermanaghmen and Fermanaghwomen
- Famous people
- Samuel Beckett (schooled here), Oscar Wilde (schooled here), Hugh Maguire
About County Fermanagh
A county shaped by lakes and islands
Fermanagh is built around Lough Erne, a long, branching waterway split into the Upper and Lower Lough, with the county town of Enniskillen sitting on an island in the narrows between them. Roads here bend around water rather than the other way about. The two loughs together cover about 144 square kilometres of a county of roughly 1,691. The lakes hold hundreds of islands, and many were home to monks, chieftains and fishermen. Boating, fishing and cruising are a way of life, and the county's tourism leans heavily on the water. Enniskillen's name comes from the Irish for Cethlenn's island, a nod to the town's island setting, which made it an ideal place to guard a crossing.
Boa Island and the two-faced stone
On Boa Island, in Lower Lough Erne, the Caldragh graveyard holds one of Ireland's strangest sights: a double-faced stone figure, carved with a face on each side. Known as the Janus figure, it is generally thought to be early medieval, and some scholars see an older pagan origin. Nobody can say for certain who carved it or why. Nearby on White Island stand a ruined church and a row of weathered stone figures, set into a wall of the church. They are among the most puzzling carvings in the north of Ireland, a mix of grinning, glaring and solemn faces that visitors find hard to forget. Devenish Island has a different glory: a monastic site founded by St Molaise, with a near-perfect round tower, about 30 metres high, which you can climb.
Down the rabbit hole at Marble Arch
Fermanagh's limestone country is riddled with caves. The Marble Arch Caves, near Florence Court, are among the best-known in Ireland and Britain, with underground rivers, chambers and formations reached partly by boat. The wider area forms a cross-border geopark, with the Cuilcagh mountain rising above. The Cuilcagh Boardwalk, known to walkers as the Stairway to Heaven, climbs across blanket bog towards the summit and became a social-media favourite. Florence Court, a grand eighteenth-century house, was the home of the Cole family, Earls of Enniskillen, until 1973 and is now looked after by the National Trust. The Florence Court yew, a rare Irish yew, is said to be the parent of Irish yews planted around the world.
Castles, soldiers and a famous regiment
Enniskillen Castle, on the water's edge, was a stronghold of the Maguire chieftains before passing to English control in the early seventeenth century as part of the Plantation of Ulster. The town's Protestant defenders played a notable part in the wars of the 1680s and 1690s. In 1689 Enniskillen raised the Inniskilling Dragoons and an infantry regiment later known as the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot. In 1881 the 27th merged with the 108th to form the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. The castle today houses the regimental museums. Note the spelling: soldiers use 'Inniskilling', while the town is Enniskillen. The Maguires remained the dominant Gaelic family for centuries, and Maguire's name is still found across the county.
Pottery, writers and a school with famous pupils
Belleek, on the border with Donegal, produces Belleek Pottery, a delicate, creamy porcelain famous for its basket-weave work and shell designs. The pottery has been working since 1857, making it one of the oldest in Ireland. Enniskillen's Portora Royal School counts among its former pupils two giants of literature: Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett. Both attended in different eras, which gives the town a claim to two of the most influential playwrights of the English language.
Life in the lakeland today
Fermanagh is one of the most sparsely populated counties in Northern Ireland, and farming, tourism and food production are central to local life. Gaelic football is the leading team sport, with Fermanagh reaching the Ulster final in 2008 and the All-Ireland quarter-finals in 2004. Angling brings coarse and game fishermen from across Europe. The old Lakeland Forum leisure centre in Enniskillen closed in 2025 to make way for a redevelopment project, with a replacement facility planned. Slow-cooked beef, soda bread and fresh pike and trout from the lakes have long shaped the local table. In 2013 Lough Erne Resort, near Enniskillen, hosted the G8 summit, putting this quiet corner of the lakes on the world stage for two days.