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County Londonderry

County Londonderry or County Derry (Contae Dhoire) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland in the province of Ulster in Ireland. It was named after its main town – and later city and administrative centre – Derry (Londonderry), which lies in the north-western corner of the county.

The highest point in the county is the summit of Sawel Mountain (678m) on the border with County Tyrone. Sawel is part of the Sperrin Mountains, which dominate the southern part of the county. To the east and west, the land falls into the valleys of the Bann and Foyle rivers respectively; in the south-east, the county touches the shore of Lough Neagh, which is the largest lake in Ireland; the north of the county is distinguished by the steep cliffs, dune systems and remarkable beaches of the Atlantic coast.

The county is home to a number of important buildings and landscapes, including the well-preserved 17th-century city walls of Derry; the National Trust-owned Plantation estate at Springhill; the Mussenden Temple with its spectacular views of the Atlantic; the dikes, artificial coastlines and the noted bird sanctuaries on the eastern shore of Lough Foyle; and the visitor centre at Bellaghy Bawn, close to the childhood home of Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney. In the centre of the county are the old-growth deciduous forests at Banagher and Ness Wood, where the Burntollet River flows over the highest waterfalls in Northern Ireland.

The county flower is the Purple Saxifrage. The term Oak Leaf County would be used to describe County Derry in GAA competitions.

Name

As with the town, its name is subject to the Derry-Londonderry name dispute, with the form Derry preferred by nationalists and Londonderry preferred by unionists. The name Derry is used in the Republic of Ireland, it also has a mixed usage in Northern Ireland, depending on the source; while most of the British authorities prefer to use the name Londonderry.

History

Unlike the town, governmentally there was not a preceding administrative area called County Derry: it was established in 1613 by the government combining the former County of Coleraine with small parts of Counties Antrim, Donegal, and Tyrone at the behest of the London Livery Companies and the Irish Society (hence, London-Derry) so that they could control both banks of the mouths of the River Foyle and the River Bann and have access to sufficient wood for construction.

Administratively, the city became a separate county borough, so from the establishment of Londonderry County Council in 1899 until its abolition in 1973, the town of Coleraine was the official County Town of County Londonderry with the county council's headquarters.

Administration

Since 1973, administration has been divided between district councils. The councils covering the county are Derry City Council, Limavady Borough Council, and Magherafelt District Council; and most of Coleraine Borough Council, which is partly in County Antrim; and part of Cookstown District Council, which is largely in County Tyrone. It is one of four historic counties of Northern Ireland to presently have a majority of the population from a Catholic community background, according to the 2001 census.

Education

Government-funded education up to secondary school level is administered by

Western Education and Library Board: Derry, Limavady
North Eastern Education and Library Board: Coleraine, Magherafelt
Southern Education and Library Board: 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

In Gaelic games, the Derry county 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 (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, County Londonderry is represented in the IFA Premiership by Institute F.C. and Coleraine F.C.. Limavady United, Portstewart and Tobermore United compete in the IFA Championship. Derry City F.C. play in the Premier Division of the FAI 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 quickly progressed to become one of the most prestigious youth football tournaments in Europe, if not the world. The competition is based at Coleraine, County Londonderry and several surrounding towns - Ballymoney, Limavady, Portstewart, Portrush, Castlerock, Ballymena and Broughshane. The event, held in the last week of July, has attracted teams from 56 countries around the world including Europe, the USA, 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 Premiership giants Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur as well as top European teams such as Feyenoord, FC Porto, Barcelona, Benfica, Bayern Munich and Dynamo Kiev.

In Rugby union, the county is represented at senior level by Rainey Old Boys Rugby Club, Magherafelt who compete in the Ulster Senior League and All Ireland Division Three. 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.

In rowing, Richard Archibald from Coleraine along with his Irish team-mates qualified by finishing second in the lightweight fours final in Poznan. Thus qualifying for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. The quartet came home behind Germany in their Olympic qualifier in Poland. The Irish won their heat which meant that they avoided having to compete in the repechage. Archibald was part of a crew that claimed world championship silver and bronze in 2005 and 2006 but the Irish boat struggled badly in 2007 and found themselves in the unlikely position of still having to qualify for Beijing. Another Coleraine rower Alan Campbell is a World Cup gold medallist in the single sculls in 2006. Alan competed in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing where he participated in the Mens 2000m Individual Scull; managing to remain in first for the first 1000m, where he was then over taken by Olaf Tufte and came in fifth position.

The county currently has four main radio stations