Garrison is a village near

Lough Melvin Lough Melvin ( ; ) is a lake in the northwest of the island of Ireland on the border between County Leitrim (in Republic of Ireland, Ireland) and County Fermanagh (in the United Kingdom). It is internationally renowned for its unique range of p ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. The Roogagh River runs through the village. In the 2021 census it had a population of 411 people. It is situated within Fermanagh and Omagh district.

Toponymy

The village's name comes from a military barracks and its garrison of troops established in the village by

William III of England William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, Zeeland, Lordship of Utrecht, Utrec ...

, following the

Battle of Aughrim The Battle of Aughrim () was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the largely Irish Army (Kingdom of Ireland), Irish Jacobitism, Jacobite army loyal to James II of England, James II and the forces of Will ...

in 1691.

History

Garrison was one of several border villages in Fermanagh that would have been transferred to the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

had the recommendations of the Irish Boundary Commission been enacted in 1925. The Melvin Hotel, previously owned by the McGovern family, was blown up in January 1972 during the middle of a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

wedding reception, by the IRA, reportedly as retaliation for allowing members of the security forces to stay on the premises. The

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ; Ulster-Scots: '), is the police service responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it ...

came under gun attack in the town on 21 November 2009.

Tourism

Tourist activities in the area include golfing, fishing, hill-walking, water sports, horse-riding, cycling, camping and caving. The Lough Melvin Holiday Centre is in the area. There are two pubs (The Melvin Bar and The Riverside Bar) and a restaurant (The Bilberry).

Transport

Ulsterbus Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink (Northern Ireland), Translink, the brand name for the subsidiary operating companies of the Northern Ireland Transpor ...

route 64 serves Garrison on Thursday with two journeys to Belleek and Belcoo and one journey to Letterbreen and

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

. 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 Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Lough Melvin

Gillaroo

, which to the west of Garrison village, is home to the

gillaroo The gillaroo (''Salmo stomachicus''; historically included in ) is a species of trout which eats primarily snails and is only proven to inhabit Lough Melvin in Ireland. The name gillaroo is derived from the irish language, Irish for "red fell ...

or '

salmo ''Salmo'' is a genus of ray-finned fish from the subfamily Salmoninae of family (biology), family Salmonidae, and is part of the tribe (biology), tribe Salmonini along with the sister genera ''Salvelinus'' and ''Salvethymus''. Almost all ''Salmo ...

stomachius', a species of

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

which eats primarily snails. The name 'gillaroo' is derived from the Irish ''giolla rua'' meaning 'red fellow'. This is due to the distinctive golden colour on its flanks with bright crimson and vermillion spots. While other lakes also contain the gillaroo, a unique gene found in the Lough Melvin trout has not been found in other populations and experiments carried out by

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

established that the Lough Melvin gillaroo species has not been found anywhere else in the world. The sonaghan trout (Salmo nigripinnis) is a sub-species of trout that is also unique to Lough Melvin.

Notable residents

* Mick Moohan, one time cabinet minister in the New Zealand Government

References

External links

Culture Northern Ireland website - Entry on Garrison
(archived 2007) {{authority control Villages in County Fermanagh Townlands of County Fermanagh Fermanagh and Omagh district