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Belle Isle has been inhabited since the 11th century. Being an island, it was a natural safehaven for the first settlers as it could only be reached by a ford in Summer or boat in Winter.The island was originally called Ballymacmanus and was inhabited at this time by the Macmanus family. One of the compilers of the Annals of Ulster, Cathal Og MacManus, lived and died here and the five hundredth anniversary of his death in 1498 is commemorated by the memorial erected on the avenue. The Annals remained at Belle Isle until about 1636, and now are now in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

Following the Flight of the Earls in 1607, the lands of Belle Isle were granted by the Crown to an eminent soldier, Paul Gore. it was his descendant, however, Sir Ralph Gore, who built the first house on Belle Isle at the end of the seventeenth century. The house was quite modest in size and was at the North end of the castle.

His grandson, also called Sir Ralph Gore, was born at Belle Isle in 1725. He made further extensions to the house and created a magnificent garden which extended to the Lough shore. Sir Ralph was created Earl of Ross in 1772. He died in 1801 leaving Belle Isle to his only surviving child, Mary. She married an Englishman, Richard Hardinge, who sold Belle Isle in 1830 to the Rev John Porter for £68,000.

The Porters were a clerical family from England, and on purchasing, began the expansion and alteration of the house, which included the addition of the tower. The Coach House was built in 1856, as were the estate offices and farmyard. The Bridge House was also built around this time as a home for the ferryman until the building of the first bridge in 1880. At this time the estate stretched from Lisbellaw to Lisnaskea, and included a large part of Knockninny. In 1870, the Rev John Porter's son, John Grey Porter, built the first hotel on Lough Erne at Knockninny and had two of the original day-boats on the Lough. The next son called John Porter Porter expanded the house yet again by building the gallery, further bedrooms and the porch in 1907.

The last member of the Porter family, Miss Lavinia Baird, sold Belle Isle to the Duke of Abercorn in 1991. The Duke has bought the estate for his second son, Lord Nicholas Hamilton. The Duke lives at Barons Court, near Omagh in neighbouring County Tyrone.

In 1992 the Garden House was the first cottage to be converted as a holiday house. The conversion of the Castle which can sleep up to 14 persons, was completed the following year. The Coach House was converted in 1996 and the Courtyard in 1998. The original Garden House became the Belle Isle School of Cookery after a complete refurbishment in November 2003.

In spite of the recent developments on the estate, it is said that one of the most satisfactory aspects, of the story of Belle Isle, is that man has, at no stage in its history, sought to enter into unequal competition with nature.

Belle Isle Estate
Lisbellaw, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, BT94 5HG
Telephone +44 (0)28 6638 7231 Facsimile +44 (0)28 6638 7261
Email accommodation@belleislecastle.com