Londonderry

Londonderry, a maritime county of the province of Ulster, in Ireland, 40 miles long by 34 broad, is bounded N. by the Atlantic, and elsewhere by Antrim, Lough Neagh, Tyrone, and Donegal. Area, 816 sq. m. Pop. (1841) 222,174; (1861) 184,206; (1881) 164,991; (1891) 152,009, of whom 67,748 are Catholics, 48,936 Presbyterians, and 27,730 are Protestant Episcopalians. The surface rises the farther one travels inland, Mount Sawell, on the southern border, being 2236 feet high. The coast-line (30 miles long) is generally bold and precipitous; but the shore of Lough Foyle is in most places an unvarying plain, large tracts having been reclaimed. The river Bann from Lough Neagh forms part of the eastern border of the county. The river Foyle intersects its western extremity. The principal crops are oats, potatoes, flax, and turnips. Thirty-seven per cent. of the area is permanent grass, and a large proportion of the cultivated soil is meadow land and clover. Linen (shirt-making) is the staple industry. The fisheries, both off the coast and in the rivers and lakes, are valuable. The county returns two members to parliament, and the county town, Londonderry (q.v.), returns one. The other towns are Coleraine and Limavady. The county owned in ancient times the sovereignty of the O'Neil sept. It was subjected to English authority in the end of Elizabeth's reign. In 1609 the confiscated estates of the native Irish chieftains were granted by the crown to the corporation of London, the management being vested in the Irish Society, a body twenty-six in number, elected by the common council, one-half retiring each year. Portions of the county were assigned to twelve of the livery companies. At the present time the Irish Society and half a dozen of the London companies own more than one-fourth of the entire county; but several of these last, notably the Drapers' Company, have sold their estates to the occupying tenants under the Ashbourne Act.