The County Fermanagh War Memorial (also known as the Enniskillen War Memorial) stands in

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

, Northern Ireland. It was originally constructed to commemorate the men of the town killed during the First World War, particularly those serving with the local regiments, the

6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons The 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1689 as Sir Albert Cunningham's Regiment of Dragoons. One of the regiment's most notable battles was the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690. It became ...

and the

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an Ireland, Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th (Ma ...

. It was later altered to also commemorate those killed in the Second World War. The memorial was the site of an IRA bombing on 8 November 1987, during a

Remembrance Sunday Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...

ceremony. Photographs of the war memorial in the aftermath became emblematic of this stage of

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

and the site was visited shortly afterwards by British prime minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

for a rescheduled remembrance ceremony. The memorial was renovated in 1990-91 and a new section added to commemorate those killed in the bombing. The memorial has been visited by the Irish

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

on Remembrance Sunday each year since 2012.

Original memorial

The County Fermanagh War Memorial Committee was formed after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and in 1920 sought designs for a war memorial by a notification posted in the ''Architect and Building News''. The estimated cost was stated to be £1,500 and the deadline for entries was 20 November. A winning design had been chosen by early 1921. The memorial was built by Gaffin & Co., whose showroom, the Carrara Marble and Granite Works, was at 63

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George IV of the United Kingdom, George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash (architect), J ...

in London. The main figure is of a British First World War soldier, in peaked cap with a rifle, resting on arms reversed. This was cast in bronze from a sculpture by a Northern Irish artist. The artist could not find a suitable photograph to work from so based the soldier on a painting by William Gibbes Mackenzie displayed at

Belfast City Hall Belfast City Hall (; Ulster-Scots: ) is the civic building of Belfast City Council located in Donegall Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It faces North and effectively divides the commercial and business areas of the city centre. It is a Grad ...

, which shows Thomas McNeilly of the

Royal Irish Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an light infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal ...

standing at the temporary cenotaph erected in Belfast for the city's Peace Day commemoration on 9 August 1919. The sculpture stood on a limestone plinth is engraved with the phrase "OUR GLORIOUS DEAD" and the years "1914-1918". The plinth also showed the names, ranks, decorations and regiments of 612 local men killed in the war and a coat of arms featuring

Enniskillen Castle Enniskillen Castle is situated in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It was originally built in the 16th century and now contains the Fermanagh County Museum and a museum for the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards and Royal In ...

, which is associated with the local

and

regiments. The stepped base has a bronze depiction of a crossed sword and rifle, reflecting the roles of the two regiments (cavalry and infantry). The monument was unveiled by the last Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

Edmund FitzAlan-Howard, 1st Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent Edmund Bernard FitzAlan-Howard, 1st Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent (1 June 1855 – 18 May 1947), known as The Honourable Edmund Fitzalan-Howard between 1855 and 1856, Lord Edmund Fitzalan-Howard between 1856 and 1876, and Lord Edmund Talbot betw ...

on 24 October 1922. At the unveiling wreaths were laid by Catholic and Protestant war orphans and an honour guard was provided by the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, the

Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regim ...

and the Royal Horse Artillery. Four senior non-commissioned officers from the Fusiliers stood guard at each corner of the memorial during the unveiling ceremony. Following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the dates "1939-1945" and the names of the dead from that war (including those who served with the Merchant Navy) added to the plinth.

1987 bombing

World War I memorials World War I is remembered and commemorated by various war memorials, including civic memorials, larger national monuments, war cemeteries, private memorials and a range of utilitarian designs such as halls and parks, dedicated to remembering th ...

in Ireland had been targeted by Republicans before and during

, being seen as symbols of the British Army. The

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

(IRA) carried out a bombing at the County Fermanagh War Memorial during a

ceremony on 8 November 1987. This killed 11 civilians attending the ceremony and injured 63 others, one of those injured never regained consciousness and died of his injuries in December 2000. The war memorial was damaged by flying debris, which pockmarked the plinth. The war memorial immediately became a symbol of this period of The Troubles. A photograph of the memorial and the bomb-damaged St Michael's Hall community centre was featured on the front page of the ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' the day after the bombing. Similar photographs featured in the newspaper over the following two days. The death toll from this bombing, and news of a second, larger bomb planned to explode the same day at a ceremony in

Tullyhommon Tullyhommon or Tullyhomman ()Northern Ireland Placenames Project
is a townlan ...

, shocked many people and led to a loss of support for the IRA in the Republic of Ireland. In response to the bombing the British prime minister

attended a rescheduled remembrance ceremony at the war memorial on 22 November. The bombing had the effect of increasing attendance at remembrance ceremonies across Ireland and led to the

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. Membership Service in th ...

resuming sales of

remembrance poppies A remembrance poppy is an artificial flower worn in some countries to commemorate their military personnel who died in war. Remembrance poppies are produced by veterans' associations, which exchange the poppies for charitable donations used to g ...

in the Republic of Ireland. The British-Irish singer

Chris de Burgh Christopher John Davison (born 15 October 1948), known professionally as Chris de Burgh ( ), is a British-Irish singer-songwriter and musician. He started out as an art rock performer but subsequently started writing more pop-oriented material ...

's song "At the War Memorial" was written in response to the attack.

1990-91 renovation and recent history

The County Fermanagh War Memorial was renovated in 1990-91 by Phillip Flanagan and Richard Pierce. The world war engravings were recut and a new section, high, added to the plinth. The additional section contains depictions of 11 doves (each a unique sculpt) to commemorate those killed in the 1987 bombing and their names were also added to the memorial. The central section of the plinth was also painted dark red around this time (photographs from 1987 show it as natural stone). After the renovation, the memorial stands high and approximately square in plan. In 2012 the Irish

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...

visited the memorial on Remembrance Sunday to lay a green laurel wreath on behalf of the Irish government. This marked the start of an annual tradition that was continued by his successor,

Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2017 to 2020 and from 2022 to 2024, as Tánaiste from 2020 to 2022, and as leader of Fine Gael from 2017 to 2024. A Teachta Dála, ...

. A separate memorial to the 12 people whose deaths were caused by the 1987 bombing was unveiled on 8 November 2017 (the 30th anniversary of the event). it was initially sited on land owned by the Catholic Church's St Michael's Diocesan Trust but was removed within hours as the church had not granted its permission. In 2019 it was announced that the memorial would be installed at

The Clinton Centre The Clinton Centre is situated on the site of the Remembrance Day bombing on 8 November 1987 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the ...

, which stands on the site of a building destroyed by the bombing. There are plans to carry out works to visually connect the new memorial with the existing war memorial.

Gallery

File:Enniskillen_War_Memorial_(inscription)_(geograph_5557994).jpg, Detail of the main inscription and coat of arms File:Crossed Rifles, Enniskillen War Memorial (geograph 5557988).jpg, Detail of crossed rifle and sword at the base of the plinth The_War_Memorial,_Enniskillen_(geograph_5557997).jpg, Detail of the sculpture atop the plinth CenotaphBelmoreStEnniskillen.JPG, The rear of the memorial

References

{{Reflist Enniskillen Military history of County Fermanagh Monuments and memorials in Northern Ireland World War I memorials in Northern Ireland World War II memorials in the United Kingdom