The name Lisnaskea comes from
Lios na Scéithe meaning "fort of the shield". North of the village, in the townland of Cornashee, This is believed to be
Sciath Ghabhra (Skeagoura), the
coronation place of the
Maguires, who were kings and chiefs of
Fermanagh. 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. 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. 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. 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". 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. The village came under the control of the
Earls of Erne in 1821. They established the market in the town while bolstering and controlling development around the high street.
The Troubles In December 2013, suspected
dissident republicans fired shots at Lisnaskea
PSNI station. There were no casualties.
Workhouse Lisnaskea Poor Law Union was formally declared on 27 June 1840, and in August
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. In 1847, additional accommodation was erected for 130 inmates. During
'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. A large iron pot, said to have held 300 gallons of
gruel, rested at one time in its gardens. ==Sport==