The story of Coleraine is one of the most interesting in Irish history. It is said to have been given its name by St Patrick who, when he came there on his travels, was offered a site for a church. Near the place he saw some children playing among ferns and nameed it 'Cuil Rathain' – 'The Ferney Corner'.
Prior to the Plantation of Ulster in the early 1600 the present Co of Derry was known as the Co of Coleraine. It was the City of London which undertook the plantation of Coleraine 'to reduce the savage and rebellious people to civility, peace, religion and obedience'.
The flight of the Ulster Earls in 1607 provided the excuse which the English crown needed to take over the rich lands of Tyrone and Donegal. It also included in its plantation design Cavan (the county of the O'Reillys), Fermanagh of the Maguires and Coleraine of the O'Cahans (now O'Kanes). Sir Donnell Ballagh O'Cahan was the ruling chief of the time and he surrendered to the government, deserting his father-in-law, the Earl of Tyrone in his war against the English. O'Cahan was promised a grant of the lands that he had formerly held under O'Neill.
But having helped the government to defeat O'Neill, O'Cahan found that he had been tricked. The English government refused to make him the grant and told O'Cahan that neither he nor O'Neill had any right to the land, as they had been forfeited to the crown after Shane O'Neill's rebellion. O'Cahan naturally became rebellious with the result that he was arrested. He was taken to Dublin and later lodged in the Tower of London. With O'Cahan in prison the way was clear for the taking over of his rich and fertile county. This 'plum' of the plantation was given to the Corporation of London. Many have asked why?
One theory is that Queen Elizabeth I, having been liberally assisted by the purses of London citizens in her struggle against the O'Neills, had made a promise to repay or reward those patriotic men from the expected forfeitures in Ulster. Another theory is that James I (1603-25), being deeply impressed with the great power and resources of the City of London, could find no rest until he had enlisted its services in the settlement of Ulster.
However, bickering later broke out and the corporation was accused of taking more land that it was granted. The corporation, in turn, alleged that King James and his council seduced them to accept responsibility for 'land of great extent in the remotest parts of the north of Ireland, at that time deserted by other planters'.
The reason why other planters shunned the lane of Coleraine, admittedly the most fertile and attractive in Ulster, was the fact that Sir Donnell O'Cahan, who was in prison, might return to claim his own. He would have been received with open arms by his clansmen who had the reputation of being the most warlike in Ulster.
The Londoners did not intend to take 'a pig in a poke', so before taking over their duties they sent four agents to report on the quality of the land and the natural surroundings. Apparently the tour was managed with the greatest success for the agents – two painters, a draper and a goldsmith – returned to London full of enthusiasm for the great opportunities that existed in the fair land of Coleraine.
