The Route Of Old History

“Florence Court – Built in the mid 18th century by John Cole, the pleasure grounds are noted for their fine views over the surrounding mountains.”

Day 1



Sheelin Irish Lace Museum – Award winning Antique Lace Museum situated in the village of Bellanaleck 4 miles from Enniskillen. All lace dates from between 1850 and 1900. Exhibits on display include crochet wedding dress, veils, shawls, parasols, collars etc.

Florencecourt House – Built in the mid 18th century by John Cole and featuring some fine Roccoco plasterwork and many original items of furniture. The pleasure grounds are noted for their fine views over the surrounding mountains.

Boa Island – Janus Figure At the west end of Boa Island is Caldragh, an ancient Christian churchyard. In this graveyard stands what are generally accepted as pagan idols. The largest stands 72.5cms high. It is a strange two sided Janus figure.

Devenish Island; The most important of Lough Erne’s many island church settlements, Devenish was founded in the 6th century by St Molaise. It was raided by Vikings in 837 and burned in 1157, but in the Middle Ages flourished as the site of the parish church and St Mary’s Augustinian Priory.

Enniskillen Castle Museums – A rich historic complex in Enniskillen town. On view are Fermanagh Country Museum and the Inniskilling Museum. Historic buildings include the castle keep, once home of the Gaelic Maguire chieftains and the 17th Century Watergate.

Day 2



Navan Fort, Co Armagh – a large earthwork of circular plan surrounding the summit of a drumlin in pleasant rolling countryside. The site, a pagan sanctuary. The impressive earthwork encloses two monuments on the hilltop, a ring barrow (Iron Age burial site) and a large mound. Excavations in the 1960s revealed that the mound was a composite structure built in 95 BC at the end of a long sequence of earlier activity. Recent excavations demonstrated that the main enclosure was also built in the 90s BC.
http://www.ni-environment.gov.uk/places_to_visit_home/historic-monuments/navan.htm

Armagh City is described as the spiritual centre of Ireland, 2 19th century cathedrals named after the saint stand where St Patrick is said to have founded a diocese.

Visit Saint Patrick’s Cathedral Church of Ireland (Anglican or “Episcopal”) Cathedral which stands on the original site of St. Patrick’s first church, built here in 445AD.

Make the short journey to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral (Catholic), to the Roman Catholic Cathedral built in the neo-gothic style back in 1840 and consecrated in 1904.
Depart Armagh for Co Down.

Mount Stewart House & Gardens, a beautiful National Trust property situated on the shores of Strangford Lough. Explore the impressive home of the Londonderry Family and the award-winning gardens; from the manicured formal terraces to the grandeur of the lake, Mount Stewart’s breathtaking gardens overflow with the vibrant colour of the rare plants that thrive in the mild climate of the Ards Peninsula. It soon becomes clear why this attraction has been nominated as a World Heritage Site.
W: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mount-stewart

Visit Castle Ward; unique in the fact that it was built in two completely different architectural styles: Classical & Gothic and the result of a difference in opinion between husband and wife!
W: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/castle-ward

Nendrum Monastic Site – is an example of island monastery typically founded in the 5th century by St Machaoi. There are documentary references from the 7th-century until 976AD when the Abbot was burned in his house, perhaps in a Viking raid. A small Benedictine cell was founded here in the late-12th century.
W: :www.ni-environment.gov.uk/places_to_visit_home/historic-monuments/devenish.htm