'To understand our past is to know our present', is an often-quoted phrase and, this past week, two events in the county underlined, on the one hand, the rich legacy left to us by our grandparents and, on the other, the enduring division created by armed conquest.

Happily, the bloodied history of Tully Castle, which falls into the latter category, can be carried by children of both communities without rancour. They attended an Archaeology Day event at the castle that enabled them to sample life as lived by its residents in the 17th century. Rarely did a musket carry such a peaceful message, that symbols of violence are now just mere symbols.

The other event, Granny's Market Day in Lisnaskea commemorates a lifestyle of more recent vintage. Here, children merrily dressed up in the rural garb of the 1940's and played a number of character roles, from selling home produce to street entertaining.

As in the case of Tully Castle, it was all good fun and, still, there was a powerful message here too, how, given the ever-rising price of feeding stuffs, it does pay to be self-sufficient.

In the past, its soil grew potatoes by the lorry-load, but not today.