Belle Isle Castle is a castle near Lisbellaw, County Fermanagh

County Fermanagh

Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. It largely dates to the 18th century, being built in part by Sir Ralph Gore

Ralph Gore, 1st Earl of Ross

General Ralph Gore, 1st Earl of Ross , known as Sir Ralph Gore, 6th Baronet from 1746 until 1764, subsequently as The Lord Gore until 1768 and then as The Viscount Belleisle until 1772, was an Irish soldier, politician and peer.-Background:Born at Belle Isle Castle, he was the second son of Sir...

, later Earl of Ross

Earl of Ross

The Mormaer or Earl of Ross was the leader of a medieval Gaelic lordship in northern Scotland, roughly between the River Oykel and the River Beauly.-Origins and transfers:...

. In 1830 the estate passed to the Rev. John Porter, beig bought for £68,000. The castle remained in the Porter family until sold in 1991 by Miss Lavinia Baird, a descendant of Rev. John Porter, to the Duke of Abercorn

James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn

James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn, KG , is the current Duke of Abercorn in the Peerage of Ireland, having succeeded his father in June 1979. The son of James Edward Hamilton, 4th Duke of Abercorn, and Lady Mary Crichton...

, who purchased it for his second son, Lord Nicholas Hamilton.