Two Enniskillen clergymen have been awarded OBEs by King Charles III for services to reconciliation and peace-building, recognition linked to their role in the historic royal visit to the town in 2012.

Rev Kenneth Hall, Dean of Enniskillen, and Fr Peter O’Reilly, then parish priest of St Michael’s, jointly hosted Queen Elizabeth II on 26 June 2012 during her Diamond Jubilee tour.

The visit included a Service of Thanksgiving at St Macartin’s Cathedral attended by church leaders and politicians from across Ireland. Afterwards, the Queen met privately with relatives of those killed in the 1987 Enniskillen bombing.

She then walked across East Bridge Street to St Michael’s Roman Catholic Church, where Fr O’Reilly welcomed her, marking the first time a British monarch had entered a Catholic church on the island of Ireland.

The short crossing became a powerful image of the changing relationship between traditions and of the progress made since the Good Friday Agreement, particularly in a town scarred by the conflict.

In the years following, both clergymen built on that moment. They organised joint services between their churches, with congregations regularly walking between the two buildings. They also attended Buckingham Palace together later in 2012 and were guests at Windsor Castle in 2014 for the first state reception for an Irish president in Britain since independence.

In 2015, President Michael D Higgins visited both St Macartin’s Cathedral and St Michael’s Church, retracing the route Queen Elizabeth had taken.

The OBEs recognise that sustained cross-community work, which helped foster cooperation and mutual respect in Enniskillen.