County Londonderry

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County Londonderry, also known as County Derry, is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, the nine counties of the province of Ulster, and the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Before the partition of Ireland, it was one of the counties of the Kingdom of Ireland from 1613 onward and then of the United Kingdom after the Acts of Union 1800. Adjoining the north-west shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and today has a population of about 252,231. and 61.3% according to the 2021 Census). The county flower is the purple saxifrage.

Name

The place name Derry is an anglicisation of the Old Irish Daire (Modern Irish Doire), meaning "oak-grove" or "oak-wood".

As with the city, its name is subject to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute, with the form "Londonderry" generally preferred by unionists and "Derry" by nationalists. Unlike with the city, however, there has never been a County Derry. County Londonderry was formed mostly from the old County Coleraine (see below). British authorities use the name "Londonderry", while "Derry" is used by the Republic of Ireland.

History

220px|thumbnail|A cannon sits atop the historic Derry Walls, which look over [[Derry|Derry City.]]

right|200px|thumb|Map of County Londonderry, 1837

Prehistoric

The county has a significant of megalithic structures from prehistoric times, including Ballygroll Prehistoric Landscape, as well as numerous others. The most significant site however is Mountsandel, located near Coleraine in County Londonderry is "perhaps the oldest recorded settlement within Ireland".

County Coleraine and the Plantation of Ulster

At an early period, what became the county of Coleraine was inhabited by the O'Cahans, who were tributary to the O'Neills. Towards the close of the reign of Elizabeth I their territory was seized by England, with the purpose of checking the power of the O'Neills, and was made the county of Coleraine, named after the regional capital.

A short description of County Coleraine is given in Harris's Hibernica, and also in Captain Pynnar's Survey of the Escheated Counties of Ulster, Anno 1618:

On 2 March 1613, James I granted a charter to The Honourable The Irish Society to undertake the plantation of a new county. This county was named Londonderry, a combination of London (in reference to the Livery Companies of the Irish Society) and Derry (then name of the city). This charter declared that the "City of Londonderry" and everything contained within the new county:

It is one of four counties in Northern Ireland which currently has a majority of the population from a Catholic community background, according to the 2021 census. At the time of the 2021 census there were 252,231 residents of County Londonderry.

!National identity

!Number

!(%)

|Irish only

|106,343

|42.2%

|British only

|62,562

|24.8%

|Northern Irish only

|49,764

|19.7%

|British and Northern Irish only

|13,148

|5.2%

|Irish and Northern Irish only

|5,072

|2.0%

|British, Irish and Northern Irish only

|2,475

|1.0%

|British and Irish only

|1,388

|0.6%

|Other identity

|11,477

|4.6%

!Total

!252,231

!100.0%

!All Irish identities

!116,032

!46.0%

!All British identities

!81,097

!32.2%

!All Northern Irish identities

!21,248

!10.9%

Administration

The county was administered by Londonderry County Council from 1899 until the abolition of county councils in Northern Ireland in 1973. They were replaced by district councils. These councils were: Londonderry City Council (renamed Derry City Council in 1984), Limavady Borough Council, and Magherafelt District Council, most of Coleraine Borough Council, and part of Cookstown District Council. After a reduction in the number of councils in Northern Ireland in 2011, County Londonderry is divided into three cross-county councils: Causeway Coast and Glens, Derry and Strabane, and Mid-Ulster District.

Transport

thumb|City of Derry Airport

thumb|[[NI Railways train along Lough Foyle]]

Airports

The county is served by City of Derry airport, located 7mi to the north of Derry, near Eglinton. The airport is served by regular flights to Birmingham, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London-Heathrow, Liverpool and Manchester, with occasional charter services to continental Europe. The airport is currently served by easyJet, Loganair and Ryanair.

Rail

Translink Northern Ireland Railways provide all railway services in the county, linking Derry~Londonderry, Bellarena, Castlerock and Coleraine to Belfast Grand Central, this service operates hourly on the Belfast-Derry railway line. A line also diverges from Coleraine, connecting Portrush, County Antrim on the Coleraine-Portrush railway line which also serves University, this service also operates hourly.

There is also the Foyle Valley Railway, a museum in Derry with some rolling stock from both the County Donegal Railway and the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway, and is located on the site of the former Londonderry Foyle Road railway station. The Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway continued as a private bus company based in the city but operating predominantly in County Donegal until it closed in 2014. Bus services are now provided by Ulsterbus.

Sea

thumb|Lough Foyle Ferry approaching Magilligan Point

The county is served by Londonderry Port, now operating as Foyle Port, located on Lough Foyle at Lisahally. It is the United Kingdom's most westerly port. The main port for the city of Derry, it used to be located in the city centre, however it relocated to Lisahally in 1993. The port is used by DuPont to import raw materials for their manufacturing process and by the nearby Coolkeeragh power station to import fuel oil for their turbines. Lisahally Terminal has 440 metres (1,440 ft) of quay and can facilitate vessels up to 62,000 GT. Primarily a bulk port and major importer of oil, coal, animal feed, fertiliser and plywood. The port also accepts cruise ships at the city centre berths and at its commercial port at Lisahally.

The county also has a regular ferry service, the Lough Foyle Ferry, providing a seasonal daily shuttle service between Magilligan Point, County Londonderry and Greencastle, County Donegal. The ferry typically operates throughout the spring and summer season.

Education

thumb|Ulster University, Magee

Government-funded education up to secondary school level is administered by the Education Authority (EA), sponsored by the Department of Education. The EA is divided into sub-regions:

Western region: Derry, Limavady;
North Eastern region: Coleraine, Magherafelt;
Southern region: Cookstown.

For Catholic grant-maintained schools administration is by the Derry Diocesan Education Office.

Two major centres of the University of Ulster are in the county, including its headquarters at Coleraine and the Magee Campus in Derry.

Sport

thumb|left|200px|The oak leaf which represents the county's [[List of Irish county nicknames|nickname.]]

In Gaelic games, the GAA county of Derry is more or less coterminous with the former administrative county of Londonderry, although teams from the neighbouring counties of Tyrone, Donegal and Antrim have occasionally played in Derry competitions, and vice versa. The Derry teams wear the colours red and white. There are many club teams competing in up to five leagues and three championships. The county team has won one All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (in 1993) and five National League titles. Hurling is also widely played but is not as popular as football. However, the county team is generally regarded as one of the top hurling sides in Ulster and in 2006 won the Nicky Rackard Cup – the third tier hurling competition in Ireland.

In association football, the NIFL Premiership, which operates as the top division, has two teams in the county: Coleraine F.C. and Institute F.C., with Limavady United F.C., Moyola Park F.C., Portstewart F.C. and Tobermore United F.C. competing in the NIFL Championship, which operates as levels two and three. Derry City F.C. play in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland after leaving the Northern Ireland structures in 1985, having resigned from the Irish Football League at the height of the Troubles because of not being allowed play their home games at the Brandywell due to security concerns from other clubs.

The Northern Ireland Milk Cup was established in 1983 and is regarded as one of the most prestigious youth football tournaments in Europe and the world. The competition is based at Coleraine and involves several other towns and villages in the county – Limavady, Portstewart and Castlerock – and in neighbouring County Antrim – Ballymoney, Portrush, Ballymena and Broughshane. The event, held in the last week of July, has attracted teams from 56 countries around the world including Europe, the US, Africa, the Far East, South America, the Middle East, Australia, Russia, New Zealand and Canada. Some of the biggest teams in the world have entered including English clubs Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur as well as top European teams such as Feyenoord, F.C. Porto, FC Barcelona, Benfica, Bayern Munich and Dynamo Kiev.

In rugby union, the county is represented at senior level by Rainey RFC, based in Magherafelt, who compete in the Ulster Senior League and All-Ireland League. Limavady R.F.C, City of Derry Rugby Club, Londonderry Y.M.C.A and Coleraine Rugby Club all compete in Ulster Qualifying League One.

Cricket is popular in the north-west of Ireland, with 11 of the 20 senior clubs in the North West Cricket Union located in County Londonderry: Limavady, Eglinton, Glendermott, Brigade, Killymallaght, Ardmore, Coleraine, Bonds Glen, Drummond, Creevedonnell and The Nedd.

In rowing, Richard Archibald from Coleraine along with his Irish teammates qualified for the Beijing 2008 Olympics by finishing second in the lightweight fours final in Poznań, thus qualifying for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Another Coleraine rower Alan Campbell is a World Cup gold medallist in the single sculls in 2006.