Limavady (Limavadde) derives its name from the Gaelic 'Leim an Mhadaidh' and means ‘Leap of the Dog’, the name ties the original location of the settlement to around  the O’Cahan’s castle in the Roe Valley Country Park, you will find this signposted and on the Rose Valley scenic loop. The Dog Leap is today by a bridge, the name relates to a faithful guard dog of the O'Cahan's which is said to have leaped the river gorge to warn its master of approaching enemies. The O’Cahan's ruled the area from the 14th century until their last chieftain Donal Ballagh surrendered to Sir Henry Docwra in 1602 during his campaign in Ireland under the authority of Queen Elizabeth 1st.

The Limavady we know today developed during the Plantation of Ulster and was originally known as Newtown Limavadde. The County of Coleraine (O’Cahans Country) was granted to Thomas Phillips by James 1^st of England, the same Thomas Phillips who was granted a license to distil whiskey at Bushmills in 1608.  He effectively became commander of the area and forged ahead with establishing new settlements between Coleraine and Londonderry as part of the plantation. He built a substantial residence here which included the remains of O’Cahans Castle where he resided. Two miles north he built eighteen houses and an Inn which became Newtown Limavady, in 1870 the Newtown was dropped from the name.

On Limavady Main Street you will see a sculpture created by the artist Philip Flanagan to commemorate Jane Ross and the town’s connection to the world renown melody ‘Danny Boy’ or the ‘Londonderry Air’.  Jane was an avid collector of unpublished Irish melodies and one day heard the tune being played on a fiddle outside the Burns and Laird shipping office, opposite where she lived, by a fiddler known locally as blind Jimmy McCurry (1830-1910) who resided in the workhouse.