Belle Isle Castle

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Belle Isle Castle is a castle on Belle Island near the village of Lisbellaw in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland . The property extends over 190 hectares. Belle Isle Castle was built as a single house in the early 17th century, but has since been expanded and fully restored. It now serves as a tourist attraction, hotel and is used for weddings. There is also a cooking school there. Since the beginning of the 17th century, the property has belonged to various nobles - including Ralph Gore, 1st Earl of Ross - who also lived in and expanded it. The property has always been open to the public since the first events took place there in 1760. In 1991 the castle was completely restored so that more visitors could visit it. In the castle there is a gallery, a lookout tower, a castle courtyard and a banquet hall. Accommodation options have been created in the coach house and in various farms on the property, all of which offer guests unique rooms in different styles. The property features English and Irish interiors, an open fireplace, work by Russian , Irish, and English painters, and a floor-to-ceiling panoramic window to the garden that was installed back in the 18th century.

history

Belle Isle Castle was built as a detached house around 1700 on behalf of Sir Ralph Gore, 4th Baronet , and was also inhabited by him after his grandfather, Sir Paul Gore, 1st Baronet , bought Belle Island. Sir Ralph Gore, 6th Baronet , the builder's grandson, was born in this house in 1725 and spent his life expanding it by adding farms and the tower and, with the help of architect Thomas Wright, planted the magnificent garden that stretches over the property extends to the shores of Lough Erne . After Gore's death in 1801, the now enlarged castle fell to his only surviving child, Lady Mary Hardinge , the wife of Sir Richard Hardinge, 1st Baronet .

After Lady Hardinge's death in 1824 and the death of her husband two years later, the couple's nephew, Rev. Sir Charles Hardinge, 2nd Baronet from Tonbridge , Kent , inherited the castle, but had no interest in it. In 1830 he sold the property for £ 68,000 to Rev. John Gray Porter of Kilskeery , whose descendants owned it until 1991. During this time, the porters had the castle expanded again by adding a number of office wings and farms. In 1991, a descendant of the Porters, Miss Lavinia Baird , sold the property to James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn , who bought it for his youngest son, Lord Nicholas Hamilton . The '' Abercorn '' family made the castle the tourist attraction it is today.

estate

Behind the castle, the Belle Isle Cookery School , the first modern cooking school in Northern Ireland, opened its doors in 2004 .

There are also opportunities for guests to practice shooting , sailing and hiking on the property.

Individual evidence

  1. a b Tenon Tours: Belle Isle Castle S / C . Archived from the original on April 3, 2014. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 3, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tenontours.com
  2. a b c d e f g h i j Timothy Belmont: Lord Belmont in Northern Ireland . Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  3. ^ Belle Isle Cookery School . Archived from the original on November 3, 2015. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 9, 2015.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.irishcookeryschool.com
  4. Belle Isle . © Belle Isle 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2015.

Coordinates: 54 ° 16 ′ 4.1 ″  N , 7 ° 33 ′ 23 ″  W.