Maghera

For the Romanian village, see Vârfu Câmpului.

Maghera
Irish: Machaire Rátha
Maghera  Maghera shown within Northern Ireland
Population	3,711 (2001 Census)
District	Magherafelt
County	County Londonderry
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MAGHERA
Postcode district	BT46
Dialling code	028
Police	Northern Ireland
Fire	Northern Ireland
Ambulance	Northern Ireland
EU Parliament	Northern Ireland
UK Parliament	Mid Ulster
List of places: UK • Northern Ireland • County Londonderry

Maghera (pronounced ma-hə-rah,  from Irish: Machaire Rátha, meaning "plain of the ringfort") is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Its population was 2,876 in 1991 and had risen to 3,711 in the 2001 Census. It provides the local commercial centre for the surrounding villages of Swatragh, Tobermore, Upperlands, Gulladuff and Knockcloghrim. It is also the educational centre for the surrounding area and St. Patrick's is one of the largest schools in Mid-Ulster.^{[citation needed]}

The Slaughtneil/Carntogher area around the village is unique for being the only rural community in Ireland outside of the Gaeltacht where most primary school children are taught through the Irish language. Maghera also has parishes of Fallalea, Ranaghan and Glen. In the Roman Catholic parish church of St Patrick's there is a headstone remembering the large number of people who died during the Famine.

Maghera town centre.

History

Ancient history, Annals of Ulster, state that the seat of the Cenel nEogain diocese was at Raith Luraig in Maghera, County Londonderry.

On 12 July 1830, Orange Institution parades led to confrontations between Orangemen and Ribbonmen in Maghera and Castledawson. Several Catholic homes were then burnt by Protestants following these clashes.

The Troubles

Maghera suffered significant violence during the Northern Irish Troubles. In total, 14 people were killed, half of them members of the security forces and a further two as a result of family membership of the Ulster Defence Regiment. The Provisional Irish Republican Army were responsible for ten of the 14 deaths.

See also: The Troubles in Maghera

Ulster Bank, Maghera.

Demographics

Maghera is classified as an intermediate settlement by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 2,250 and 4,500 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 3,711 people living in Maghera. Of these:

• 28.6% were aged under 16 years and 13.3% were aged 60 and over
• 49.3% of the population were male and 50.7% were female
• 72.4% were from a Catholic background and 27.1% were from a Protestant background
• 3.9% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

Places of interest

Notable buildings in Maghera include St. Lurach's Church, which was founded in the year 500AD, originally as a monastery. The town of Maghera grew up around this church. The importance of the monastery was such that Maghera was a Bishop’s seat in the 12th century and 13th century. However, the Church was raided by the Vikings and fell into disrepair and is now a roofless ruin, and is maintained by the Environmental Heritage Service. Within the ruins, as an insert to the west wall is a sculpture of the crucifixion, which is thought to date from the 10th century - making it one of earliest representations of a cross in Ireland. St Lurach is also the saint of the town.

Transport

• Maghera railway station opened on 18 December 1880, closed for passenger traffic on 28 August 1950 and finally closed altogether on 1 October 1959.

People

• Maghera is the birthplace of Charles Thomson, who emigrated to the United States where he became secretary of the Continental Congress. Thomson designed the Great Seal of the United States.
• Watty Graham was a local United Irishman who took part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798
• Children's author Eve Bunting was born in Maghera and later emigrated to the United States.
• Robert Hawthorne who won a Victoria Cross during the Indian Mutiny was from the town.
• Dr Henry Cooke, a noted theologian, was born at Maghera. A statue of Cooke called the "Black Man" (due to its former colour, when covered in soot) stands outside Royal Belfast Academical Institution in Belfast.
• James Lenox-Conyngham Chichester-Clark and his grandfather James Johnston Clark, both MPs for County Londonderry, were born here at Largantogher House.
• William Shiels (3 December 1848 — 17 December 1904), Australian colonial politician and 16th Premier of Victoria, was born at Maghera.

Education

There are 3 primary and 1 secondary school located in Maghera.

Primary schools

• St. Mary's Primary School, Glenview
• Maghera Controlled Primary School
• St. Patrick's Primary School, Glen

Secondary School

• St. Patrick's Co-Ed Comprehensive College is the largest school in the NEELB and one of the largest in Ulster.^{[citation needed]}
• Maghera High School, which had served an intake mainly from the local Protestant population, was closed in 2009, after a protracted campaign by many in the local population to save it from closure. The majority of remaining pupils were transferred to nearby Magherafelt High School.

Sport

• The local Gaelic football club is Watty Graham's Gaelic Athletic Club.
• The local soccer team is Maghera Strollers F.C.
• The local golf Driving Range is located in Tobermore
• The local leisure centre is Maghera Leisure Centre located on the Coleraine road.

See also

• List of villages in Northern Ireland
• List of towns in Northern Ireland
• Market Houses in Northern Ireland

External links

• Maghera Old Church
• Culture Northern Ireland