Fermanagh and Omagh comprises 40 of Northern Ireland's 462 electoral wards, covering 8,869 km² of land — roughly 8.7% of the NI ward total. Across these wards, the combined heritage record holds 3,360 recorded historic sites, 407 scheduled monuments, and 1,198 listed buildings, drawn from the NISMR, HED scheduled monuments register, and HED Historic Buildings Record. That places the council at a relatively low recorded density of 0.42 sites per km² (9th of NI's eleven councils — though survey intensity varies geographically and a low figure does not imply genuine absence). With an average of 222 km² per ward, this is a predominantly rural council — ward areas here are larger than the NI median, reflecting lower population density rather than larger administrative units. The 2021 Census records 115,559 residents across the council's wards. The single richest ward in the council by recorded heritage is Derrygonnelly (376 combined records); a complete ranked list of all 40 wards in this council appears below.
Heritage at a glance
Chronological character
Aggregated across the council's wards, the dated archaeological record contains 2,887 sites distributed across 9 archaeological periods. The Early Medieval period is the most common (1,046 sites, 36%), with the Mesolithic period in second place (757 sites, 26%). Sparsely represented periods include Medieval, Neolithic and Early Bronze Age — each under 2% of the dated record. As elsewhere in NI, thin period coverage typically reflects survey gaps rather than genuine absence of activity.
Most common monument types
The table below lists the council’s most frequently recorded monument types, with the share they form of this council’s record compared to their share of the NI-wide record.
| Monument type | In this council | % of council | NI comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burnt Mound | 517 | 37.4% | over-represented (4.3× NI average) |
| Rath | 469 | 33.9% | in line with NI average (1.4×) |
| Enclosure | 122 | 8.8% | under-represented (0.3× NI average) |
| Tree Ring | 43 | 3.1% | over-represented (2.1× NI average) |
| Platform Rath | 43 | 3.1% | over-represented (2.1× NI average) |
| A.p. Site – Circular Cropmark | 39 | 2.8% | over-represented (1.6× NI average) |
Geographic character
Mean ward elevation across the council is 109m, around the NI median. Land cover averages combine 68% grassland, 20% woodland and 7% urban land, giving a varied mosaic across the council's wards.
All wards in Fermanagh and Omagh
The complete list of 40 wards in this council. Click any ward to view its full heritage profile.
| Ward | HS | SM | LB | Total | km² | Dominant period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derrygonnelly | 293 | 45 | 38 | 376 | 474.3 | Early Medieval |
| Newtownbutler | 134 | 12 | 121 | 267 | 264.0 | Early Medieval |
| Boho Cleenish And Letterbreen | 202 | 26 | 28 | 256 | 410.8 | Early Medieval |
| Lisbellaw | 200 | 20 | 26 | 246 | 153.4 | Middle-Late Bronze Age |
| Florence Court And Kinawley | 168 | 36 | 37 | 241 | 478.6 | Early Medieval |
| Belcoo And Garrison | 164 | 29 | 27 | 220 | 595.9 | Early Medieval |
| Brookeborough | 152 | 3 | 47 | 202 | 362.5 | Mesolithic |
| Rosslea | 111 | 4 | 74 | 189 | 278.9 | Post-Medieval |
| Belleek And Boa | 137 | 19 | 31 | 187 | 580.6 | Early Medieval |
| Maguiresbridge | 146 | 7 | 22 | 175 | 259.7 | Early Medieval |
| Tempo | 145 | 18 | 11 | 174 | 266.3 | Mesolithic |
| Lisnarrick | 143 | 13 | 17 | 173 | 222.2 | Early Medieval |
| Derrylin | 111 | 8 | 35 | 154 | 307.8 | Early Medieval |
| Ederney And Kesh | 115 | 23 | 16 | 154 | 224.4 | Early Medieval |
| Donagh | 105 | 6 | 32 | 143 | 318.7 | Early Medieval |
| Owenkillew | 100 | 16 | 20 | 136 | 559.8 | Mesolithic |
| Fairy Water | 81 | 11 | 42 | 134 | 328.8 | Early Medieval |
| Gortin | 77 | 11 | 46 | 134 | 270.9 | Mesolithic |
| Trillick | 68 | 15 | 39 | 122 | 260.6 | Early Medieval |
| Ballinamallard | 97 | 6 | 13 | 116 | 112.4 | Mesolithic |
| Termon | 71 | 19 | 26 | 116 | 251.2 | Mesolithic |
| Beragh | 61 | 5 | 46 | 112 | 195.6 | Iron Age |
| Irvinestown | 84 | 3 | 11 | 98 | 125.0 | Early Medieval |
| Sixmilecross | 61 | 12 | 22 | 95 | 275.2 | Mesolithic |
| Portora | 10 | 0 | 81 | 91 | 12.1 | Post-Medieval |
| Drumquin | 43 | 11 | 31 | 85 | 470.3 | Mesolithic |
| Newtownsaville | 57 | 4 | 24 | 85 | 241.9 | Iron Age |
| Drumnakilly | 59 | 7 | 11 | 77 | 142.1 | Mesolithic |
| Fintona | 36 | 5 | 33 | 74 | 180.6 | Early Medieval |
| Castlecoole | 43 | 1 | 16 | 60 | 19.4 | Middle-Late Bronze Age |
| Lisnaskea | 19 | 2 | 35 | 56 | 16.3 | Early Medieval |
| Dromore | 22 | 2 | 18 | 42 | 133.8 | Iron Age |
| Strule | 6 | 0 | 36 | 42 | 7.0 | Post-Medieval |
| Dergmoney | 3 | 0 | 38 | 41 | 7.1 | Post-Medieval |
| Erne | 15 | 0 | 11 | 26 | 9.5 | Post-Medieval |
| Rossorry | 16 | 6 | 1 | 23 | 16.9 | Early Medieval |
| Camowen | 1 | 1 | 15 | 17 | 14.1 | Early Medieval |
| Killyclogher | 1 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 4.4 | Modern |
| Coolnagard | 1 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 6.5 | Iron Age |
| Gortrush | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 9.9 | Iron Age |
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Want a deeper view?
Grounding History: 10 Maps of Northern Ireland’s Past
A spatial history report bringing together analysis of all 462 wards into one place through 10 high-quality maps — covering monument density, archaeological periods, placename heritage, terrain, wetland, and the historic landscape at first survey.
About this profile
This council profile aggregates the recorded archaeological, built-heritage, terrain, and population data from each of its 40 wards. All figures describe the recorded evidence held in the public datasets listed at the foot of this page; the profile does not interpret historical processes or make inferences that are not directly supported by the data.
For full methodology — including a description of the ward geography, what counts as a recorded site, how period attributions are made, and what the limits of survey coverage mean for these figures — see the main methodology page.