Episode 3 – An Éirne/The Erne
The Erne
The River Erne flows across the border between North and South via many drumlin-filled Loughs on its way to the sea at Ballyshannon. Its waters have been used in many different ways throughout history and up to the present day. This beautifully filmed programme follows the flow of the river and hears some of its many stories along the way…
For ten years Seán Ó Rian and his family spent all their free weekends in their cruiser on the Erne River. Then disaster struck – Seán was diagnosed with prostate cancer and fearing for the future he sold his beloved boat. In this episode of Abhainn, after making a full recovery Seán and his family return to the waters of the Erne. ‘When I was ill I missed the river. I missed my boating friends. You make real friends on the river. Everyone looks after each other.’ The Erne navigation starts at Belturbet in Co.Cavan but crosses the border into Co.Fermanagh almost imediately. ‘Nobody knows where your boat comes from’, says Seán. ‘No boat flies a Union Jack or a tricolour. Everyone is equal on the river.’
The amazing drumlin-speckled landscape of Lough Oughter in Co Cavan flows onto Upper Lough Erne and Inish Corkish where local Butcher Pat O’Doherty rears pigs for his traditional Fermanagh Black Bacon. Writer and historian Séamas Mac Annaidh, a native of Enniskillen, tells the historical importance of the town’s strategic location between Upper and Lower Lough Erne, and about the effect of the Troubles on the town. ‘When I was growing up we lived on the main street and I remember that our windows were often broken by bomb explosions. But we knew no other life. It didn’t stop us playing or fishing by the river.’
During the Second World War the Allies had two important flying boat bases on Lower Lough Erne. A secret deal with De Valera’s government meant that they were allowed to fly through the ‘Donegal Corridor’, the narrow stretch of neutral Free State territory between Lough Erne and the Atlantic Ocean. As a young boy Joe O’Loughlin from the border town of Belleek was well aware of this ‘secret’ arrangement as the massive flying boats flew over his family’s farm! ‘You can imagine how exciting it was for myself, a ten year old kid scooting about on a bicycle, to go to the scene of the crashes later on and pick up souvenirs and that sort of thing.”
Recreational sailing on Lough Erne is a sport was that is said to have been pioneered by the area’s original Gaelic chieftains, the Maguire’s. Nowadays the tradition is carried on by the Lough Erne Yacht Club on many types of modern boats, as well as a fleet of restored Edwardian sailing boats known as ‘Fairies’.
Leaving the Lough, the river Erne passes through the border town of Belleek and on into Co.Donegal for the short run past Ballyshannon to its final frontier – the ocean.
Reporter-Presenter: Fachtna Ó Drisceoil
Produced & Directed by : Colm Kirwan