Limavady

- "very Irish, for though it has been planted for more than two centuries by English and Scottish settlers, the old Irish race still forms the great majority of its peasant inhabitants; and there are few, if any counties in which, with less foreign admixture, the ancient melodies of the country have been so extensively preserved." — Publisher's introduction of 1855

Jane Ross (1810-1879) lived with her sisters at 51 Main St Limavady, and early one morning in 1853 she heard an unusual violin tune played outside her window. She was a keen collector of Irish folk music; she never got the name of the player or of the tune, but it joined a batch published by George Petrie. Known as the "Londonderry Air", it was originally without words. It was unlike other Irish folk tunes, and other collectors were unaware of it. It's nowadays believed to stem from the 18th-century Aisling an Óigfhir or "The Young Man's Dream", but played so slowly and mournfully as to cause Ross to mistake the time signature.

The first set of words to the tune appeared in the 1870s, and around 50 versions have been published, mostly so sad and mawkish that you would either fall about laughing or throw up. There really ought to be a mash-up version (yes, that scans for its first line), to set His love among the sons of men, and lie and faint within your silken bosom, the pilgrim told not how or when. But in 1913 Frederic Edward Weatherly set the words that have become the unofficial national anthem of Northern Ireland and its diaspora. They're every bit as mawkish, and you can laugh or upchuck if you will — lots of late-night carousers do so. But if there is a single molecule of Ulster in your being, then you will nevertheless sing like you mean it, with tears in your eyes. It's called "Danny Boy".

1 City of Derry Airport (LDY IATA) is at Eglinton 10 miles west on A2, with flights from the UK and in summer from the Med. You've more choice flying into one of the Belfast airports.

By road from Belfast follow M2 / A6 to Dungiven then B68 north.

Goldliner 234 runs every couple of hours from Londonderry via City of Derry Airport to Limavady (40 min) and Coleraine. In term-time it continues to Ulster University.

Ulsterbus 143 / 144 / 152 is a slower service, taking an hour from Londonderry hourly M-F.

Bus 134 runs from Coleraine along the coast road A2 to Castlerock, Magilligan crossroads, Bellarena, Aghanloo Cross and Limavady, taking an hour. There are 8 M-F and 6 Sa.

2 Buscentre in Limavady is east end of Main St.

The railway runs right next to Limavady and the airport and serves neither. It's probably simplest to take the hourly train from Belfast to Londonderry then the bus out.

3 Bellarena is a halt on the railway five miles north of Limavady. It's served by the infrequent Bus 134 (above) or you could have a taxi arranged.

4 Magilligan Point is the landing for the Lough Foyle Ferry from Greencastle in County Donegal. It sails Jun-Aug, shuttling continuously from 9AM to 8PM, a 10-min crossing. It carries light vehicles; there are buses to Greencastle but no onward public transport from Magilligan Point. Make sure your personal and car documents are valid for the Republic of Ireland.