Maghera, NIR - Postcode - BT46 5SW

Description of Maghera

At the base of the Glenshane Pass in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, is a little village known as Maghera  Machaire Rátha, meaning 'plain of the ringfort. From a 2001 low of 3,711, its 2011 Census population was 4,220. Located in the Mid-Ulster District, Maghera Parish (after which it was called) and the former barony of Loughinsholin are also part of the area's geographic context. 

History of Maghera

Saint Lurach, whose family may have been evangelized by Saint Patrick, founded a monastery in what is now the town in the sixth century. The Cenél nEoghain was headquartered in Maghera at Ráth Luraig, according to the Annals of Ulster. Ruins of St. Lurach's Church, which once stood on the site of the monastery, have been dated to the 10th century. They consist of what is perhaps the oldest crucifixion relief in Ireland, which is located over a gateway. St. Mary's Catholic Church, which dates back to the early 20th century, features a replica of the lintel over the tomb of Jesus.

In the 12th century, both the old church and town were destroyed in fires. After that, the cathedral church of Cenel Eogain was moved to Maghera, making it the seat of the bishopric.  In 1246, Bishop Germanus O'Carolan petitioned Pope Innocent IV for permission to move the see from Maghera to Derry due to the city's greater accessibility.

Maghera and the surrounding territory drew Scottish settlers as a result of the Plantation of Ulster and the Rebellion of 1641, which forced out many of the early English families. Not only did they clash with the poor Irish, but also, as tenants and Presbyterians, with the landowning, Church of Ireland, Ascendancy. Mass migration to the American colonies followed (Charles Thomson listed his hometown as Maghera on his Declaration of Independence signature), and in the 1790s, the United Irishmen were formed.

On 7 June 1798, the United Irishmen collected about 5,000 men in Maghera, showing that they were hopeless about change and determined to make common cause with their Catholic neighbors. The lightly armed host disbanded the next morning after hearing of the rebel defeat at Antrim and the approaching government soldiers. For his role, Presbyterian church elder Watty Graham was executed and his head was publicly displayed. John Glendy, one of his ministers, was sent into exile in the United States. During demonstrations organized by the Orange Order in Maghera and Castledawson on 12 July 1830, clashes broke out between members of the Orange Order and the Ribbonmen. A number of Catholic homes were subsequently burned by Protestants. Tenant purchase of property was made possible by the Land Acts around the turn of the century, which helped mend sectarian tensions, but by the end of the century, the national question had won out. Nationalists and unionists have maintained an even political division in the town.

Loss of population in the surrounding rural districts caused by the Great Famine of the 1840s and its aftermath has not been fully restored. The "Famine Plot" cemetery was marked with a headstone in 2003 by the Ancient Order of Hibernians. In the first decades of the twentieth century, the city saw a period of moderate prosperity. It was one of two important towns in the Magherafelt Rural District, and it boasted a train station, a textile plant, a thriving weekly market, and proximity to Clark's linen mill in Upperlands. Post-war improvements in education, housing, and transportation all benefited the city. In the 1960s, Catholic and Protestant communities each got their own elementary and high school, new housing developments went up, and the town's narrow streets were widened to accommodate cars.