The Book of Condolence was made available from Wednesday, following the re-opening of Fermanagh District Council offices after the Easter holidays.

    A number of councillors were the first to sign their names.

    It was in the same building that the Queen Mother had signed her own name in the Visitor’s Book on numerous occasions during visits to Fermanagh over many decades, the last being in 1988, when she was invited as President of the National Trust, to re-open Castle Coole following the £4 million renovation to the house.

    A local link with the Queen Mother was through the late Dowager Duchess of Abercorn, a member of the Crichton family from Crom Estate, who served as her Mistress of Robes, the head of her household staff, between 1964-1990. The mother of the Duke of Abercorn of Baronscourt and Lord Anthony Hamilton, Killyreagh House, the Dowager Duchess accompanied the Queen Mother on State visits abroad, attending many important functions at Buckingham Palace and accompanying her on her last visit to Fermanagh in 1988.

    Lord Hamilton said the Queen Mother had a great affection for the Province, and had always presented shamrock to soldiers of the Irish Guards on St. Patrick’s Day.

    At Castle Coole on June 7, 1988, the Queen Mother was received by the Lord Lieutenant for Fermanagh, the Earl of Erne, whose family have had long established links with the Royal Family.

    But the Queen Mother’s visit in 1988 will be remembered for her kind words to the relatives of the victims of the Remembrance Day bomb in Enniskillen..

    She told the relatives “My heart goes out, as it did then, to the families, and friends who lost their lives and to those who are still recovering from their injuries. May God give them all courage and hope.”

    Remembering that day well was Mrs. Joan Wilson, who lost her youngest daughter Marie and saw her husband, Gordon injured.

    “She was wonderful. She was a great boost. She came to open the house but she asked to meet us. It was a great lift,” explained Mrs. Wilson, who had agonised over whether to attend the ceremony because she felt so low after the bombing.

    “When she approached each person, I just felt I really mattered and she gave us great sympathy. She said her sympathy and prayers were with us. She was very gracious.” said Mrs. Wilson, glad to have attended the ceremony.

    Mrs. Wilson said the Queen Mother had found herself in similar circumstances, living through the blitz of the Second World War, visiting many of those affected by that tragedy and had experienced the death of her husband, the King.

    But it was not the first occasion that Mrs. Wilson had met her. Forty years ago tomorrow(Friday), in 1962, Mrs. Wilson, then a music tutor at the Collegiate School, had brought a piano duet from the school comprising Marion and Jennifer Cathcart from Bellanaleck, to play at the luncheon given in her honour when she visited Enniskillen Townhall. She recalled how the Queen Mother said how much she had enjoyed the music. And in the following year, Mrs. Wilson accompanied her parents to Buckingham Palace when her father, Thomas Watson received the M.B.E. from her as the Queen was abroad.

    Many of the bomb victims relatives were introduced to the Queen Mother at Castle Coole by the Presbyterian Minister, the Rev. David Cupples who said this week that he was struck by her sincerity and dignity.

    Another Fermanagh woman who was part of a welcoming party for the Queen Mother on another occasion, was Mrs. Hazel Moore, now living on the Isle of Man.

    She recalled one of the Queen Mother’s earlier visits to Enniskillen when she as a member of the Girls Training Corps, was part of a guard of honour at the Townhall on a bleak, wet day. Mrs. Moore who was a pupil at the Collegiate School at the time, remembered the occasion well and was sad at her passing at the weekend.

    The Queen Mother’s visit to Fermanagh in 1962 was part of a five-day visit to Northern Ireland. Then she cruised on Lough Erne when she boarded the “Trasnia” launch owned then by Lt. Col. Robert Grosvenor of Ely Lodge. On that occasion she also visited Enniskillen Townhall and stayed at Colebrooke House.

    Tributes to the Queen Mother have been coming in this week. The new Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher, the Right Rev. Michael Jackson, said her death “will have touched many across the diocese and many too among the readership of the Impartial Reporter.

    “For millions of people worldwide the Queen Mother embodied a zest for life and sense of civic involvement and human concern which sustained her through a long and fulfilled life spanning decades of turbulence, change and development. She contributed with courtesy, graciousness and humanity to the lives of so many people in whose company she had a lifelong delight.

    “In expressing the sympathy of Clogher Diocese to members of the Royal Family in their bereavement I wish to add that prayers will be said at services in the parish churches of the Diocese on Sunday, April 7 for members of the Royal Family in their loss as well as prayers of thanksgiving for the life of the Queen Mother,” he added.

    Assembly member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Mr. Sam Foster, has sent a letter of condolence to the Private Secretary to the Queen expressing the sympathy on behalf of the people of Fermanagh.

    “We all are saddened by her passing. She was a lady of tremendous faith in the midst of much turmoil in her long life. She was gracious, kind, courteous, honourable, charming and compassionate. The Queen Mother was a person who wished to put all whom she met at ease thus manifesting her understanding and admirable graciousness to all who were so fortunate to meet such quality of person.

    Local DUP councillor, Mr. Bert Johnston, expressing his sympathy, said he was shocked to hear of the passing of the Queen Mother.

    “She had given her life for her family and country. Although a widow longer than a wife, she had lived life to the full, using enormous energy that shamed many of the younger circle around her. During the war years she kept the spirit of the people, by visiting many of the bombed areas, at great risk to herself from unexploded bombs. She was a frequent visitor to Northern Ireland. One of the most poignant memories of her visits was when she visited Fermanagh seven months after the horrific IRA bombing at the Poppy Day service. Her last visit was to attend a garden party in her honour at Hillsborough Castle on the eve of her 90th birthday in 1990.