Devenish Island

In case you find the above writing hard to decipher on your browser. Here is a transcript....

Devenish is an "L" shaped island at the end of Lower Lough Erne. You can travel there by boat.
The round tower is 81 feet high and is one of the finest buildings in Ireland. You can climb up the tower and look at the island. The door of the tower is 9 feet from the ground. Each floor in the tower is lit by one window except the fifth floor which is lit by four windows.

Note - as this was written many years ago, it is not known if visitors are still allowed to climb the tower. Perhaps someone could enlighten your place and mine about the present position.

The Hiring Fair

Here is part of a story told by one of the youngsters in an article they had written about "The Hiring Fair".

One Fermanagh story was told by the ferryman who worked the ferry from Derrylin to the Lisnaskea side of the lake. One day he rowed across the lake to collect two men. One called Maguire had a pack on his back and the other called Patton worked in an office in Lisnaskea.

Patton asked Maguire where he was going. He said he was on his way home from Maguiresbridge where he had been hired. Patton asked him why he had left and Maguire said "Well it's like this, on my first week there, a sow died, and they cleaned it out and ate it. On the second week, the dog died, and they cleaned it out and ate it too. Last night the Granny died, and I was afraid they might do the same with her!"