Coleraine, County Derry / Londonderry
Photograph: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
County Derry / Londonderry · Ulster

Coleraine

Cúil Raithin

'nook of the ferns'

The story

A crossing of the lower Bann near where Mount Sandel stands — the oldest known human settlement in Ireland, dated to about 7900 BC. The town itself was laid out by the Irish Society of London during the plantation.

Worth seeing nearby
  • Mount Sandel · Ireland's oldest known settlement — where hunter-gatherers built huts above the Bann around 7900 BC. There is nothing to see but the view; that is the point.
  • Dunluce Castle · MacDonnell stronghold on a sea-stack; in 1639 the kitchen fell into the sea, cooks and all. The lost town beside it was only found in 2011.
  • The Giant's Causeway · Built by Fionn to cross to Scotland and fight the giant Benandonner — who fled back and tore up the road when Fionn's wife showed him 'the baby' (Fionn in a bonnet).

All of these are pinned on the Hidden Ireland map.

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