Garrison, County Fermanagh

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Garrison
Irish: an Garastún
Garrison is located in Northern Ireland
Garrison
Garrison
 Garrison shown within Northern Ireland
Population 357 (2001 Census)
Irish grid reference G941518
   – Belfast  109 miles 
District Fermanagh
County County Fermanagh
Country Northern Ireland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town ENNISKILLEN
Postcode district BT93
Dialling code 028, +44 28
EU Parliament Northern Ireland
UK Parliament Fermanagh and South Tyrone
NI Assembly Fermanagh and South Tyrone
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
Fermanagh

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Garrison is a small village near Lough Melvin in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The Roogagh River runs through the village. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 357 people.[1] It is within the Fermanagh District Council area.

According to the UK Met Office, the highest temperature ever recorded in Northern Ireland is 30.8 °C (87.4 °F) at Knockarevan, Garrison on 30 June 1976.[2]

Tourism

Visitors to Garrison can enjoy a wide range of activities including golfing, fishing, hill-walking, water sports, horse-riding, cycling, camping and caving. The Lough Melvin Holiday Centre[3] caters for large groups and there is a plethora of local guesthouses and chalets to let. Two local pubs – The Melvin Bar and The Riverside Bar – provide music and craic and the local restaurant – The Bilberry – is well established and well renowned in the North-West region.

Transport

Ulsterbus route 64 serves Garrison on Thursday with two journeys to Belleek and Belcoo and one journey to Letterbreen and Enniskillen.[4] Belleek, approximately five miles away is served by Bus Éireann route 30 every two hours each way for most of the day plus an overnight coach. This route operates to Donegal, Cavan, Dublin Airport and Dublin.[5]

Lough Melvin

Lough Melvin in Ireland is home to the Gillaroo or 'salmo stomachius' - a species of trout which eats primarily snails. Gillaroo is derived from the Irish for 'red fellow' (Giolla Rua). This is due to the fish's distinctive colouring. It has a bright buttery golden colour on its flanks with bight crimson and vermillion spots. The gillaroo is characterised by deep red spots and a "gizzard", which is used to aid the digestion of hard food items such as water snails. Experiments carried out by Queens University, Belfast established that the Lough Melvin gillaroo species cannot be found anywhere else in the world. They feed almost exclusively on bottom living animals (snails, sedge fly larva and freshwater shrimp) with the exception of late summer when they come to the surface to feed and may be caught on the dry fly. Other lakes reputed to contain the gillaroo are Lough Neagh, Lough Conn, Lough Mask and Lough Corrib. However, the unique gene found in the Lough Melvin trout has not been found in some 200 trout populations in Ireland or Britain.

The sonaghan trout (Salmo nigripinnis) is another species unique to Lough Melvin. It can have a light brown or silvery hue with large, distinctive black spots. There are sometimes small, inconspicuous red spots located along its posterior region. Its fins are dark brown or black with elongated pectorals. Sonaghan are found in areas of open, deep water, where they feed on mid-water planktonic organisms.

History

Garrison is named from a barracks erected by William III who halted here after the Battle of Aughrim.

The Melvin Hotel, previously owned by the McGovern family, was blown up, during the middle of a Catholic wedding reception, by the IRA reportedly as retaliation for allowing members of the security forces to stay on the premises.[citation needed]

The Police Service of Northern Ireland came under gun attack in the town on 21 November 2009 [6]

Michael Moohan, one time minister for railways in the New Zealand Government was born in Garrison.

See also

References

  1. NI Neighbourhood Information Service
  2. Meto.gov.uk
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. [1][dead link]
  5. [2][dead link]
  6. Fermanagh police officers return fire after attack, BBC News, 22 November 2009.