Discovering Myroe
Myroe is flat, reclaimed farmland – drained out of the tidal marshes of Lough Foyle in the late 18th century – on the northern edge of Limavady in County Londonderry, and by local tradition it is where the Londonderry Air was first written down. It is a large farming hamlet rather than a village, and it is honest to say up front that there are no shops or cafés here and no single sight to build a day around. Come for the quiet, the wide skies over the lough and the birds, not for a list of things to do.
Farming, rapeseed and the Londonderry Air
Agriculture is the whole character of the place. The reclaimed fields are often planted with rapeseed, which turns the flat land a vivid yellow in spring – the same crop pressed nearby into Broighter Gold rapeseed oil. Myroe’s farming reputation reached a wider audience in 1991, when the hamlet hosted the World Ploughing Contest, drawing competitors from across Europe.
The hamlet’s real claim to fame is musical. Local tradition holds that Jane Ross first noted down the tune we now call the Londonderry Air – the melody carried worldwide as Danny Boy – after hearing it played by a blind Myroe fiddler named Jimmy McCurry. It is a story worth knowing as you drive the quiet roads he would have walked.
Myroe Presbyterian Church
Myroe Presbyterian Church stands on Sea Coast Road, in the townland of Lomond. Behind it a small graveyard records generations of the local farming families – many of them descendants of the settlers who first drained and worked these reclaimed levels. It is a plain rural church, and outside service times the interest is really the setting rather than the building.
Birds on the Myroe Levels
The reclaimed flats beside Lough Foyle – known locally as the Myroe Levels – are good ground for wintering wildfowl and waders, with drainage ditches, shallow pools and open fields that pull in birds through the colder months. Autumn and winter are the productive seasons; bring binoculars and go early, when the birds are most active and the light is low across the water. The flat farm lanes and the shoreline make for easy, level walking on a still day.
Horse riding at Crindle Stables
For something more active, Crindle Stables (6 Carrowclare Road) runs guided horseback rides along the coastline, including a St Patrick’s Day beach ride (around £150 a ticket). Booking well ahead is sensible, as the seasonal rides fill up.
Planning your visit
- Getting there: Myroe sits off the A2 coast road, a few kilometres north of Limavady, and is easiest reached by car.
- Facilities: None in the hamlet – no shops or cafés. Bring water and snacks, and pick up anything you need in Limavady.
- Best time to go: Spring for the rapeseed, autumn and winter for the wildfowl.
- Nearby stops: Roe Estuary Nature Reserve, the town of Limavady, and the walks around Ballykelly are all a short drive away.
If you only pass through once, time it for a spring morning when the rapeseed is out and the lough is flat – then head into Limavady for coffee, because Myroe has none.