Bellcoo, 9 m. S.W. of Enniskillen, and on the verge of the county, though a small is yet a neat village, and may form a station for the tourist, being seated on a considerable stream that runs into Lough Mac Nean, and thence to Lough Melve. The well called Davugh Phedric is noted as a cold bath, and nearly equal to Holywell in force. See ruins of Ch. 1 m. From hence also the tourist may visit Florence Court.
Belleek, 18 m. W. of Enniskillen, is a pretty village, with a very fine waterfall: ascend a hill with a battery on its top, from whence is seen a woody eminence with an insulated rock covered with shrubs, along which the stream passes with great rapidity, falling about twenty feet, and forming a most enchanting prospect. See it also from the bridge. It stands at the outlet of the lake, close to the verge of Donnegal. See Castle Caldwell on the northern shore, seated amidst promontories of thick wood that shoot into Lough Erne, with every variety of wood and lawn and water that can delight the eye. Near it is Lewrel, a demesne of singular beauty.
Enniskillen, 80 m. N.W. of Dublin, is nearly in the centre of the county, and seated at the junction of the two divisions of Lough Erne, so as to form a convenient station for the whole county. It was celebrated in the wars of the Revolution by its heroic defence against James's army; and part of the military works yet remain near the bridge. See handsome barracks; superb school-house; and the Castle. Visit Bellisle, the romantic residence of the late Lord Ross; Castle Coole, 1 m. dist. Lord Belmore, an elegant mansion of Portland stone; Daughtons, 4 m. N.W., where are some curious caves; Florence Court, 7 m. S.E., on the southern shore, a very superb modern edifice, seated at the foot of lofty mountains, in the midst of a highly cultivated demesne, with most romantic prospects.
Lisnarick, about 10 m. N.W. of Enniskillen, is a small hamlet, but may suffice as a station for the northern bank of the lower lake. Close to it is Castle Archdall, a magnificent mansion; and 2½ m. further, see Cash, an inconsiderable village, but amidst fine scenery, with ruins of a Castle.
Lisneskea, 12 m. E. of Enniskillen, is a decayed village, but may serve as a temporary station for the Upper Lake; and as there are many genteel residences in its immediate vicinity, the tourist, if so inclined, may trust to Irish hospitality. See ruins of old Castle at Calla Hill, across the lake; ruins of an old Ch. at Donough, 2 m. S.E.; Gola, 5 m. W., with some remains of a Dominican monastery; Newton Butler with a handsome Ch.; and Wattle Bridge, where are some fragments of a Druidical temple on the banks of the river; also St. Mary's Ch., and two small lakes.
Lough Erne is 20 m. in length, and covers nearly 48,000 acres. It has been little noticed by tourists; yet its beauties deserve some leading directions. Those who have time to spare, or the artist who wishes to devote his time to study, may employ a few days very agreeably in perambulating its limits, so as to catch each point of view under the various effects of morning and evening tint, or even noon-tide radiance; but where a day only can be allowed for seeing it, that day will be most profitably spent on the island of Bellisle, where the Earl of Ross has a most delightful residence. Here we may introduce an observation, regard to which will often be highly useful to the picturesque tourist.—It is, that the same view presents a very different appearance when seen at the commencement and at the close of day. In no part of the world is this, perhaps, more noticeable, than in Ireland, owing to its moisture, raised into vapour by a meridian sun, condensed by cold winds rushing in through extended valleys, through the day, settling in the dells or fringeing the mountain tops in the still repose of evening, or rising like a curtain at the influence of the morning beam. In pursuance then of this hint, the hurried tourist, especially if pedestrian, should proceed to Bellisle at the earliest dawn, and he will find himself sufficiently occupied until the nightfall in traversing its limits round an extent of 200 acres consisting of all the variety of hill and dale, with partial sprinklings of lawn, interspersed with ancient woods of considerable extent, in some spots exhibiting all the deep majesty of shade, in others opening into more cheerful clumps, or scattered breaks of foliage. The varied surface exhibits the whole contents of this woody scenery to great advantage, presenting, even in what may be called the home views, sufficient amusement for a day; but much increased by its junction with the surrounding scenery at every break in the hills, and at every verdant point jutting into the lake, particularly so in front of the mansion, where a reach of it passes under the eye of the spectator, reflecting the fine woods and rising banks that give beauty to the scene and shelter to the house itself. This part of the lake, being 3 m. in length, possesses all the charms of distance, and has in front another island clothed thick with wood encircling a bold eminence, appropriated to the purposes of a deer park, in the rear of which a lofty mountain gives almost a magic relief to the whole. This is finely contrasted, on a short turn to the right, by some clumps of rich foliage, and by several pretty islands starting boldly from the surface, broken into a thousand picturesque forms by the windings of the lake, and the whole body of water is lost in a narrow defile where hill on hill closes the view. Here too is every facility for viewing the lake in a double route; as the walks most commodiously surround the island at its outermost limits, besides leading to the best points of view in the interior; and indeed it will be proper not to omit the prospect from a handsome temple which commands the whole of this enchanting scenery. The grotto ought also to be visited, and attention paid to the effect on coming out of it, when the contrast presents a beautiful effect, in two of these islands appearing to join, the streight between them having the semblance of a deep bay, whose extremity is lost amidst the sombre foliage in the back-ground. Behind these is the hill of the deer park, the lofty mountains behind which for a moment draw attention from the nearer beauties; but these latter must not be neglected, as their examination in all the neatness of artificial culture contrasts finely with the bleak and wild surrounding imagery of nature. The widest part of the loch is in the vicinity of Castle Archdall, where it resembles the sea, and presents a charming panoramic prospect if viewed from the little island of Ennismachcent, no less than 27 isles and islets surrounding the spectator. The prospect to the N. is the finest, when Castle Archdall is seen in all its glory of wood and water reaching on the left to a noble bay of considerable extent, bounded by lofty mountains softening into distance, and shrouding in their bosom a much venerated Roman Catholic cemetery, with a large stone cross standing on a pedestal at its entrance.
In Lough Erne, the most celebrated island for holy purposes is Devenish, in which there are a round tower and considerable ecclesiastical ruins, some as early as the 12th century. These buildings are of the Augustinian order of monks; and the most ancient part is called St. Molaise's House, a vaulted building of hewn stone; coeval with which, in Mr. Ledwich's opinion, is the round tower; and both, as he supposes, of Danish origin.
