Fitzgeralds Hotel Donegal

Fitzgerald's Hotel in Bundoran Town, Co Donegal is the ideal base from which to enjoy Sight-seeing and Touring Holidays of Donegal and the West of Ireland, including Co Sligo, Co Leitrim and Co Fermanagh. The region has a wide range of attractions for visitors of all ages including megalithic burial grounds, ancient Castles, Abbeys, Wildlife Parks and of course the renowned Donegal coastal scenery.

Castle Coole - a magnificent neo-classical house designed by James Wyatt, family home of the Earls of Belmore. It has remarkably fine interiors and exquisite furniture and furnishings from before 1830.

Located on the edge of Enniskillen, Castle Coole is one of the treasures of the National Trust. Designed by James Wyatt and completed in 1798 for the first Earl of Belmore, Castle Coole’s interior was created by some of the leading craftsmen of the 18th Century. Marble chimney-pieces were carved by Westmacott, plasterwork created by Joseph Rose and scagioli columns
the work of Bartoli. Magnificent State Rooms with their sumptuous Regency furnishings, include The State Bedroom prepared for a visit by George IV in 1821.

The surrounding 700 acre estate is a fitting setting for the mansion with parkland, Lough Coole and extensive woods. Visitors can also enjoy walks through The Grand Yard, Servants Quarters, Ice House, Servant’s Tunnel and view the original Belmore Coach. Check with property regarding events, music and recitals.

ADDRESS: Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, BT74 6JY
TEL: 028-6632 2690
FAX: 028-6632 5665
EMAIL: castlecoole@nationaltrust.org.uk
WEBSITE: www.ntni.org.uk

More information on Castle Coole

Castle Coole was constructed between 1789-1798 as the summer retreat of Armar Lowry-Corry, the 1st Earl of Belmore. Lord Belmore was the Member of Parliament for County Tyrone in the former Irish Houses of Parliament in Dublin and a wealthy heir to 70,000 acres (283 km²) of land throughout Ireland, acquired by ancestors with a successful background in merchantry. The income generated by the estates allowed Castle Coole to be constructed at a cost of £57,000 in 1798, equivalent to approximately £20 million today. The siting on the comparatively small 1200 acre (5 km²) estate in County Fermanagh was primarily due to its unspoilt rural location and natural beauty amongst ancient oak woodland and small lakes, yet with close proximity to the market town of Enniskillen for the domestic labour necessary for a large mansion. Additionally, several smaller family residences had been built on the Castle Coole estate preceding the mansion, including a dwelling of the King James period, later deliberately destroyed by fire and a Queen Anne house built in 1709.

Following the passage of the 1800 Act of Union, the law politically uniting Britain and Ireland, the family moved from their main residence, a small townhouse in Sackville Street, Dublin to Castle Coole, as the raison d’être for living in Dublin, to be in close proximity to the Parliament, no longer applied.

In 1951, the 7th Earl of Belmore sold the mansion to the National Trust, prompted by two sets of death duties or inheritance tax when his cousins, the 5th and 6th Earls of Belmore, died without issue 18 months apart. The National Trust opens the mansion to visitors during the summer months, whilst the estate can be visited year-round. Between 1980-1988, the mansion was closed to the public whilst the National Trust undertook restoration work involving the dismantling of the façade to replace metal connectors holding it in place. To celebrate the re-opening, the now deceased Queen Mother was invited to Castle Coole.

The Castle Coole estate was purchased in 1656 by the Belfast merchant John Corry, the grandfather of the 1st Earl. The orientation of the mansion was so that the grand entertaining rooms to the back overlooked the main lake on the estate, Lough Coole. Derived from the Irish Gaelic cúil meaning seclusion, Lough Coole, “the secluded lake”, is nestled in a basin surrounded by the Killynure hills. A rath here and a crannog in Lough Coole itself are reminders that the area has been settled since prehistoric times. Other lakes on the estate include Lough Yoan and Brendrum Lough.

Much of the native oak woodland remains, although a considerable portion of the estate has been historically given over to agriculture and letted to local farmers, a practice which continues today. Numerous out-buildings can be found on the estate, those of interest include a Grand Yard, a general workplace housing stables, a Tallow House originally used for candle-making, now a gift shop and reception area, a Servants Tunnel leading ultimately to the basement of the mansion and the only route from which servants could enter and exist the main building, a Laundry House, a Dairy and an Ice House. A ha-ha, a sunken ditch to control livestock movements without the disturbance on the landscape resulting from a fence or a wall, can be found near the mansion.