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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.
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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
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Belle
Isle at the end of the seventeenth century.
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The
house was quite modest in size and was at the north
end of the present house, now referred to as the Hamilton
Wing. 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.
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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.
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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, who is currently studying in Trinity
College, Dublin. 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.
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