Coleraine (/koʊlˈreɪn/ kohl-RAYN; from Irish: Cúil Raithin [ˌkuːlʲ ˈɾˠahənʲ], 'nook of the ferns'[2]) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

When Patrick arrived in the neighbourhood, he was received with great honour and hospitality by the local chieftain, Nadslua, who offered him a piece of ground on which to build a church.

The town was one of the two urban communities developed by the London Companies in County Londonderry in the Plantation of Ulster at the start of the 17th century.

Richard Hamilton's Irish Army made an attempt to seize the town but was repulsed.

Later the same year, following the failed Siege of Derry, Sir Charles Carney and his Jacobite garrison fled the town on receiving news of the advance of Percy Kirke's Enniskillen forces and the landing at Carrickfergus of Marshal Schomberg.

With some industrialisation, the expansion of the river port, and the development of the railway, the town expanded throughout the 19th century.

The population doubled due to a number of factors: major industrial development on extensive suburban sites, including a substantial distillery producing Coleraine Whiskey; the expansion of commerce; and the development of sporting and recreational facilities.

[10] Coleraine Town Hall required major structural work, and was not reopened until August 1995.

Northern Ireland is one of the poorest countries in Europe, with a GDP per capita lower than Bulgaria.

[citation needed] Coleraine railway station opened on 4 December 1855 and shares facilities with the town's Ulsterbus bus depot.

The Belfast–Derry railway line is to be upgraded to facilitate more frequent trains and improvements to the permanent way such as track and signalling to enable faster services.

The town sits within the East Londonderry constituency for elections to the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly, despite some of the borough being in County Antrim.

Also nearby is the beach at Benone Strand and Mussenden Temple, built by Frederick Augustus Hervey, an 18th-century Anglican bishop atop a precipitate cliff and overlooking County Donegal in one direction and Scotland in another.

The bishop's residence, Downhill House, which is managed by the National Trust, fell into disrepair after the Second World War.

[citation needed] Coleraine experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and relatively mild winters.

The nearest official Met Office weather station for which online records are available is at nearby Coleraine University,[39] about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the town centre.

The University of Ulster campus was built in the 1960s and brought a theatrical space to the town in the form of the Riverside Theatre.

[78] The Causeway Institute is a College of Further and Higher Education based in Coleraine, with another campus in nearby Ballymoney.

Coleraine have also provided a number of international players and Commonwealth Games representatives, most notably Victor Dallas and Roy Fulton.

These include RDA Coleraine (Riding for the Disabled Association - Coleraine & District Group), which provides riding opportunities for people with a physical and/or learning disability at their £1.75 million RDA Causeway Coast Arena at Castleroe.

In Quebec, Canada, the municipality of Saint-Joseph-de-Coleraine in the Appalachian region perpetuates the hometown of Irish settlers who arrived starting in 1864.

[82][83] In 1853, a surveyor named Lindsay Clarke was working on a township called Bryans Creek Crossing in Victoria, Australia.

The region was chosen due to the historical connections between the Presbyterian and Catholic churches and Malawi, sustained by a number of specific local contacts.