Belturbet
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Belturbet Béal Tairbirt
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| Town | |
 Belturbet
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| Coordinates: 54°06′N 7°27′W / 54.1°N 7.45°WCoordinates: 54°06′N 7°27′W / 54.1°N 7.45°W | |
| Country | Republic of Ireland |
| Province | Ulster |
| County | County Cavan |
| Elevation | 57 m (187 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Urban | 1,407 |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | H361168 |
Belturbet (Irish: Béal Tairbirt, meaning "mouth of the isthmus") is a town in County Cavan, Ireland. It lies on the N3 road, around 14 km (8.7 mi) north of Cavan town and 123 km (76 mi) from Dublin. It is also located around 4 km (2.5 mi) south of the border with Northern Ireland, between the counties of Cavan and Fermanagh, and 36 km (22 mi) from Enniskillen.
Belturbet's location is historically one of the best places for crossing the River Erne. When the Anglo-Normans tried to conquer Cavan in the early 13th century, Walter de Lacy built a motte-and-bailey on Turbet Island. The fort was probably made of wood and has not survived, although the steep mound of earth where it was built can still be seen. In the late 16th century the local O'Reilly chieftains built a castle opposite Turbot Island, but this has not survived either.
As part of the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century, the lands around Belturbet were granted to the English "undertaker" Stephen Butler. He soon established a thriving urban centre, whose prosperity relied heavily on its position on the Erne. In October 1641 the town was seized by the Irish during the Irish Rebellion of 1641. Belturbet was the site of one of the massacres of planters, in which over two dozen people were thrown from the town's bridge and drowned. In March 1653 Belturbet, under Viscount Magennis of Iveagh, was the last town in Ireland to fall to Cromwell; the final Irish stronghold at nearby Cloughoughter held out for a further month.
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