The town of Limavady in County Londonderry carries its legend in its very name: Léim an Mhadaidh, 'the Leap of the Dog'. The stronghold of the O'Cahans (Ó Catháin), the ruling clan of the district, stood above the gorge of the River Roe in what is now the Roe Valley Country Park, where the river runs swift and dangerous through a rocky defile — and it is here that the story is set.
The story
The legend tells that the O'Cahans were besieged in their castle by an enemy force and in desperate need of reinforcements, but the attackers ringed them so closely that no messenger could slip through to summon aid. In their extremity they turned to the chief's faithful Irish wolfhound. A message calling for help was rolled up and given to the great hound, which broke from the castle and ran for the river — and at the gorge, gathering itself, the wolfhound leapt clear across the treacherous, swirling currents of the Roe, its silhouette thrown against the rising sun, the parchment clenched in its teeth. It carried the message to those who could help, and the O'Cahans' stronghold was saved.
The leap so impressed itself on local memory that it gave the town its enduring Irish name, Léim an Mhadaidh — anglicised to Limavady. Centuries later the legend was honoured in bronze when the sculptor Maurice Harron created the 'Leap of the Dog' sculpture that now stands in the Roe Valley Country Park, and the Roe Valley's wolfhound remains the emblem of the town. Whether or not any single siege lies behind it, the tale of the faithful hound's leap is one of the best-loved place-name legends of the north.