placenamesLaurel Hill
Cnoc na Labhras
Laurel Hill on Coleraine’s western side preserves traces of an endowed school, a nineteenth-century church and the changing use of a country house.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Cnoc na Labhras · Irish · main form · validated name
- Laurel Hill · English · main form
Place & story
An endowed school
In 1837 Samuel Lewis recorded a school at Laurel Hill founded in 1830 by R. Kyle, with an annual endowment of £50. He placed it within Killowen parish’s wider provision of public education, rather than describing an isolated estate classroom. The school’s named benefactor and continuing income provide a specific connection between Laurel Hill’s landed family and education in the district. [2]
Saint John’s on Laurel Hill Road
Saint John’s Catholic church stands on an elevated site beside Laurel Hill Road, overlooking the Bann. The Historic Environment Division records its construction in 1834 to designs by J. Kirkpatrick. Built in stone with battlemented parapets and shallow gables, it presents a distinctive Gothic outline above its surrounding burial ground. A later single-storey addition occupies the western side of the building. [3]
A house used by the military
Laurel Hill House later supplied facilities for military personnel and their families during Operation Banner. In October 2006, defence minister Adam Ingram told Parliament that a review of adventurous training had found no need to retain the site for the smaller peacetime garrison. He announced a planned closure by August 2007 and the transfer of its Army Careers Information Office to Artillery Road in Coleraine. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Derry
- Barony
- Coleraine
- Civil parish
- Killowen
- Within
- Churchland
- Coordinates
- 55.11911, -6.68331 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1165846 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Laurel Hill. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Killowen, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837 · Samuel Lewis
- Saint John’s Roman Catholic Church, HB03/15/002 · Historic Environment Division, Department for Communities
- Review of Adventurous Training (Northern Ireland), 12 October 2006 · Adam Ingram, Ministry of Defence; UK Parliament
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2010-04-19. How this page was prepared.