Captain William Cole and the others responsible for creating the new town of Enniskillen in the years following 1611, chose as a site of the church the higher of the two hills on the island.  The lower hill was the site of the original Market House, overlooking the Diamond or market place - that site now occupied by the Town hall.  The first church building was probably completed in 1627 - William Pokrich was buried in the Churchyard in 1628.  Hardly any of the original church remains, but part of its tower was incorporated in the present one and can be seen above the main entrance door where there is a small, old three-light lattice window and a stone with the date 1637.  The first church was simple and small, roofed with shingles, which required continual repair and maintenance.  By the beginning of the nineteenth century this old building could no longer accommodate the growing numbers of parishioners, and in 1826 it was extended in length.  By 1832, however the spire had become so unsafe that it had to be demolished.  This created the opportunity to rebuild completely, the task being completed by 1842.

As the town of Enniskillen grew steadily in population in the early years of the twentieth century, many of the small villages in the diocese stagnated.  The parish also was one of the largest in numbers in the Clogher Diocese, and so in 1921, on the proposal of Colonel Madden, a bill was enacted to enable the parish church of St. Anne to become a cathedral church of St. Macartin in the Diocese of Clogher, while still retaining the older St. Macartin's in Clogher.

Less than a dozen parish churches in Northern Ireland have towers with peals of eight or more bells where campanologists can exercise their skill.  Enniskillen is one of these, and the peal of ten bells is rung in changes each Sunday and on special occasions.  The bells can also be chimed, and townsfolk often hear the sounding of well known hymns like "Abide with Me", and "Fight the good Fight".

The Cole Memorials

The first member of the Cole family was Captain William Cole, the founder of Enniskillen, who was responsible for the building of the church as part of his undertaking to settle English families on the grant of land given to him in 1611 by James I.  His descendants became in 1760 the Barons Mount Florence, and in 1789 the Earls of Enniskillen.  For generations therefore, the Cole family was very closely linked to the parish and its church, and many of them lie buried in the crypt (a list of names is given on the wall beneath the statue of General Cole).  On the right of the choir is a statue of the second Earl of Enniskillen, John Willoughby Cole, 1768-1840, in the robes of a Knight of the Order of St. Patrick.  Opposite him, his brother, General Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole, G.C.B., Colonel of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot, who commanded the 4th Division during the Peninsular War 1808-1814.  A small stained glass window near this statue is dedicated to the memory of the third Earl, William Willoughby, 1807-1886, and was given in 1889 by the Enniskillen Friendly Brothers Knot, of which the third Earl had been president.

The Regimental Colours

(Inside the Regimental Chapel)

The Colours of both the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards have been laid up in this Cathedral and they were hung above the choir.  With the passing of the years a number of these deteriorated severely and have had to be removed.  In 1989 the tercentenary year of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, four were restored and conserved and can be seen mounted on the East wall of the Regimental Chapel.  Only the Sovereign's Colour and the Regimental Colour of the 1st Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and two Guidons of the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards remain in the Regimental Chapel.

Inniskilling Memorials

The Regimental Chapel

Enniskillen is the only town in the British Isles which raised two regiments bearing the town's name in one of its alternative spellings.  These were the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoons Guards.  Since 1968 the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers have ceased to exist as a separate and distinct regiment for they have been amalgamated with four other regiments to become the Royal Irish Regiment.  The Regimental Association suggested that a Chapel be provided in the church of the town of their origin, and this was accomplished in 1970.  The chief motif of the design is the castle of their badge, while the Regiment's Association with Egypt is demonstrated by the pyramidal formation of the ceiling.  A Standard of the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards is in a glass case adjacent to the entrance to the Chapel and the Sovereign's and Regimental Colours of the 5th Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers can be seen at the rear beyond the Book of Remembrance.  This Book records all ranks of the Regiment killed since Waterloo (1815).  In that campaign, 119; South Africa (1835), 13; the Indian Mutiny (1856), 14; Tirah and Frontier (1897-1898), 9; South Africa (1899-1902), 186; First World War (1914-1918), 5,260; Second World War (1939-1945), 1,133.

(Inside the Regimental Chapel)

Above the nave are four other standards, two of the Donegal Regiment of the Ulster Volunteer Force, and two of the Enniskillen branch of the Royal British Legion.