As both the county town and the largest town in Fermanagh County, Enniskillen enjoys a healthy reputation as one of the most essential towns in all of Ireland. While its business and commerce sectors make up an indispensable portion of Ireland's GDP, the true appeal of Enniskillen has less to do with its financial importance and more with the sheer amount of fascinating history that has permeated Enniskillen throughout its existence.
A walk through Enniskillen is like a virtual tour through the past and this is more than enough for thousands of people each year to visit the city. Among the various sites and locales that beckon tourists from far and wide, the famed Maguire's Castle is most likely the oldest and most impressive relic to be found. This masterpiece of stone design was probably finished in the late 1300s by Hugh the Hospitable. It wasn't until the 1500s, however, that Maguire and the English army was finally able to lay claim to this stronghold. This surge also led to the capture of the Enniskillen Castle in 1594, fully placing Enniskillen under English domination. Unfortunately, the farmers who toiled on their own private land in Enniskillen had their possessions forcefully taken from them and handed to English planters after Maguire had fully captured the city.
Strife and violence are a necessary and ubiquitous part of every nation's history and the above clearly demonstrates this fact for Enniskillen. Sadly, this was not the first incidence of terror in the city and it surely wouldn't be the last. During the crisis between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland during the 1970s and 80s, Enniskillen was a particularly treacherous hotbed of attack and the so-called "Troubles in Enniskillen" were matched by very few cities in the country in terms of danger. On November 8th, 1987, the Irish Republican Army bombed the city in an attempt to kill British soldiers who were in the area. Unfortunately, the bomb was placed in the wrong location and over one hundred Irish citizens were harmed in the Remembrance Day Bombing, causing eleven people to lose their lives on that fateful day. The rock band Demon immortalized the incident in the song Remembrance Day but this event was simply one in a series of fatal bombings and attacks by the IRA during The Troubles. The spark that ignited The Troubles happened further back in 1972 when, on August 26th, two Protestants from the Ulster Defence Regiment were killed by an IRA bomb. From that point on there were multiple bombings and drive-by shootings that targeted both Catholics and Protestants alike. Fortunately, the Remembrance Day Bombing caused many in Northern Ireland to finally say enough was enough and begin the peace process.
Though Enniskillen has been continually targeted for violent attacks and frightful peril, the city is now among the safest in all of Ireland. This is most fortunate considering the fact that, finally after all these years, one can simply walk around Enniskillen and take in the natural beauty and grandeur of the city without having to worry about being shot or killed.
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