Town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Coleraine
Long before it was a plantation town, hunter-gatherers were eating hazelnuts and Bann salmon on a hill above Coleraine, in one of Ireland's oldest known settlements.
Key information
- County
- County Londonderry
- Nation
- Northern Ireland
- Population
- About 24,000 (2011 Census)
- Known for
- Mount Sandel, the River Bann, Ulster University and the North West 200 triangle
- Famous people
- Sam Henry, Jimmy Kennedy
- Football clubs
- Coleraine FC, the Bannsiders
About Coleraine
The hill where Ireland's early settlers cooked their dinner
Just upstream from the town, Mount Sandel overlooks the River Bann. Excavations there in the 1970s uncovered the remains of round huts, along with hazelnut shells and fish bones. They date to around 7000 BC and are among the oldest evidence of people living in Ireland. The spot was well chosen. The Bann was full of salmon and eels, and the woods around it were full of game. Roughly 9,000 years later, the river is still what the town is built around. A later chapter is written on the same hill. Mount Sandel's big earthen mound is a medieval motte, thrown up by Normans who wanted the same view of the river that the hunter-gatherers had.
A nook of ferns and a saint's church
The name comes from the Irish Cúil Raithin, usually translated as 'nook of the ferns'. It is a modest origin for a place that later became a major crossing point on the Bann. Local tradition says St Patrick founded a church here and installed a bishop called Cairbre. The story is a very old one, and it ties Coleraine to the earliest days of Christianity in the north of Ireland. The name has echoes overseas, including Saint-Joseph-de-Coleraine in Quebec and Colrain in Massachusetts. Coleraine, Minnesota, was named for Thomas F. Cole, president of the Oliver Iron Mining Company.
The town the City of London rebuilt
In the early 1600s, Coleraine was reshaped by the Plantation of Ulster. The Honourable The Irish Society, a body backed by the City of London, rebuilt the town, and in 1613 the surrounding area was merged into the new County Londonderry. Before that, the county was called County Coleraine. The new town was laid out around a central square, still known as the Diamond, and was protected by earth ramparts. Parts of those ramparts survive, so you can still trace the shape of the planned town. The river decided Coleraine's fortunes. Whoever held the bridge held the road between Derry and the Antrim coast.
The university that sparked a row
In 1968 the New University of Ulster opened its doors on the edge of Coleraine. Choosing the town in the mid-1960s was one of the most argued-over decisions in Northern Ireland's history, because many people had expected the university to go to Derry. The campus is now part of Ulster University. It has made Coleraine a student town, with a young population and a lively social scene far larger than you would expect from a town of about 24,000. The university is also a reason the town has long attracted people from across the north coast.
Salmon, eels and the Bannsiders
The Bann has long supported a commercial fishery, and the salmon and eels taken near Coleraine have been famous for centuries. The Cutts, the weir and rapids just above the town, were the traditional heart of that fishing. The football team takes its nickname from the river. Coleraine FC, founded in 1927 and known as the Bannsiders, play at the Showgrounds. They have won the Irish Cup six times: in 1965, 1972, 1975, 1977, 2003 and 2018. In May, the roads linking Coleraine, Portrush and Portstewart turn into the North West 200 course. The race is one of the biggest road-racing events in the world, and the town fills up with motorbike fans.
Songs, whiskey and the neighbours
Sam Henry, born in Coleraine in 1878, spent years collecting folk songs from across the north of Ireland. His 'Songs of the People' remains a key source for the area's traditional music. Songwriter Jimmy Kennedy went to school at Coleraine Academical Institution and went on to write 'Red Sails in the Sunset' and 'Isle of Capri'. The town is also a base for exploring the coast. The Giant's Causeway, Bushmills and Downhill's clifftop Mussenden Temple are all a short drive away.