Limavady 5.29

Limavady is a market town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, with Binevenagh as a backdrop. Lying 17mi east of Derry and 14mi southwest of Coleraine, Limavady had a population of 12,043 people as of the 2001 Census—an increase of some 17% since 1991. In the 30 years between 1971 and 2011, Limavady's population nearly doubled. Limavady is within Causeway Coast and Glens Borough.FeaturesLimavady has undergone sustained growth during the past fifty years thanks to significant modern industrial development and public perception of the town as attractive and residential. Limavady, a lucrative service hub for the Roe Valley, has seen competition from other retail centres: Londonderry, Coleraine and, to a lesser extent, Ballymena. One of the distinctive features of the town's growth has been the predominant southward and eastward expansion of its suburbs, with the River Roe flood plain continuing to contain the town to the west and north. From 1988 to 2004, a total of 1,332 dwellings were built in the town, mainly at Bovally along the south eastern edge of the town. The large industrial estate at Aghanloo is 2 miles (3 km) north of the town.HistoryLimavady and its surrounding settlements derive from Celtic roots, although no-one is sure about the exact date of Limavady's origins. Estimates date from around 5 CE. Early records tell of Saint Columba, who presided over a meeting of the Kings at Mullagh Hill near Limavady in 575 CE, a location which is now part of the Roe Park Golf Resort.