There is evidence of
Neolithic settlers in the area, and later legend has it that
Fionn mac Cumhail's men sharpened their swords on the big limestone rock at Belleek Falls. (The flagstone, which gave its name to the area, was destroyed together with the falls during drainage works in the 1880s). The
Battle of Belleek 1593, also known as the
Battle of the Erne Fords, took place in the build-up to the
Nine Years' War. Belleek along with
Pettigo was occupied in the summer of 1922 in an action by elements of the
I.R.A. designed to undermine the position of
Northern Ireland. Two companies of regular British Army troops, sent in by the Secretary of State for the Colonies,
Winston Churchill, in what was known as
The Battle of Belleek, used artillery to dislodge them from the town and Battery fort situated in
County Donegal overlooking the town. The British Army remained at the fort until August 1924. Belleek was one of several Catholic border villages in Fermanagh that would have been transferred to the
Irish Free State had the recommendations of the
Irish Boundary Commission been enacted in 1925.
The Troubles Located on the border, there were a number of
incidents in Belleek during
the Troubles – which resulted in eight fatalities between 1972 and 1992. ==Places of interest==