Limavady

Limavady Town Hall, now part of the Roe Valley Arts & Cultural Centre

Limavady and its surrounding settlements derive from Celtic roots, although no-one is sure about the exact date of Limavady's origins. Estimates date from around 5 CE. Early records tell of Saint Columba, who presided over a meeting of the Kings at Mullagh Hill near Limavady in 575 CE, a location which is now part of the Roe Park Resort.[5]

Gaelic Ireland was divided into kingdoms, each ruled by its own family or clan. In the Limavady area, the predominant family was the O'Cahans. Their mark is found everywhere in the town and surrounding area. O'Cahan's Rock is one of Limavady's main historical points. This is where, according to local myth, a dog belonging to one of the Chiefs jumped the river to get help from nearby clans after a surprise enemy attack. This gave Limavady its name, Limavady being the anglicised version of Leim an Mhadaidh, which means leap of the dog.[5] This rock, along with other relics of Limavady's history, can be seen at Roe Valley Country Park.

The town developed from a small Plantation settlement founded by Sir Thomas Phillips. In 1610 Sir Thomas Phillips was granted 13,100 acres of land at Limavady which included an O’Cahan castle. He commenced the building of the 'Newtown of Limavady' which was laid out in a cruciform road pattern. Newtown Limavady was incorporated, with the appointment of a Provost and 12 Burgesses, on 31 March 1613 with a charter granted by King James I. By 1622, 18 one-storey houses and an inn had been built and they were centred on the crossroads which contained a flagpole, a cross and stocks.

Limavady had an early association with the linen and Irish whiskey industries. In 1608, a licence was granted to Sir Thomas Phillips by King James I to distil whiskey.[6]

for the next seven years, within the countie of Colrane, otherwise called O Cahanes countrey, or within the territorie called Rowte, in County Antrim, by himselfe or his servauntes, to make, drawe, and distil such and soe great quantities of aquavite, usquabagh and aqua composita, as he or his assignes shall thinke fitt; and the same to sell, vent, and dispose of to any persons, yeeldinge yerelie the somme 13s 4d...

The Limavady Distillery was founded in 1750 on the banks of the River Roe. Limavady, however, did not benefit from subsequent expansion of linen manufacturing in the 19th century. As a result, it remained a modest sized market town until the late 20th century.[4] Limavady Town Hall, later known as the Alexander Memorial Hall and now part of the Roe Valley Arts & Cultural Centre, was completed in 1872.[7]

In 1941 RAF Limavady, a base for air patrols over the Atlantic during World War II, was opened just to the north of the town. The RAF left the base in 1945 but it continued as a naval air station until 1958, when the land was returned to agricultural use.

During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, four people were killed in or near Limavady by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Two were members of the security forces and two were civilians who were killed by a bomb as they drove past Limavady Royal Ulster Constabulary station.

In 1987, Limavady became famous as the unintended arrival point for the world's first transatlantic hot air balloon crossing by Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand.[8]

Limavady sprang up within the townland of Rathbrady Beg in the parish of Drumachose and was originally known as Newtown Limavady.[9] Over time, the urban area has expanded into the surrounding townlands. These include:[10][11]

• Bovally (from Irish Bó Bhaile 'townland of cows')
• Coolessan (from Irish Cúil Leasáin 'nook of the little fort')
• Enagh (from Irish Eanach 'marsh')
• Killane (from Irish Coill Leathan 'broad wood')
• Rathbrady Beg (from Irish Ráth Brighde Beag 'little fort of St. Brigid')
• Rathbrady More (from Irish Ráth Brighde Mór 'great fort of St. Brigid')

Limavady is in both the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area and the East Londonderry constituency for elections to the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly. In 2023, the residents of Limavady district elected 2 Democratic Unionist Party, 1 Social Democratic and Labour Party, 1 Sinn Féin and 1 Alliance Party councillor to the borough council.[12]

• Limavady lies in the scenic Roe Valley area and the Roe Valley Country Park on the River Roe lies to the southwest of the town.
• The birthplace of New Zealand Prime Minister Rt. Hon. William Massey is on Irish Green Street. Nearby Massey Avenue is named after him.
• The archaeologically significant Broighter Gold collection was found nearby in 1896. It is currently in the National Museum in Dublin.
• Jane Ross, who first transcribed Londonderry Air, was born and lived in Limavady. A plaque is shown above her old house on Main Street.

Limavady is in close proximity to City of Derry Airport, 9 miles (15 km) to the west, and the Port of Londonderry, 13 miles (22 km) to the west.[4]

There are four primary schools, three secondary schools, a regional college and a special needs school in Limavady. Limavady's schools are closely located in an 'education circle'. The three secondary schools are all located along the same stretch of road (Ballyquin Road and Irish Green Street), with Rossmar Special School opposite Limavady Grammar School, Termoncanice Primary opposite Limavady High School and St. Mary's High School. Limavady Central Primary School is located a short distance from the other schools.

• Wolfhounds GAC is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club
• Limavady United F.C.
• Roe Valley F.C.
• Roe Rovers F.C.
• Newtowne F.C.
• Drummond Cricket Club

• Rev. Robert Bradford MP - Methodist Minister and MP for South Belfast. Murdered by the Provisional IRA on 14 November 1981.[23]
• David Brewster LLB - noted Solicitor and former UUP Forum member for East Londonderry 1996.[24]
• John Deighan – Derry GAA Gaelic footballer and SDLP Councillor.[25]
• Sir Denis Desmond, KCVO, CBE (Born 1943), is a retired British company director and public administrator, who was Lord Lieutenant of County Londonderry from 2000 to 2018. Lives in Bellarena House just outside Limavady.[26]
• Boyd Douglas (born 13 July 1950) - Councillor on Limavady Borough Council and later Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council from 1997 - 2014. He also served as MLA for East Londonderry from 1998 to 2003.[27]
• William Douglas - Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He rose to prominence as Limavady District Master in the Orange Order. From 1960 to 1973, he served on Limavady Rural District Council. He was then elected in Londonderry for the Ulster Unionist Party at the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election, and held his seat on the Constitutional Convention and at the 1982 Assembly.[28]
• George Downing – seventeenth-century politician.[29]
• Senator John Cherry Drennan CBE JP born 1899 died 1983) Drennan studied at Foyle College before working as a farmer in the Limavady area. He became active in the Ulster Unionist Party, and served for it in the Senate of Northern Ireland from 1961 until it was prorogued in 1972. Lord Lieutenant for County Londonderry 1965 - 1974.[30]
• Very. Rev. Victor Griffin – formerly Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin[31]
• Ruth Kelly – Labour MP and former Cabinet Minister.[32]
• Andrew Kinnear - (ca 1750 – May 23, 1818) was an Irish-born political figure in New Brunswick. He represented Westmorland in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1786 to 1792.[33]
• Senator John Andrew Long - Former Chairman of Limavady Rural Council and Northern Ireland Senator 1921-1941 (elected) Deputy Speaker 1927–28; Deputy Leader 1930–41, Parliamentary Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister from 1930 to 1941.[34]
• Professor Charles Gibson Lowry FRCOG (1880 - 1951) surgeon at the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Royal Maternity Hospital in Belfast. In 1921 he became professor of midwifery at Belfast and a Pro-Chancellor of, Queen's University, Belfast. He was a foundation fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He served with the Royal Army Medical Corps during the First World War.[35]
• Rt. Hon. William Lowry MP - (19 March 1884 – 14 December 1949) was an Irish barrister, judge, Ulster Unionist Party Member of Parliament, and Attorney General for Northern Ireland.[36]
• William Ferguson Massey – 19th Prime Minister of New Zealand (from 1912 to 1925) was born and educated in the town before migrating.[37]
• Thomas St George McCarthy (1862–1943) – was an Ireland rugby union international and founder member of the Gaelic Athletic Association. He also played soccer for Limavady FC when he was stationed in the town in 1888, and captained both the town's football and cricket clubs. He was a double winner of the County Londonderry senior cup in football and the inaugural County Londonderry Senior cricket cup final in 1888. He rose to become vice-president of the North West of Ireland Football Association and captain of the County Londonderry representative cricket side that played against the Northern Cricket Union.[38]
• Rt. Hon. Maurice Marcus McCausland - He was High Sheriff of County Londonderry in 1908, and in 1926, he was appointed as Lord Lieutenant of County Londonderry, serving until his death. In 1934, he was appointed to the Privy Council of Northern Ireland.[39]
• Judge John McCunn (1820–1872) Judge of the Superior Court New York from 1863 to 1870[40]
• Jimmy McCurry (1830–1910) – folk musician, traditionally associated with the Londonderry Air.[41]
• Gerry Mullan – Former Glentoran, Everton and Northern Ireland footballer.[42]
• Sir David Ogilby (1755 - 1834) was born in Limavady, County Londonderry, and went to India to serve with the East India Company. After twenty-two years he was knighted and returned to Ireland. He wrote and published poems, which included translations of Indian poets, in Walker's Hibernian Magazine in 1804.[43]
• John Scott Porter (31 December 1801 – 5 July 1880) educated locally and at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. For a time he was a schoolteacher and edited The Christian Observer in London. In 1826 he became a Presbyterian minister, and from 1831 he had a congregation at Rosemary Street, Belfast. In 1838 he was appointed Professor of Theology and in 1851 Professor of Hebrew to the Association of Irish Non-Subscribing Presbyterians. He edited the Christian Moderator and the Bible Christian and was a prolific theological writer. Among his works was Principles of Textual Criticism, published in 1848. He was devoted to the preservation of the Irish language.[44]
• William Porter – His Majesty's Attorney General at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa[45]
• Dr. Muriel Robertson FRS, protozoologist and bacteriologist[46]
• Willie Ross - Former Limavady Councillor and MP for Londonderry then East Londonderry 1974–2001.[47]
• Thomas Teevan LLB MP - West Belfast MP and youngest Limavady Urban Council Chairman.[48]
• Samuel Young (1822–1918), MP, was Limavady Brewery's founder.[49]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Limavady.

• List of localities in Northern Ireland by population

• Limavady travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Borough of Limavady
• Limavady and the Roe Valley by Jochen Lueg