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Statistics
Province: Ulster
County seat: Enniskillen
Area: 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi)
Population (est.) 57,527[1]

County Fermanagh (from the Irish: Fear Manach meaning "men of Manach") is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Ulster and is part of Northern Ireland. As Fermanagh is situated mostly in the basin of the River Erne, it is often referred to as Ireland's Lake District, together with neighbouring County Cavan. The county is approximately 120 km (75 mi) from Belfast and 160 km (99 mi) from Dublin.

The county borders County Tyrone to the north-east, County Monaghan to the south-east, County Cavan to the south-west, County Leitrim to the west and County Donegal to the north-west. Fermanagh is the only county of Northern Ireland that does not border Lough Neagh.

History

Fermanagh was made into a county by statute of Elizabeth I, but it was not until the time of the Plantation of Ulster that it was finally brought under civil government.

Fermanagh was a stronghold of the Maguire clan and Donn Carrach Maguire (died 1302) was the first of the chiefs of the Maguire dynasty. However on the confiscation of lands relating to Hugh Maguire, Fermanagh was divided in similar manner to the other five escheated counties among Scottish and English undertakers and native Irish. The baronies of Knockinny and Maghenaboy were allotted to Scottish undertakers, those of Clankelly, Magherastephana and Lurg to English undertakers and those of Clanawley, Coole, and Tyrkennedy, to servitors and natives. The chief families to benefit under the new settlement were the families of Cole, Blennerhasset, Butler, Hume, and Dunbar.

It is one of four counties of Northern Ireland presently to have a majority of the population from a Catholic background, according to the 2001 census.

The Annals of Ulster were written at Belle Isle on Lough Erne.

Administration

Historical populations
Year Pop.  %±
1659 7,102 —
1821 130,997 1744.5%
1831 149,763 14.3%
1841 156,481 4.5%
1851 116,047 −25.8%
1861 105,768 −8.9%
1871 92,794 −12.3%
1881 84,879 −8.5%
1891 74,170 −12.6%
1901 65,430 −11.8%
1911 61,836 −5.5%
1926 57,984 −6.2%
1937 54,569 −5.9%
1951 53,044 −2.8%
1961 51,531 −2.9%
1966 49,886 −3.2%
1971 50,255 0.7%
1981 51,594 2.7%
1991 54,033 4.7%
2001 57,527 6.5%
[2][3][4][5][6][7]

Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas.

Fermanagh is part of the Fermanagh and South Tyrone Parliamentary Constituency, renowned for high levels of voting and for electing Provisional IRA hunger-striker Bobby Sands as a Member of Parliament in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election, April 1981, shortly before his death.

Industry and tourism

Agriculture and tourism are two of the most important industries in Fermanagh. The main types of farming in the area are beef, dairy, sheep, pigs and some poultry. Most of the agricultural land is used as grassland for grazing and silage or hay rather than for other crops.

The waterways are extensively used by cabin cruisers, other small pleasure craft and anglers. The main town of Fermanagh is Enniskillen (Inis Ceithleann, 'Ceithleann's island'). The island town hosts a range of attractions including the Castle Coole Estate and Enniskillen Castle, which is home to the museum of The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards.

Attractions outside Enniskillen include:

Settlements

Large towns

(population of 18,000 or more and under 75,000 at 2001 Census)[8]

Medium towns

(population of 10,000 or more and under 18,000 at 2001 Census)[8]

Small towns

(population of 4,500 or more and under 10,000 at 2001 Census)[8]

Intermediate settlements

(population of 2,250 or more and under 4,500 at 2001 Census)[8]

Villages

(population of 1,000 or more and under 2,250 at 2001 Census)[8]

Small villages or hamlets

(population of less than 1,000 at 2001 Census)[8]

Subdivisions

Baronies

Main article: Baronies of Ireland

Parishes

Main article: List of civil parishes of County Fermanagh

Townlands

Main article: List of townlands in County Fermanagh

Media

Newspapers

Radio

New Media

Sport

Main article: Fermanagh GAA

Notable people

Famous people born, raised in or living in Fermanagh.

See also

Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: County Fermanagh

Notes

  1. ^ http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/ni/popul.htm Background Information on Northern Ireland Society - Population and Vital Statistics
  2. ^ For 1653 and 1659 figures from Civil Survey Census of those years, Paper of Mr Hardinge to Royal Irish Academy March 14, 1865.
  3. ^ Census for post 1821 figures.
  4. ^ http://www.histpop.org
  5. ^ http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census
  6. ^ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". in Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A.. Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press. 
  7. ^ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November), "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850", The Economic History Review Volume 37 (Issue 4): 473–488, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x, http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract 
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Statistical classification of settlements". NI Neighbourhood Information Service. http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk/mapxtreme_towns/statistical%20classification.htm. Retrieved 23 February 2009. 
  9. ^ Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963. 

References

External links

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