Belleek pottery – Belleek pottery has been at the heart of the area for over 150 years. It was founded through the inspiration and determination of the local landlord, John C. Bloomfield of Castle Caldwell after he discovered China clay and feldspar on his estate- both key ingredients in the making of pottery. He provided the site, the raw materials and the necessary waterpower which drove the machinery via a giant water wheel. The vital finance was provided by a Dublin merchant, David McBirney and its first manager, Robert W. Armstrong was the initial creative driving force. The name “Belleek” is synonymous with quality and is one of Ireland’s leading brand names around the world. In 1989 a new £500,000 visitor centre was opened.

“The Shop that Jim Built” – “The shop that Jim Built” went up overnight and created a sensation in Ireland in 1952. It was built on the night of the 5th/ 6th of September using an old house on the site. The building was one storey and was originally built as a shop. Eight years later it became a pub I 1960. It was begun at 12:30am and finished at 8:50am on Saturday morning, it was built by James (Jimmy) Greenan who had spotted a loophole in the law which was promptly closed. All had ben mad ready in advance: doors, windows etc. a lighting plant provided illumination for the 23 men involved. One newspaper dubbed it, “The House that Jack Built”.

Belleek fort – the River Erne is approximately 70 miles long and the third biggest river system in Ireland. It begins its final journey to the Atlantic Ocean pouring over the falls of Belleek. Below this falls a flat flagstone provided s fiord from which Belleek gets its name- the mouth of the ford of the flagstone- Beal atha na Leice. This crossing place was of great strategic importance and at least four fortresses guarded this important gateway to ulster. The present fort dates from 1798 and succeeded an O’Donnell fort, two Norman forts of 1212 and 1250 and probably a Viking fort of the 9th century. In 1922 it was occupied by four forces in succession: A Specials, IRA, British Army and finally the Free State Army. It was the last place to be handed over to the Irish Government other than the Irish Ports in 1938. It was named the Belleek Redoubt 1798 when sketched by Captain Sir William Smith.

The Eel Weir – as part of the Erne Hydro-Electric Scheme and Erne Drainage of the 1940s and 1950s most of the old river landscape was wiped away including centuries old stone Eel Weirs. One of the eel weirs was replaced by a metal one which was fished until recent times during the winter months when the ls migrate to the Saragossa Sea to have their young after 8-10 years in the Erne System. The Border between Northern Ireland is marked on the bridge here. in 1946 a local newspaper says, “Within a few weeks nearly 2,000 will be employed on the £3,115,000 E.S.B Erne Hydro-Electric Scheme at Ballyshannon according to officials at the Doncaster firm, Cementation. Co Ltd. When the work gets into full production up to £5,000 a week in wages a week will be paid into tow. In 1950, Dublin and Belfast agreed on a joint plan to drain Lough Erne Area. The total cost of both schemes will be £1,090,000 of which the government of the Republic will pay £750,000 and the Six Counties £350,000. The river will be deepened from Roscor to Belleek where a new bridge will be built . the new river channel will have a capacity of 660,000 cubic feet per minute.

The Carlton Hotel – The Carlton Hotel was originally known as Ma Johnston’s Hotel and at one time was the only two-story slated building in the village. It was one of four hotels in Belleek catering for those who came for the renowned salmon and trout fishing of the Erne. These gentlemen anglers were supported by numerous local ghillies who often began before their masters and on hooking a salmon would send a runner so the gentleman could come along and play and land the fish. In 1971 the Carlton Hotel in Belleek was badly damaged by an explosion, which completely wrecked the sun lounge and foyer and again in1973 two explosions caused extensive damage to the Carlton Hotel and the Post Office in Belleek.

Belleek Market Day – According to a local newspaper, by 1960 the last of the traditional fairs in this part of Ireland were held in Belleek and Ederney until about two years before . in future cattle were to be sold in Cattle Marts, mainly to avoid the townspeople having to clear up a great mess on their doorways twelve times a yar. Despite its unregulated look this Belleek fair and other fairs had their own geography. The top half of the street was occupied by farmers and their animals from East of the village in the Mulleek area while those in the bottom right came from across the Erne and Garrison direction and those on the bottom left from the Corlea area in Donegal. Market days were held in1901 on Tuesdays and Saturdays while fairs were on the 27th of each month: the June Fair held on the 19th. In august 1961 the Annual Mart Show was held in Belleek and between two and three hundred cattle were entered.

The Barracks – this is the fourth village police barracks site in Belleek. These were staffed by members of the RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary) until 1922, then by the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) until 4th November 2001 it was renamed as the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland). Although heavily fortified it was attacked on several occasions during the Northern Ireland Troubles. In 1972 Reserve Constable keys from Kesh was killed by a rocket fired across the Erne, into Belleek Police Barracks. In 1976, a 300lb proxy bomb extensively damaged Belleek police station. In 1981 residents of Belleek were kept from their homes on December 22nd after a mortar attack on the barracks. Mortars were driven to the yard of the Carlton Hotel where they were fired but only two landed in the station compound and exploded.

The Thatch – The Thatch Coffee House is the oldest original thatched building in Fermanagh. It was owned by the Thornhill family who came to Belleek as pottery workers. Eddie Thornhill took a law case against the erne fishery company and wo for the people the right to have free trout fishing on the River Erne from Donegal Border to Lough Erne. Bill Thornhill was a popular if eccentric tow character who lived in a little cabin on the Rath Lane at the top of the village. Bill repaired clocks, gramophones etc. and had a great interest in wildlife and would feed the birds and other creatures during the cold days of winter. In 1950 the local press reports, “Belleek Man Sells a Rat- Mr. Bill Thornton, Belleek, who lives alone has about 30 rats and sold one to a ma for 8s 6d.”

The Village Pump – The Village Pump was a crucial element of town infrastructure not alone for the villagers but also for their domestic animals. The fast-flowing Erne especially in time of flood was not a good place to try and water cattle and a newspaper account of 1880 tells of the loss of five children being drowned taking water from the river in recent years. They had tried to fill their bucket up facing it upstream and in attempting to hold on as it suddenly filled thy had been pulled into the river. “F. W. Brackett & Co”, seen on the pump was found in 1898. Hand pumps like this do not seem to have figured greatly in their product range. It would have required a great deal of effort to raise water to the trough from the deep well underneath.

The Black Cat Cove – The Black Cat Cove, formerly the Tavern, was originally the Bloomfield Hotel and named after the local landlord J. C. Bloomfield of Castle Caldwell and later under the management of Arthur McHugh became the Commercial Hotel. Later the Daly family occupied the building as a pub/ grocery building and in1974 Fr Edward Daly was appointed Bishop of Derry having come to prominence in 1972- “Bloody Sunday”. Pictures of Edward Daly having a blood-stained white handkerchief while trying to escort the wounded to safety flashed around the world.

McCabe’s Forge – McCabe’s Forge stood at this spot one of the social centres of the village apart from its usual functions. For more than 50 years Mr. John ‘Johnny’ McCabe, carried on the trade of farrier, wheelwright and carpenter and he had one of the first motor cars for public hire in the North of Ireland. He did in 1955. 20 years before he erected a modern hall in Belleek and later a private residence, carrying out a major part of the work himself. In 1970 his wife Agnes McCabe died, removing from the community one of the last remaining links with the blacksmith trade locally.

St. Patrick’s Terrace – St. Patrick’s Terrace or Irish Row was a terrace of houses erected for the Irish workers at Belleek pottery. These were in contrast to the much more elaborate houses of Rathmore Terrace erected as accommodation for English workers. The owners needed to import skilled workers to head up and train a local workforce. Initially they had little success in efforts to bring potters to Belleek from England. The potteries there were not willing to release workers who held the secrets to a very complicated trade. However, a promise of high wags and good housing lured fourteen trained potters from Stoke-on-Trent and Worcester, two towns in the heart of the English potteries. Hours were long, 7am to 6pm, and the Christmas break was three days long. Under new management in 1885 workers were told they would be paid fortnightly and that talking, gossiping and reading were strictly prohibited.

Belleek Chapel – The original Belleek chapel was a mass house built from wood on a site facing the present church of Ireland. The first permanent chapel, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Belleek, was built in 1892 and was dedicated in 1893 by Bishop Donnelly. Belleek parish was once part of the extensive parish of Templecarn, which encircled Lough Derg and included Pettigo, Lettercran and Mulleek. The marble baptism font was presented to the church by the pottery workers in 1939. In 1957 in the first ever ordination ceremony in Belleek, Most Rev. Dr. Farren, Bishop of Derry, raised to the priesthood, Rev Edward. K. Daly, Cliff Road, Belleek, son of Thomas and Susan Daly. He had been granted a special concession in the privilege of home ordination, due to the recent death of his father.

Belleek Church of Ireland – The original Belleek Church of Ireland was Oughterdrum Church about four miles East of Belleek on a high promontory. Oughterdrum Church survived for almost two centuries from 1788/89. It was insisted upon by the local bishop rather than have it in Belleek. In the end the church succumbed to emigration and a vast decline in the number of parishioners. It was closed in1962. The parishioners who worshipped there moved on to Belleek church, at the head of the Main Street beside the Catholic church. It was consecrated in 1909 at the end of a long occupancy, first, as an old school and then as a church hall. The bell from Oughterdrum church has found a home in Belleek church. In2009 an extension was made to the building and three stained glass Potters’ windows installed telling the long links between their congregation and Belleek pottery. All three founders were members of the church of Ireland and the Masonic Order.
Rathmore Viewpoint- Rathmore Viewpoint above Belleek translates from the Irish as “The Great Rath” and at one point dominated a kingdom that included South Donegal, West Fermanagh and a part of Leitrim. It is approached by the “Raw” lane, a shortened version of Rath. The panoramic site dominates the landscape providing early warning of approaching enemies and was a defensive stronghold. Its earliest rulers were Cise and Sennach, sons of Cana, King of Uliadh (Ulster) in the 5th century. Their income derived from control of the vital ford of the Erne and the lucrative salmon and eel weirs of the river plus fees from traders proceeding up or down the River Erne. In 1959, four skeletons were found in the vicinity of the old rath, but no determination of age was possible.

Rathmore Terrace – Rathmore Terrace is a row of superior quality houses erected for English pottery workers to persuade them to settle in Belleek and pass on their pottery skills to local workers. Many became enamoured of the quality of life about Belleek and spent the rest of their lives there. William Henshall was born in Stoke in 1846 and died at Belleek in 1902. He was responsible for bringing the distinctive Belleek craft of basket and flower making here in 1867. Fred Slater likewise came to Belleek in 1893. He married a local girl and they owned a pub locally. In 1900 he designed and created the largest ever Belleek piece “The International Centrepiece” which won a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition of that year.

Belleek Railway Station – The closure of the Great Northern Railway on the 30th of September 1957 ended nearly 100 years of railway life in Belleek – stationmasters, porters, cattle trains, tourist excursion trains to Bundoran, smuggling and days governed by the times of the regular rail services. The railway which ran from Bundoran Junction to Bundoran was completed in 1866 having passed its final inspection in May. In Belleek its huge tunnel still exists under the Main Street and the remains of the railway bridge crossing the Erne can still be seen. This railway was a branch line of the Great Northern Railway system usually known as the G.N.R., the second biggest railway system in Ireland. The G.N.R. had a total of about 200 locomotives and 500 carriages. The number of staff varied through the years but it employed around 7,000 people in 1943.

Black Biddy’s – In those days pubs were generally a male preserve were sawdust covered the floor to absorb spittle from chewing tobacco. Bottles of Guinness were the chief alcohol consumed and this was generally bottled on the premises and labelled with the bar’s own Guinness labels with the name of the owner of the bar. Pottery workers and farmers were the chief clientele. At one time Belleek had four hotels and five pubs.

The Fiddlestone Pub – The Fiddlestone Pub was formerly owned by the Moohan family and Hannah Moohan’s name is still above the door. Moohan’s Bakery was at the back of the present Fiddlestone Pub and Tommy Moohan was the baker, and his brother Jimmy was the
driver for the firm. They had a 25 hundred weight Morris Commercial van. This vehicle was duty paid into the Free State so that they could sell in the State as well as in the North. In 1933, the Moohans had just completed their new cut stone bakery when Mr. De Valera began the Economic War, and the importation of bread was forbidden. This ruined the Moohans’ trade.

Belleek Courthouse – This was once the site of Belleek’s Courthouse with an adjoining R.I.C. Police Station later a post office. The chief cases heard were those of being drunk and disorderly – usually after a fair day and smuggling of goods and cattle across the Border. Postmen delivered on long routes of up to 20 miles daily with the additional assignment of delivering telegrams. They carried the news of the country with them and frequently had to read letters to those unable to read. In 1988, a retirement party was held in the Carlton Hotel, Belleek, for Mr Johnny McGee who was the first motorised postman in the Belleek area and had served for 35 years.

Cleary’s Public House was formerly a hotel and a Police Barrack as the downstairs cell indicates. The Cleary family have a long association with Belleek Pottery; two brothers having been managers in succession and a current family member is head of design.
The premises were known as the Corner House. In 1987, Clear’s Corner Bar, Belleek, staged a very colourful version of The Good Old Days’, to celebrate 100 years in business with customers dressed up for the occasion.