Roe Park Resort Golf

Limavady gets its name from Léim an Mhadaidh — "Leap of the Dog" in Irish. The legend belongs to the O'Cahan clan, who ruled this stretch of the Roe Valley for nearly five centuries: a loyal wolfhound leapt across the river during a siege to warn allied forces in Dungiven of approaching enemies. The O'Cahans' stronghold stood in what is now Roe Valley Country Park, the long trail of ancient woodland and riverside paths that runs immediately adjacent to this golf course. The last O'Cahan chief refused to submit to the Plantation and died a prisoner in the Tower of London in 1628.

The estate's Georgian house, which forms the hotel's five-bay facade, was shaped by the McCausland family in the mid-18th century — they renamed it Daisy Hill, planted thousands of trees whose mature descendants now line the fairways, and built the coach house that serves today as the resort's restaurant and golf shop. The estate was renamed Roe Park in 1817. The golf course opened in 1993, designed by Frank Ainsworth, with seven holes later reworked by a contractor to the Hawtree firm. It is par 70, just over 6,260 yards, and plays through 155 acres of valley parkland with the Roe coming into play on five holes of the outward nine.

Limavady's other claim to lasting fame is quieter but more improbable. In 1851, a local woman named Jane Ross heard a fiddle melody outside a shipping office on the main street, played by a wandering musician known locally as Blind Jimmy McCurry. She transcribed the tune and passed it to the musicologist George Petrie, who published it in 1855 as the "Londonderry Air." Sixty years later, an English lyricist named Fred Weatherly — whose Colorado sister-in-law had sent him the melody — fitted words to it and released "Danny Boy" in 1913. It has since become one of the most recorded songs in history. Jane Ross's house is still in the town, directly opposite the Alexander Arms.

For visiting golfers, Roe Park is the most practical north coast base west of Portrush: twenty minutes from Derry Airport, forty-five minutes from Portrush and the Causeway links. The valley setting is sheltered where the coast is not, and the resort hotel, spa, and three restaurants make it a solid anchor for a two-day circuit.