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Fashionable Coleraine in County Derry sits in the shadow of the oldest known habitation in Britain. Before farming began in the Neolithic period there was a Mesolithic Age when humans lived by hunting and gathering using small stone tools called microliths. Beneath Mount Sandel near Coleraine a Mesolithic settlement has been excavated. Above it stands an Iron Age hill fort.
The modern city was built at the beginning of the seventeenth century as part of the Plantation of Ireland by English and Scots. Favoured by rail access, the development of its port and a modicum of industrialisation, Coleraine developed steadily, particularly after the establishment there of the University of Ulster in the twentieth century. The town suffered three car bombings and at least three shootings before the Belfast Accords.
Area attractions
Ireland's Causeway Coast is a major tourist area centred around Coleraine. The Giant's Causeway itself is a volcanic formation at the east end of the area. Legend has it that the Irish hero Finn Mac Cool built it as the beginning of a causeway to Scotland where he planned to fight a giant. In the meantime his opponent came looking for Finn, and the giant was gigantic indeed. Finn's wife Oonagh threw a blanket over her husband and told the giant that he was her baby. The credulous giant considered the size that the father of such a baby must be and ran back to Scotland, destroying part of the Causeway as he went. Today the area is a recreational site.
It addition to the Causeway the northern coast offers a great arc of beaches reaching from Portrush in the east near Bushmills and the Giant's Causeway to Magilligan Point at the entrance to Lough Foyle. The seaside towns of Castlerock, Benone and Portstewart Beach are famous for their access to these northern sands. Near Castlerock stands the Mussenden Temple on the ground of the ruined Downhill House. The Temple is actually a folly built in 1785 on a rock with the best views this stretch of coast has to offer. Now managed by the National Trust, the grounds are open daily.
Golfers will find that Coleraine offers convenient access to the area's famous courses, including the Royal Portrush Golf Club, the Castlerock Golf Club and Portstewart Golf Club.
The Bushmills Distillery in the town of the same name claims to be the oldest distillery in the world. The facility still produces commercial quantities of Irish whiskey. Tours are readily available.
The Riverside theatre run by University of Ulster offers exhibitions as well as performances ranging from comedy and music to classic repertoire.
The second Saturday of every month is Causeway Speciality Market day, when the Diamond in Coleraine comes alive with local crafts and produce ranging from handmade candles and wooden bowls to homemade jam.
Access and Places to Stay
Coleraine offers a full range of hotel, B&B, guest house and self-catering accommodation, and the countryside around has camping and caravanning facilities. The town lies less than an hour from Belfast Airport or the City of Derry Airport. It lies on the A2 coast road. Coleraine is a main bus and rail junction where the Portrush rail line branches off the Londonderry Line.
Accommodation in Coleraine
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