Highwayman

Ballinrees Reservoir lies just off the B201 Coleraine to Limavady road.
The road, shown above, is known as the Windyhill Road. It was given this name in the early 1970's when postcodes were introduced in Northern Ireland.
Before postcodes, country roads rarely had names, as addresses were based on the townlands, the smallest units of land, into which Ireland was divided.

The Windyhill Road was an exception - it already had a name, which was obviously considered unsuitable for modern sensibilities. It was known as the Murderhole Road.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, this was the main road from Coleraine to Limavady. It passes through an isolated and mountainous area which, in the late 1700's and early 1800's, was frequented by highwaymen and gangs of outlaws.
The most notorious of these was a man called Cushy Glen, who allegedly murdered a number of travellers. His hideout was known as the murderhole...