Tully Castle

After lunch we visited Tully Castle, site of a horrendous atrocity. The Maguire clan ruled Fermanagh prior to 1600, while the O’Neils and O’Donnells ruled other parts of Ulster. King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth the First were determined to gain control of Ireland and, through numerous battles across the whole of Ireland, defeated the earls of Ireland. Their lands were confiscated and sold to colonists. One, Sir John Hume, took over much of Fermanagh. While he was away fighting on behalf of the English crown, one of the dispossessed Maguires attacked the area, including his home, Tully Castle. All the residents of the nearby village (Scottish settlers sponsored by Sir Hume) huddled in the fortified castle for protection. Lady Hume negotiated a surrender--the inhabitants of the castle would be allowed to leave and the Maguires could have the castle and its contents.

Lady Hume and her children were allowed to leave. Another 75 people (15 men, the rest women and children) were held prisoner and eventually slaughtered. The castle was abandoned afterwards.

From there we went to Lough Erne Resort, where the G8 meeting was held in 2013. Two of the resort’s staff talked to us for about 20 minutes about dealing with the FBI and KGB. They were smitten with Obama, who shook hands with the staff, ate the food provided and was a good guest. They were not as keen on Putin and his entourage. While the U.S., the British, Germans, etc. each took two lodges the resort (individual houses), the Russians took three. One was full of chefs, who made all of Putin’s meals from organic food. Putin was recovering from cancer and on a strict diet.

The resort's chief of staff dealt with the FBI every day--lots of calls and texts back and forth. The day they left, her phone was wiped clean of US contacts--remotely. No phone numbers or texts remained. Kind of creepy. Two guys went into the Russian lodges to change all the linens when Putin demanded hypoallergenic linen. They turned on the TV to watch sports while they worked. When they looked up, they were on the TV monitor. Cameras had been placed throughout the room. Also creepy. They made beds in record time.

The younger of the two women said: “Everyone tells us we should get over it (the G8), but we can’t. It was the most exciting thing I’ve ever been part of.”
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