Every place on this list sits on the same lake system. Lough Erne is two connected lakes, Upper and Lower, threaded with more than 150 islands, and Enniskillen sits on the narrow neck of water between them, itself built on an island in the River Erne. The 15th-century castle and its two museums anchor the waterfront, and the boats out to the islands leave from the town.
The islands divide by how you reach them. Devenish, with its 81-foot round tower, St Molaise’s House and two carved 15th-century high crosses, is boat-only from Enniskillen, and the sailings run through the summer season, as does the ferry to White Island. Boa Island, a slender strip of land in Lower Lough Erne, is joined to the mainland by road, so the two-faced Janus Stone and the Lustymore Man in Caldragh Cemetery can be seen year round at the end of a drive along the lough.
Two places on the list work differently. Belle Isle, on Upper Lough Erne, is somewhere you stay rather than visit: castle rooms, courtyard apartments and lakeside cottages on a private estate of roughly 470 acres. Drumclay Crannog, north of Enniskillen, is backfilled and has nothing to walk on, but the 5,500 or so objects lifted from it are displayed at Enniskillen Castle.
Two connected lakes threaded with over 150 islands, and the reason every other place here exists; boats run out from Enniskillen through the summer.
The most important of the lake's island monasteries, with an 81-foot round tower, St Molaise's House and two carved 15th-century high crosses, reached only by boat.
Reached by road rather than boat, it holds the two-faced Janus Stone and the solitary Lustymore Man among the headstones of Caldragh Cemetery.
Built on an island between Upper and Lower Lough Erne, it works as the base, with castle museums on the waterfront and boats out to Devenish.
A private island on Upper Lough Erne where you stay rather than visit, with castle rooms, cottages and a cookery school on a 470-acre estate.
7 of 7 shown — tap a pin for the place.
fermanagh
Lough Erne is two connected lakes – Upper and Lower – threaded with over 150 islands and reached from the island town of Enniskillen. Boats run out to Devenish's round tower and monastic ruins, White Island's carved figures and the woods of Crom Estate through the summer season.
Lower Lough Erne, fermanagh
Devenish was the most important of Lough Erne's island monasteries, founded by St Molaise in the 6th century. Its 81-foot round tower, St Molaise's House and two carved 15th-century high crosses survive on a grassy island you can reach only by boat from Enniskillen.
fermanagh
Boa Island, a slender strip of land in Lower Lough Erne, shelters the enigmatic two-faced Janus Stone and the solitary Lustymore Man. Set within the active Caldragh Cemetery, these ancient carvings offer a quiet encounter with Ireland's early medieval past, accessible via a scenic drive across the lough.
Enniskillen, fermanagh
Enniskillen is built on an island in the River Erne, on the narrow neck of water between Upper and Lower Lough Erne. The 15th-century castle and its two museums anchor the waterfront, but the town's real use is as a base: boat trips out to Devenish Island's monastic ruins, and the National Trust houses of Castle Coole and Florence Court within a short drive.
Belle Isle Estate, fermanagh
Set on a private island in Upper Lough Erne, Belle Isle pairs an 18th-century castle with a roughly 470-acre estate, 400 acres of it a Special Area of Conservation. You stay rather than visit: castle rooms, courtyard apartments and lakeside cottages, plus a cookery school on the island where the Annals of Ulster were written.
Boa Island, fermanagh
In a small graveyard on Boa Island, two carved stone figures – one with a face on each side – have stood among the headstones for the best part of two thousand years. They are the pull of Lower Lough Erne's islands, alongside the monastic ruins on Inishmacsaint and the carved figures on White Island, reached by a summer ferry.
Enniskillen, fermanagh
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