Enniskillen is the County town of Fermanagh and is situated on
an island 800 metres long and covering some 68 acres. The original
boundaries were the East and West Bridges and only someone born
between these bridges can claim to be a true native of the town.
This series will take you to the boundaries of the island and is
best done on foot, with the possible exception of the bonus
cache.
Inside caches 2 - 5 is one digit of the coordinates for the
final bonus cache ‘Enniskillen Bridges #6’. You should
record them and use them in the following formula to find its
location:-
N54 2E.2BC W007 (2+B)(C-B) . DED
The East Bridge is sandwiched between two more modern bridges.
The original was wooden, built in 1614, and had a drawbridge on the
island side which could be raised when required. It was replaced in
1688 by a stone 5 arch bridge which, during the Williamite wars,
was connected by a tunnel to a Battery on Forthill. It was later
widened and now forms the heart of the present bridge but only 3
arches are visible as the others were filled in.
Nearby is an area which was originally a small island known as
Inis Ceithleann or Shilling Island. It was landscaped in 1993 by 40
young people from Fermanagh and the Republic of Ireland, under the
auspices of the Rotary Club and Fermanagh Council. A whitethorn
bush was planted and a Peace Cairn built, Diana, Princess of Wales
placing the last stone on Remembrance Day 1993. Sadly the area now
shows signs of neglect and vandalism.
In the1880’s the level of the Lough was lowered and only a
small shallow stretch of water then separated the island from the
mainland. In 1895 this was filled in and the island became part of
the eastern shore. Legend had it that if the Erne ever completely
flooded the island, whoever owned it and the larger Enniskillen
island, would lose possession of them both. This happened to the
Maguire clan who saw their island disappear under floodwater and
shortly afterwards they were dispossessed by Captain Cole, an
English Planter.
Cole enclosed the island with a wall and planted nine
whitethorns giving rise to a new legend that the Cole family in
Enniskillen would last as long as the trees. The last whitethorn
died after the First World War at a time when the family was
selling their lands to the tenants. No members of the family now
live in Fermanagh.