County Fermanagh, and indeed Enniskillen itself, was not immune from the effects of what is euphemistically referred to as “The Troubles” – an internal ‘war’ which tore the two communities in Northern Ireland apart from 1968 to 1998.
The most horrific event in County Fermanagh and Enniskillen during the Troubles was the Irish Republican Army’s (IRA’s) bombing of the town’s Remembrance Day Commemorations at the War Memorial on 8 November 1987. The bomb resulted in the death of 10 civilians and 1 police officer with a further 63 seriously wounded. A twelfth person, the headmaster of a local secondary school, later died after 13 years in a coma. I refer to this bombing further in my War Memorial review.
HRH Diana, Princess of Wales (with HRH the Prince of Wales) visited Enniskillen in aftermath of the IRA’s Remembrance Day bombing, visiting the injured and attending the funerals of the victims.
Six years later, Princess Diana, who herself met a tragic end in a car crash in a tunnel in Paris on 31 August 1997, returned to Enniskillen and attended the Remembrance Day Commemorations on Sunday, 14th November, 1993.
While in Enniskillen on this occasion, Princess Diana added the final stone to this small Peace Cairn (main picture) located by the lough less than 50 metres from the War Memorial (down the alley on your left just before you cross East Bridge on the way into the town centre).
The cairn was built by young Fermanagh people, from both communities, as a sign of, and hope for, peace after the Remembrance Day bombing.
This blog entry is one of a group (loop) of entries based on many trips to Enniskillen. I suggest you continue with my next entry – Erneside Shopping Centre: “Fetch me a Brandy” – or to start the loop at the beginning go to my introductory entry – “Fare thee well Enniskillen, ………..”
The Rambling Wombat 