Florence Court Estate.

Background music Madam Cole. Composed By Turlough Carolan Played by Rosemary Marr.

The estate of Florence court at one time extended to some 7000 acres, was granted to Captain William Cole, by James I. His descendant Sir John Cole (1680-1726) of Enniskillen built the present house in the early 1700's for his Cornish wife Florence and named it after her. The house has some excellent stucco plaster work, probably by the Dublin craftsman Robert West. The house suffered a severe fire in 1955 one of the few items of furniture salvaged after the fire, was a chamber pot with William Gladstone's portrait on the inside. A testimony to the anti Home Rule feeling among the Ulster gentry at the time.

Near Florence Court House is a four acre walled garden and a restored water powered sawmill built in 1848. The waterwheel had new 10 ft diameter ring gear fitted in 2007

Florence Court forest park contains many ancient Oak trees, in it there is a 220 year old Irish yew (Taxus baccata 'Fastigiata') which is said to be the parent of all Irish type yew's which are characterized by the upward sweep of their branches.

Florence Court hosts an annual craft fair in August, this is an ideal opportunity to view and perhaps purchase locally made crafts and paintings.

The house was supplied with water for over a century by an interesting technology 'The Hydraulic Ram' this device was invented in the 1700's, and without going into too much detail utilizes the power of water flowing down a pipe, in this case from the mill pond, into an air chamber fitted with two flap valves, about one eight of the flow is forced by the air along another pipe to where the water is required. The water obtained in this way was used only for washing, drinking water was obtained from a well near the house. The system was installed at Florence court in the 1850's and continued in use until 1964 when a mains supply was installed. The ram can be seen near to the sawmill.
The name ram is derived from the sound the valves make when the pump is operating which is said to resemble the sound of two rams banging their heads together.

The Florence Court Estate is situated 12 km southwest of Enniskillen, via A4 and A32. Swanlinbar Road, close to Marble Arch Caves.. balloon

You can download a jigsaw of Florence Court House here and one of Florence Court Watermill here.