Lisnaskea

Lisnaskea lies east of Upper Lough Erne in the old lordship of the Maguires of Fermanagh. A mound nearby is associated with the inauguration of Maguire rulers, and a stronghold at Skea guarded their lands. During the Nine Years' War English forces occupied the site as a base against the Maguires. The plantation of Ulster later brought Scottish landowners to the district; James, Lord Balfour, built Castle Balfour at Lisnaskea in the early seventeenth century. Its fortified walls recall the transfer of power in a landscape of lakes and drumlins.