History
- Home
- About
- Your Venue
- History
The house was acquired by Coleraine Borough Council in 1973 and was the first Arts Centre to be opened in Northern Ireland when it re-opened in that role in 1980.

The Ulster Architectural Heritage Society reported in its 1971 list of historic buildings that the house was ‘derelict and fast falling into decay’. The house was thankfully rescued from the fate that was to befall so many houses of that era.
It is in fact the second house to be built on the site. The Kerr family from Scotland were the first to settle on the estate, around the time of the Plantation of Ulster, with the first Flowerfield House being built in 1710. The house then passed into the hands of the O’Hara family and at one point hosted an unwelcome visitor in the shape of ‘Half Hanged McNaughten’.
McNaughten was on the run from the law when, according to the account of the time, he dived into Flowerfield House and hid from the soldiers – under the skirts of one of the ladies in the drawing room at the time

During the time of the agrarian unrest at the end of the 18th century, when the ‘Hearts of Steel’ were terrorising Ulster, Mrs. Eliza O’Neill, who lived in the house at the time, wrote a letter which showed the house under a state of siege: “We have bags of sand nailed up in most of the windows to keep out their balls,” she wrote. “And plenty of charges ready made in paper, to charge the faster, and six guns always ready.”
The ‘new’ house – the elegant building which occupies the centre of the 2003 redevelopment – was built by Samuel Orr around 1855. After his death in 1869 the house was occupied for a time by Major Alexander Shuldham from County Longford, who died in 1876.
Charles and Muriel Munro rented the house from about 1922, until Charles’ death in 1952. Muriel Munro continued to live at Flowerfield until 1962, until the house became vacant and remained so until its acquisition by Coleraine Borough Council.
Material sourced from Peggy Vowles’ article on Flowerfield in The Bann Disc, Journal of Coleraine Historical Society, Vol. 3
- Your Venue
- Your Venue
- Your Visit
- Your Visit
- How to Book
- How to Book
- Venue Hire
- Venue Hire
- Springhall Artist Residencies
- Meet Our Team
- Open Doors to Culture Strategy 16-21
- Our Creative Tenants
- Safeguarding
- Terms and Conditions
- GRANTS & BURSARIES
- Meet the Team
- Safeguarding
- BIG DOODLES AND WEE DOODLES | JOHN MCMACKEN | 3 APRIL - 6 MAY
- POSTCARDS (Ghostwritten) | 24 MAY – 29 JUNE
- GRANTS & BURSARIES
- JOAN MIRÓ | PAINTING AND POETRY | 7 JUNE – 19 JULY
- INTERRUPTED (JOURNEYS) | Brain Injury Matters NI | 5 JUL – 30 AUG
- I AM | Brain Injury Matters NI | 5 JUL – 30 AUG
- THE POOKA PARTY & OTHER STORIES | 2 - 30 AUG
- USWA SPRING SHOW | 3 MAY - 14 JUNE
- STEINBECK DUSTBOWL PHOTOGRAPHY | LEAVING | 3 FEBRUARY – 22 MARCH
- INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE WEEK | 21 – 30 JUNE
- THE STEINBECK CONNECTION CHILDREN’S BOOK COVER EXHIBITION | 22 FEBRUARY - 22 MARCH
- PUFFIN ROCK HABITATS | 5 JULY - 6 SEPT
- LIFE AND TIMES IN LIMAVADY | 2 JANUARY– 1 MARCH
- SHIFTING TIDES | 21JULY - 23 AUGUST
- anama | anne mcalarney | 11 JANUARY - 1 FEBRUARY
- HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY 2025 | 23 JANUARY - 1 FEBRUARY
- HERE, THERE & THEM: CONTEMPORARY IRISH ART FROM THE ACNI COLLECTION | 11 JANUARY - 1 MARCH
- THIN PLACE | BOB SPEERS | 15 MARCH - 26 APRIL
- LIMAVADY ART GROUP | DUNGIVEN REGENERATION CLUB
- THE WAY I SEE IT | UPPER GALLERY | 8 MARCH - 26 APRIL
- ATHRÚ | STUART QUIGLEY | 7 Sept – 27 Oct
- TADA! | 3 - 31 AUGUST
- ALL US WOMEN - Janey Moffatt | 7 September - 26 October
- WE ARE THE DREAM WEAVERS | 3 -31 AUGUST
- CAUSEWAY CRAFT TRAIL MAKERS SHOWCASE
- MY CARDBOARD COAST TOWN
- CONCURRENT | 13 APRIL - 18 MAY
- PROCEED AS NORMAL | 13 April - 18 May
- FIRST THEY IGNORE YOU | Sheila Chakravarti | 9 March – 20 April
- BIRDS WITH NO PASSPORTS | John Brown
- HIDDEN CREATIVITY | North West Regional College | 6 January – 24 February
- BRUMOUS | Aidan Crotty | 12 January – 16 February
- STEINBECK DUSTBOWL PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION: PEOPLE | 24 February-30 March
- THE STEINBECK CONNECTION PRIMARY SCHOOLS ART EXHIBITION | 10 February-30 March
- THREADS & STITCHES | 11 March - 15 June
- MAPPING MONUMENTS | 7 March - 29 June
- Reflections - A Retrospective by John Johnson | 9 September to 28 October 2023
- Puffin Rock by DOG EARS & CARTOON SALOON | 8 July to 26 August 2023
- Woven Hug | 6 July - 26 August
- Stitching A Story by WILMA KIRKPATRICK | 1 July to 26 August 2023
- Visual Memories in Glass by Pupils of St. Colum's & Portstewart PS | 27 May to 3 June 2023
- Still I Rise by DEIRDRE ROBB | 20 May to 24 June 2023
- Spring Exhibition by ULSTER SOCIETY OF WOMEN ARTISTS | 1 April to 13 May 2023
- Uncertain Landscapes by ALEX DEWART & HEATHER MCATEER | 18 February to 25 March 2023
- Creative Voices: What Autism Means to Me I 7 Jan - 11 Feb 2023
- Disruptive Women by CONFLICT TEXTILES | 8 February to 5 August 2023
- Reflection by CATHAL MCNAUGHTON | 10 September to 5 November 2022
- Causeway Craft Trail Showcase | 18 June - 31 August 2022
- Causeway Coast by SARAH CARRINGTON | 5 February to 26 March 2022
- Robert Sellar Print Collection | 13 Jan - 29 Jan 2022
- Close to Home by Maurice Orr | 16 June - 24 July 2021
- Isolation in Lockdown by Pavestone Collective
- Tribes and Tribulations - Helen Merrigan Colfer
- Flowerfield Families
- For Kids
- For Adults
- Music
- Sound Connections
- Gallery tours for schools