View source for County Coleraine

{{Short description|Defunct administrative area in Ireland}}
{{Infobox Former Subdivision
|_noautocat = no
|native_name =
|conventional_long_name = County Coleraine
|subdivision = Former [[Counties of Ireland|County]]
|nation = [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]]
|title_leader = Governor
|leader1 = [[Thomas Phillips (Irish adventurer)|Thomas Phillips]]
|year_leader1 = 1611
|capital = [[Coleraine]]
|today = [[Northern Ireland]]
|era = [[Tudor conquest of Ireland]]
|event_start = Established
|year_start = 1585
|event_end = Incorporated into County Londonderry
|year_end = 1613
|image_map = Ulster 1584.png
|image_map_caption = Map of [[Ulster]] in 1585
|p1 = O'Cahan
|s1= County Londonderry
|flag_s1= Lderry co arms.png
}}
{{Coord|55.132|-6.668|display=title|region:GB_scale:50000}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2020}}

'''County Coleraine''', called the '''County of Colerain''' in the earliest documents,<ref>Hill, George. ''The Fall of Irish Chiefs and Clans; The Conquest of Ireland''. Irish Roots Cafe, 2004. p.97</ref> was one of the [[counties of Ireland]] from 1585 to 1613. It was named after its intended [[county town]], [[Coleraine]]. It was later subsumed into [[County Londonderry]] along with a big part of the once larger [[County Tyrone]] and small territories from [[County Donegal]] and [[County Antrim]].

==Foundation and extent==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2021}}
Sir [[John Perrot]], the [[Lord Deputy of Ireland]], established County Coleraine between the [[River Bann|Rivers Bann]] and [[River Foyle|Foyle]] in 1585 during the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]]. Sir John intended administering the new county from the town of [[Coleraine]]. In the event, the English authorities built the [[courthouse]] and jail for the new establishment at [[Desertmartin]] in the adjacent county of [[County Tyrone|Tyrone]]. [[Thomas Phillips (Irish adventurer)|Sir Thomas Phillips]] was appointed Governor of the County of Coleraine in 1611.

Flint tools discovered nearby to Coleraine, dating to around 7000 BCE, represent the earliest known signs of human presence in Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-06 |title=Coleraine {{!}} Giant’s Causeway, Lough Foyle & River Bann {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Coleraine-Northern-Ireland |access-date=2025-07-10 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Towards a new county==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2021}}
English control of the territory remained nominal until after the [[Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Nine Years' War]]. Following the [[Flight of the Earls]] (1607) and [[O'Doherty's Rebellion]] (1608), the lands the Irish aristocrats held were escheated to [[the Crown]]. In 1609 the territory was given to the [[City of London Corporation]] and its [[livery company|livery companies]], who received instructions to undertake its [[plantation of Ulster|plantation]].

The area for planting included:

* the entirety of County Coleraine
* the barony of [[Loughinsholin]] which comprised the then north of [[County Tyrone]] and the environs of Coleraine in [[County Antrim]], together called [[O'Cahan]]'s Country
* a small area of [[County Donegal]] around [[Lough Foyle]]

In 1613, this larger area became incorporated into the newly founded [[County Londonderry]], named after the [[Derry|titular new city]], although its [[county town]] was Coleraine.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:History of County Londonderry]]
[[Category:History of County Tyrone]]
[[Category:History of County Donegal]]
[[Category:Coleraine]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1585]]
[[Category:1613 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Former counties of Ireland]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 1610s]]


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