In the same way that potholers experience a sense of satisfaction when they reach an underground cave and stand where no one else has ever stood, my excitement is palpable when I discover a part of Fermanagh that I’ve never been to before.

On many occasions, these moments have been a result of the tireless work of a woman who knows her home county from tip to toe, inside out and like the back of her hand.

A native of Enniskillen, Catherine Scott is a powerhouse of knowledge and expertise on the history and heritage of what she refers to as ‘this captivating landscape’.

She studied at Queen’s University, and the London School of Economics, and has worked for Fermanagh and Omagh District Council Museum Services for 20 years.

She wears her meticulous grasp of the ancient history of her homeplace lightly, transferring it with ease to both local and international audiences.

In her role with the Council, Catherine leads guided tours of the town as part of the ‘Words in Pavements’ initiative and the new interpretation of Enniskillen’s past depicted in a series of ceramic plaques based on old street names.

The excursions are memorable and guarantee return visits.

Catherine’s mantra is that knowing a place, understanding a place and gaining a foothold in that place creates a sense of belonging which then becomes the springboard for invaluable experiences.

As Development Officer with Museum Services, most recently she has been occupied with two major projects that will put Fermanagh on the map like never before.

These are the restoration of the Workhouse in Enniskillen, and the development of the Lough Erne Pilgrim Way, which will highlight the monastic sites peppered throughout the county.

The seeds of the plan to galvanise the 19th Century Workhouse were planted more than a decade ago.

Designed by architect George Wilkinson, in 1838 he was appointed by the Poor Law Commissioners to create buildings that paradoxically offered succour whilst instilling dread for those unable to support themselves.

They resembled hospitals, jails and courthouses, and were often built using local limestone to show “harmony and proportion and simplicity of arrangement”.

The buildings were constructed from ‘’the cheapest description compatible with durability, and the gabled roofs and elevated chimney shafts were to give the workhouses a pleasant, pleasing and picturesque appearance”.

They sprang up in many provincial towns and cities and the Cornagrade Road was the chosen location in Enniskillen.

The Workhouse system was once described as "the most feared and hated institution in Ireland".

A partnership between the Council and South West College, with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, led to the creation of a flexible and dynamic business incubation workspace but, crucially, the reopened workhouse has contributed immensely to the heritage value of the former dilapidated site.

In many conversations about this challenging and ambitious re-purposing project, Catherine was at pains to point out to me the importance of preserving and retelling the story of the Workhouse and its inmates during the Famine years.

The significant place it occupied in the socio-economic history of Enniskillen and the county until the 1950s is also outlined.

My feeling is that buildings are often imbued with human traits. As we stood in front of the vestiges of this sorrowful scene before the reimagining began, it had the appearance of an aged, draconian disciplinarian from a different era, decrepit and devoid of any punitive power.

Catherine grew up in Enniskillen. Her father was born and lived in Queen Street. Her maternal grandmother was from Wellington Place, and her mother loved nothing more than spending school holidays staying at her house.

She is the granddaughter and, indeed, the great-granddaughter of an RUC and an RIC man respectively.

Two of her uncles served in and survived the Boer War, and the First World War.

Several visits to Enniskillen to meet Catherine have included meanders along the Broadmeadow.

It’s somewhere that has a special place in her heart, and that she thinks of as a home from home.

She has walked here many times, perhaps even thousands of times. As a child holding her mother's hand, as a mother holding her own children's hands, and with friends, groups from work, strangers and friends yet to be made.

She is immensely proud of Fermanagh’s rich and varied heritage and believes it is enveloped in the most beautiful of settings, surrounded and moulded by Lough Erne – what she calls “the great spine of the county”.

Her ability to move from one period of history to another is effortless. She explains that Christianity found its way to Fermanagh along the lough with the foundation of many early churches and monastic settlements near the river and on the islands.

Perhaps the most significant and most beautiful of these is Devenish Island, or Daimhinis, meaning ‘Ox Island’.

St. Molaise founded a monastery here in the Sixth Century and the huge Round Tower – a reflection of the wealth and importance of the monastery – can be seen for miles around.

The tower provides a hugely significant visual and physical reminder of early Christian life in Fermanagh, and continues to perplex experts in terms of how the stonemasons created this perfectly tapered tower centuries ago.

The surviving stone buildings and the individual dressed stones are also testament to the incredible workmanship of these early settlers.

Many other conspicuous monasteries and churches were established in places that include Galloon, Aghalurcher, Belleisle, Gola, Derryvullen, Derrybrusk, Cleenish, Inishkeen, Lisgoole, Rossorry, Inishmacsaint and White Island.

Catherine is devout in her belief that it’s high time that this unique ecclesiastical heritage is given its rightful place in the contemporary representation of Fermanagh’s story.

The Lough Erne Pilgrim Way will create a journey linking ten of these monastic sites.

The project is led by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and delivered in partnership with Waterways Ireland, the Department for Communities Historic Environment Division, and Lough Erne Landscape Partnership, with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Inspired by the historic pilgrimage route along the Erne to Lough Derg in Donegal, the notion is to increase awareness and understanding of the history and heritage of the great island monasteries for visitors, residents and communities.

As well as their spiritual importance, the monasteries became important scholastic centres. Monks learned how to read and write, as these were fundamental skills for the role they had within their confines.

Both monks and nuns became critical figures, because they provided good quality education. Monasteries and convents established the best schools and had strict rules.

The majority of the students who were educated within these hallowed walls were children of wealthy townspeople and nobles whose parents or families were benefactors of the schools.

Catherine believes that education at this time also facilitated the dissemination of culture and heritage,

“Today, we have hospitals, schools and libraries. But in the Middle Ages, it was the monks who provided many of these services. Along with the nuns, they worked as teachers, writers, librarians, publishers, doctors, and nurses.”

Books were rare and expensive in the early Middle Ages because they had to be written by hand.

The monks didn’t just copy the words – they also decorated the first letters of the text and the borders of the manuscripts with elaborate patterns and motifs.

Today, these handwritten books are invaluable pieces of art.

For centuries, Fermanagh has captured the eye of many writers and poets, some more famous than others.

Catherine’s great-uncle, Gerry Quinn, lived in Strand Street, Enniskillen. He was a painter, a poet and a gentleman in the true sense of the word. He wrote this poem to reflect the deep affection he had for his county.

 

My Garden of Dreams

To scenes so enchanting

When sunlight is dancing

On waters of crystal

In lakes and in streams

Comes peaceful reflection

Of nature’s perfection

In County Fermanagh

My garden of dreams.

Where green hills are fading

In mountain blue shading

And the purple rich heather

Cloud kissed wearing shadows

Twine cornfields and meadows

In County Fermanagh

My garden of dreams.

With calm air receiving

Birds’ sweet song at evening

Ere wildfowl broadcast down

The silver moonbeams

From night’s silent hours

Dawn’s lustre on flowers

In County Fermanagh

My garden of dreams.

O’er this wonderful place

Such a strange magic lies

The heart need but wish

For its castle to rise

Just when the rainbow’s short sorrow

One wistful eye gleams

In County Fermanagh

My garden of dreams.

 

Catherine is in no doubt that the beauty of a place often goes hand in hand with the heritage, history and stories of the buildings, bridges, rivers, churches, monasteries, streets and schools that were here long before we were, and will be here long after we are gone.

Whether it’s the Workhouse, the monasteries, the Broadmeadow, or the many other parts of the county that she has been pivotal in developing through her role at Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, her fervour never wains.

She remains passionately aware of both the individual and collective value of the unique attributes that criss-cross this exhilarating landscape.

The fact that this proud Fermanagh woman excels in extolling their virtues is a blessing for which we should be truly thankful.

Anne Marie McAleese is a broadcaster, writer and author who considers Fermanagh as one of her favourite places. You can listen to her every Saturday morning on BBC Radio Ulster’s, ‘Your Place and Mine’, 8am-9am.