Editing Lisnaskea (section)

==History==
The name Lisnaskea comes from ''Lios na Scéithe'' meaning "fort of the shield". North of the village, in the townland of Cornashee,<ref name=Pla/> is a large [[burial mound]] within a round enclosure, which is a [[scheduled monument]].<ref>https://apps.communities-ni.gov.uk/nismr-public/Details.aspx?MonID=10960 - Search Retrieved May 12, 2018</ref> This is believed to be ''Sciath Ghabhra'' (Skeagoura), the [[coronation]] place of the [[Maguire]]s, who were kings and chiefs of [[Fermanagh]].<ref>FitzPatrick, Elizabeth. ''Royal Inauguration in Gaelic Ireland C. 1100-1600''. Boydell Press, 2004. pp.84-85</ref> Nearby is another [[ringfort]] known as ''Lios Uí Néill'' (Lisoneill). The name Lisnaskea may be a combination of the 'lis' element of Lisoneill and 'skea' from Skeagoura.<ref name=Pla/> There is also evidence of a much earlier ringfort (with [[Radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon]] dates of 359–428 AD) in the townland of Castle Balfour Demesne,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stout |first1=Matthew |title=The Irish Ringfort |date=1997 |publisher=Four Courts Press |location=Dublin |pages=18, 28 }}</ref> suggesting the area was inhabited from a very early date. The ruins of the old monastery, associated with St Ronan, who died sometime before 635 AD, are to the west of the town.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lisnaskea Conservation Area|url=http://www.planningni.gov.uk/index/policy/supplementary_guidance/conservation/conservation_map/conservation_lisnaskea.htm |website=Planning Portal |access-date=19 April 2015|date=2006-11-09 }}</ref>

In 1618, during the [[Plantation of Ulster]], [[Castle Balfour]] was built by Scotsman James, Lord Balfour, and its remains are just off the Main Street of Lisnaskea.<ref name=Fla>{{cite book |last1=Flanagan |first1=Laurence |title=A Dictionary of Irish Archaeology |date=1992 |publisher=Gill and Macmillan |location=Dublin |pages=50–51 }}</ref>
[[File:Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh.jpg|left|thumb|Market Square in Lisnaskea {{Circa|1907}}]]
In the [[Irish Rebellion of 1641]], it was noted that: ''"At Lissenskeah they hanged, or otherwise killed, above 100 persons, most of them of the Scottish nation"''.<ref>''Parliamentary Memoirs of Fermanagh and Tyrone, from 1613 to 1885''</ref> The castle was altered in 1652 and damaged in 1689, but remained inhabited into the 19th century. It was restored and conserved in the 1960s and 1990s.<ref name=Doe>{{cite web |title=Castle Balfour |url=http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/05_pl_monuments_co_fermanagh.pdf |website=Northern Ireland Environment Agency |access-date=18 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402020206/http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/05_pl_monuments_co_fermanagh.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2014 }}</ref>

The village came under the control of the [[Earl Erne|Earls of Erne]] in 1821. They established the market in the town while bolstering and controlling development around the high street.<ref>[http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/town_Home.aspx?co=5&to=118&ca=0&sca=0&navID=1 Culture Northern Ireland culturenorthernireland.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311001953/http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/town_Home.aspx?co=5&to=118&ca=0&sca=0&navID=1 |date=11 March 2007}}</ref>

===The Troubles===
{{main|The Troubles in Lisnaskea}}
In December 2013, suspected [[dissident republican]]s fired shots at Lisnaskea [[PSNI]] station. There were no casualties.<ref>{{cite news |title=Shots fired at Lisnaskea police station |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-25501819 |access-date=19 April 2015 |agency=BBC News NI |date=24 December 2013}}</ref>

===Workhouse===
Lisnaskea Poor Law Union was formally declared on 27 June 1840, and in August [[Sir Arthur Brooke, 2nd Baronet|Sir Arthur Brooke]] was elected chairman. The workhouse was built (at a total cost of over £6,400) on a six-acre site to the south of Lisnaskea purchased from Lord Erne to accommodate 500 inmates, the first of whom were received on 25 February 1843. During 1846, the number of inmates rose from 263 to 817 by the end of the year.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

In 1847, additional accommodation was erected for 130 inmates. During [[Irish revolutionary period|'The Troubles' in the early 1920s]], the workhouse was used to house soldiers of the [[Royal Hampshire Regiment]]. The workhouse later resumed its operation until 1940 when it was used for men of the 8th Battalion of the [[Sherwood Foresters]]. The inmates were transferred to [[Enniskillen]], and in 1948 to [[Armagh]]. Eventually, part of the workhouse was used for a time as the headquarters of Lisnaskea Fire Brigade. Later, the buildings were adapted for a mixture of residential and commercial use.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh |url=http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Lisnaskea/ |website=The Workhouse |access-date=19 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Lisnaskea Workhouse |url=http://www.lisnaskeaworkhouse.org/history.html |website=Ulster Workhouse and Famine Trust |access-date=19 April 2015}}</ref>

A large iron pot, said to have held 300 gallons of [[gruel]], rested at one time in its gardens.<ref name=San/> In July 2011, part of the upper floor of the building was completely gutted in a fire, believed to be malicious.<ref>{{cite news|title=Community saddened at workhouse fire|url=http://fermanaghherald.com/2011/07/community-saddened-at-workhouse-fire/|access-date=19 April 2015|agency=Fermanagh Herald|date=27 July 2011}}</ref>