2 Best Sights in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland

On the riverbank stands the visitor center of Belleek Pottery Ltd., producers of Parian china; a fine, eggshell-thin, ivory porcelain shaped into dishes, figurines, vases, and baskets. There's a factory, showroom, exhibition, museum, and café. You can watch a 20-minute audiovisual presentation or join a 30-minute tour of the factory, where you can get up close and talk to craftspeople—there's hardly any noise coming from machinery in the workshops. Everything here is made by hand just as workers did back in 1857. The showroom is filled with beautiful but pricey gifts: a shamrock cup-and-saucer set costs about £59, and a Classic Connemara vase at £45. The company has a jewelry portfolio called Belleek Living featuring designs inspired by the Irish landscape. The most recent and somewhat unusual addition, which has found a new niche for a specialist customer in the U.S. market, is the production of a funeral urn. This is a bespoke Irish-themed urn, handcrafted as part of an elaborate process by casting a mold which is then cast in liquid clay, glazed and decorated with a shamrock.

Less known than some showier estates, this three-story Anglo-Irish mansion was built around 1730 for John Cole, father of the 1st Earl of Enniskillen. Topped off about 1760 with its distinctive two flanking colonnaded wings, the central house contains a surfeit of Palladian windows, keystones, and balustrades—thanks to, as one architectural historian put it, "the vaingloriousness of a provincial hand." Even more impressive is its bucolic, baroque setting, as the Cuilcagh Mountains form a wonderful contrast to the shimmering white-stone facade. Showstoppers in terms of design are the rococo plasterwork ceilings in the dining room; the Venetian Room; and the famous staircase—all ascribed to Robert West, one of Dublin's most famous stuccadores (plasterworkers). For a peek at the "downstairs" world, check out the restored kitchen and other service quarters. You can browse a gift shop and secondhand bookstore; holiday accommodations are available at the Butler's Apartment. Two greenhouses have been renovated and produce from them is available to buy in the shop and the historic 2-acre Kitchen Garden, which has been undergoing a £375,000 face-lift, is due for completion in 2022--23 when it will be returned to full horticultural production. A visitor center, opposite the walled garden, with an outdoor shop sells takeaway snacks.