THE historic Belle Isle estate and its island castle, has been sold to a Co Fermanagh business family.
The 448 acre estate on the banks of Lough Erne, which dates back to the 15th century, was put up for sale in July 2023 with a £7.5 million asking price.
The estate last changed hands in 1991, when it was bought by James Hamilton, the fifth Duke of Abercorn, whose family seat is the Baronscourt Estate, located near Newtownstewart in Co Tyrone.
The new owners are the Crawford family, headed by Lisbellaw businessman Ronnie Crawford.
Mr Crawford, whose family own a marina close to the Belle Isle estate, runs RTD Crawford, a major timber operation in Lisbellaw, which supplied the wood for Cuilcagh Mountain Boardwalk.
The deal price has not been disclosed.
Alongside the 17th-century listed castle, a walled garden, 17 cottages and apartments, the estate includes four smaller islands on Upper Lough Erne.
Originally known as Ballymacmanus Island, the estate belonged to the MacManus clan pre-Plantation and it is where the historian and chieftain Cathal Og MacManus compiled the Annals of Ulster.
Ownership was later transferred to Paul Gore following the Flight of the Earls in 1607.
It was the Elizabethan soldier’s son, Ralph Gore, who built Belle Isle Castle. It was sold to the Porter family in the mid-19th century and remained within the family until sold by Lavinia Baird in 1991.
It was reportedly bought by the Duke of Abercorn in the early 1990s for his youngest son, Lord Nicholas Hamilton.
Since being acquired by the Abercorns, the estate has been significantly developed into a tourist resort, featuring a hotel and guest accommodation that can host up to 65 guests.
It helped make Belle Isle a popular wedding venue. The north’s first dedicated culinary school was also opened on the estate in 2004.
James Butler from Savills, who managed the sale, said the listing had attracted international interest.
“While we conducted viewings with parties based in the USA, Asia, Europe, and the UK, the sale provides a locally based family, as new custodians, with the chance to further enrich the estate’s historic legacy,” he said.
The Crawford family were represented by Ross Sweeney of O’Connor Kennedy Turtle.
The sellers were represented by Neal Morrison and James Butler of Savills, Raymond Duddy of Davidson McDonnell, and Glenn Breen of Shean Dickson Merrick.
