On the breaking out of the war in 1641, the town was defended by its founder and governor, then Sir William Cole, who despatched the first intelligence of that event to the English government; and so active were the inhabitants in opposing the enemy, that they not only repulsed the insurgents with great loss, but also made themselves masters of the castle of Maguire. While the Earl of Ormonde acted in concert with the royalists, this town opposed the parliamentarian interest and firmly resisted every attack made upon it by the forces of that party; but it was finally compelled to surrender to Sir Charles Coote.

Lord Galmoy was sent with a detachment of James's army to reduce them, and for this purpose invested Crom castle, their frontier garrison, situated on Lough Erne; after an unsuccessful stratagem to produce intimidation, by ordering two painted tin cannons to be drawn by eight horses towards the fort, the garrison, being reinforced from Enniskillen, made a vigorous sally upon the besiegers, drove them from the trenches, and returned in triumph with considerable booty and the mock cannon which had with so much apparent difficulty been drawn up and planted against them. So successful and formidable were the frequent excursions of this band, that the ruling party in Dublin actually expected them speedily at their gates; and at length a plan was formed for attacking the town at once by three different armies. For this purpose, Macarthy, an experienced officer, who had been recently created a peer, encamped at Belturbet with 7000 men; Sarsfield, another general equally distinguished, led an army from Connaught; while Fitz-James, Duke of Berwick, prepared to attack it from the north. The Enniskilleners, aware of the movements of the Connaught army only, marched out of the town with great rapidity, surprised the camp and routed the forces with much slaughter. On the approach of the Duke of Berwick, some companies sent from the town to seize a post which they might have defended against his numbers, ventured beyond the prescribed bounds and were cut to pieces; but on the approach of Hamilton, the governor of the town, the Duke of Berwick retired with his forces.

Macarthy, at the head of an army which had already defeated Lord Inchiquin in Munster, marched towards Enniskillen and invested Crom castle; a detachment under an officer named Berry was sent to the relief of the castle, but finding it necessary to retreat before a very superior force, which had been detached by the enemy to intercept him, he was pursued and a skirmish followed, in which the townsmen were victorious. The arrival of the main bodies respectively under the command of Macarthy and Wolsley, the latter, one of Col. Kirk's officers, brought on a general engagement near Newtown-Butler and Lisnaskea, from both which places the battle has taken its name. The inferiority of the Enniskilleners in numbers was counterbalanced by superior resolution and energy; they defeated and pursued the assailants, granting quarter to none but officers; about 2000 were killed in the engagement, and of 500, who plunged into the lake, only one escaped drowning; about the same number of officers were taken prisoners, among whom was their general Macarthy.

During the war of the resolution the inhabitants firmly adhered to the cause of William III., whom they proclaimed King; they chose Gustavus Hamilton as their governor, and bravely defended the town, which became a refuge for Protestants of the north-west, from all assaults of the adverse party; and from the embarrassment they caused to Jame’s forces during the reign of Londonderry, the Protestants assembled in the town soon became celebrated as the “Enniskillen men.”

Lord Galmoy was sent with a detachment of Jame’s army to reduce them, and for this purpose invested Crom Castle, their frontier garrison, situated on Lough Erne; after an unsuccessful stratagem to produce intimidation, by ordering two painted tin cannons to be drawn by eight horses towards the fort, the garrison, being reinforced from Enniskillen, made a vigorous sally upon the besiegers, drove them from the trenches, and returned in triumph with considerable booty and the mock cannon which had with so much apparent difficulty been drawn up and planted against them. The ruling party in Dublin actually expected them speedily at their gates; and a length a plan was formed for attacking the town at once by three different armies.

The medieval castle Enniskillen stands on what was once the stronghold of the Maguires, the ruling family of Fermanagh until defeated by the English in the 17th Century.

White Island is about the size of Devenish Island, close to the northern shore of Lower Lough Erne in Castle Archdale Bay. It was the site of an early monastery, and is famous for its enigmatic statutes. The statutes are lined in a row against the wall of the remains of a 12th century church and combine Christian symbols in a wild, other worldly pagan style. Boa Island, accessible by car and pictured to the left, also has fascinating statutes.