Thursday 20th August - Coleraine - where is it?

The Irish name 'Cuil Raithin' was anglicised to Coleraine by the Planters in the 17th century.

Cuil Raithin is Irish for 'ferny corner'. Coleraine would have been a great name for New Zealand with the multitude of ferns found here!!!!!! I vote for that name if the current name is ever replaced!!!! In its early days, the North Island was once called New Ulster and the South Island, New Munster because of the host of new Irish settlers here!

Coleraine was also the name of the county which is now Londonderry. (The county was never historically County Derry.) The county was renamed County Londonderry by the London Companies in the Plantation of the 17th Century.

One of Coleraine's most famous sons was Bonar Law who became Prime Minister of the UK after the Great War. His grandson is Lord Coleraine. I will return to Bonar Law another time on this blog...

People who left Coleraine to settle in other parts of the world have taken the name and given it to their farm or town. So there are Coleraine's all over the United States, Canada and Australia.


We have a Coleraine in Hawke's Bay. A man from Coleraine named his farm after his home town when he settled on the slopes of Te Mata near Havelock North. His descendants run the farm as a vineyard now.

Coleraine is the top red wine in New Zealand. It is also the most expensive!

R and J gave me 2 bottles of Coleraine 2005 when I started my last contract. I think I will open one bottle and have a glass when I start my next contract!

Good years are 2005, 2006 and 2007 if you are looking to buy a bottle! :-)