Walking in the Footsteps of my Ancestors [Part 2]

It was another lovely day & from Myra's conservatory where we had our breakfast, we could see the Swans going out in their pairs, looking for their early morning food.
 

The view from Myra's garden, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh



Looking out onto the Lough from Myra's conservatory

We'd got off to a bit of a slow start this morning so hadn't left ourselves too much time to look around Enniskillen.  We stopped off at Castle Coole first and walked around the estate & the grand neo-classical georgian mansion [not a castle].  Constructed in the late 1700's as a summer retreat for the Earls of Belmore, it is now owned by the National Heritage Trust.

Castle Coole, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh

Last year, almost 3,500 people descended on Castle Coole, with their antiques under their arm to be valued at the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, when the show was filmed there.

 



Castle Coole, Enniskillen



The stories of Castle Coole are very much 'Upstairs, Downstairs' stories.  Once occupied by many servants, the vast basement at Castle Coole underwent major restoration & is now open to the public & apparently one of the best restored 'servant's quarter's' in the National Trust.
 

Looking into the The Grand Yard at Castle Coole, Enniskillen

The Grand Yard, Castle Coole, Enniskillen

 

Castle Coole Estate, Enniskillen

You can also go for a walk in the woodlands around the Estate & explore the Stable Yards, as well as see the Belmore Coach on display.

In the grounds of Castle Coole, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh

 Just before leaving Myra's, I'd got a message from Lillie's daughter, that my great  grandmother's great nephew Bertie [grandson of Lizzie's sister Annie], was keen to meet me, so we set off to the small village of Lisbellaw & finding the address without difficulty, I arrived unannouced.  It was another lovely visit & Bertie was thrilled I'd made the effort to find him.  I was also thrilled to now have a connection to Annie's branch of the family, as I'd found little information about her to this point. 

 



Guinness advertisement, Enniskillen



 

Back to Enniskillen, we had a quick bite to eat before  bundling back into our car, this time with Myra in tow & drove down to Derrylin, about 20 - 30 minutes drive away.

There we visit Derrylin Church & graveyard which had associations to Lizzie's mother's side of the family, the Blairs & the Croziers.  Again, I found many familiar names on the gravestones.  While at the church an elderly woman arrived & was obviously known by Myra as they got chatting.  It turned out that she was also a distant relative on Lizzie's mother's side, so another distant cousin of mine too!

Derrylin Church, Co. Fermanagh

Beautiful stain glass window, Derrylin Church, Derrylin, Co. Fermanagh

From Derrylin we drove to the nearby settlements of Knockninny & Sheehinny where  more of my Blair & Crozier ancestors lived.  Stopping at the Knockninny church, Myra again knew the man mowing the lawns there, he was her cousin on the Crozier side & yes, you guessed it... his ancestors & mine would almost certainly link up somewhere back on our ancestral line.

 

Next stop was very exciting for me as it was the spot where my great great great grandparents house had been situated & where Lizzie's mother would have been born, in the tiny farming settlement of Sheehinny.  While there is nothing there to see now, just being in the place where my ancestors would have been, was amazing.  I could visualize them in their horse & cart, trotting down the nearby lanes to nearby markets.
 

The house of my great great great grandparents, John Blair & Mary Crozier,
Sheehinny, Co. Fermanagh



My ancestors stone cottage was situated in the field at the end of this road in Sheehinny

Old stone buildings, Sheehinny, nr Derrylin, Co. Fermanagh

Looking over the countryside nr. Derrylin, Co. Fermanagh

On the way back to Enniskillen I was dropped off at Graan Abbey to visit Lillie again.  This was a more difficult visit as I knew I would have to say goodbye to her.  Her daughter Mavis, who I'd met for the day while in London a few weeks ago, had arrived from England & was also visiting.    We poured over old photos that Lillie had found in her album & I was at last able to put some faces to the names on my family tree.

Sadly, after an hour it was time to say a final goodbye while promising to keep in touch as much as we could once I'd returned to New Zealand. 

On the way back to Myra's, Mavis & I decided to take a look at some of the sites around Enniskillen first. 

 

Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh



Portora Castle ruins, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh

Portora Castle was one of many defensive castles constructed around the shores of Lough Erne between 1610 and 1619 to consolidate the Ulster Plantation in Fermanagh.  Plantation was an early method of colonization in which settlers were "planted" abroad in order to establish a permanent or semi-permanent colonial base.    

One story about the castle that made me smile, happened in 1859 when truanting boys from the nearby Portora Royal School tried to blow up the derelict castle in a gunpowder experiment!
 





Portora Royal School for Boys, Enniskillen





Portora Royal School just along the road from the old castle ruins, can trace it's history back to 1608 but the original construction of  parts of this current building date back to the late 1700's.  Often referred to as the 'Eton of Ireland', one of its more famous boarders were Oscar Wilde who attended the school during the mid 1800's & the playwright Samuel Beckett, who was also a pupil here.

 

Cole's Monument, Enniskillen

Cole's Monument stands high on Fort hill within Forthill Park & can be seen from anywhere in the town below.  It was built in honour of Sir Galbraith Cole, who was one of Wellington's generals and the son of the first Earl of Enniskillen.   Started in 1845, it took 12 years to complete.   180 spiral steps lead to a viewing platform with magnificent views of Enniskillen and the surrounding area. 



Forthill Park, Enniskillen

St Macartin's Cathedral, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh



War Memorial, Enniskillen

Driving through the town, we pass the War Memorial where, on the 8th November, 1987, an IRA bomb exploded near where the centoph stands, during a Remembrance Sunday ceremony – held to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

While not clearly seen in the photo above, 11 dove sculptures  have been added around the base of the memorial in 1991, in memory of 11 people who were killed and hundreds who were injured that day.

Once back at Myra's, we decided to all go out for dinner again, back to the Killyhevlin Hotel, with it's stunning views out across Lough Erne.    I was interested to learn that the Killyhevlin had also been the target of a bombing.    Back in July 1996, the 'Continuity IRA' was blamed, although they didn't officially admit to the attack.  Over 250 people were evacuated from the hotel, but the explosion injured 17 people, including members of a wedding party & destroyed much of the recently-refurbished hotel. Over 1,000lbs of homemade explosives had been packed in a vehicle and left outside the hotel. The front of the Killyhevlin Hotel collapsed, scores of parked cars were burned and a 12-foot-wide bomb crater was left near the front door.  The so-called Continuity IRA became active after the Provisional IRA declared a ceasefire in 1994 is an illegal organisation in the Republic of Ireland & designated as a terrorist organisation in the UK & USA.

The Killyhevlin Hotel, Enniskillen

View of the lough from the Killyhevlin Hotel, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh

It was a lovely evening, tinged with a little sadness, that this would be my last evening in Lizzie's home town.   I had to also say goodbye to Mavis who's company I had so enjoyed.  However, there was some comfort knowing that I would be back here someday soon when I would meet up with her & the rest of my new found cousins again.