Editing Maghera

{{Short description|Town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland}}
{{About|the town of Maghera, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name = Maghera
| irish_name = Machaire Rátha
| scots_name = Machera<ref>[http://www.scots-online.org/dictionary/read.asp?letter=M The Online Scots Dictionary] Retrieved 20 August 2012.</ref>
| local_name = 
| static_image_name = Maghera Town Centre.jpg
| static_image_caption = Maghera Town Centre
| map_type = Northern Ireland
| coordinates = {{coord|54.844|-6.673|display=inline,title}}
| irish_grid_reference = 
| population = 4,235
| population_ref = ([[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]])
| unitary_northern_ireland = [[Mid-Ulster District|Mid-Ulster]]
| lieutenancy_northern_ireland = 
| constituency_westminster = [[Mid-Ulster (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid-Ulster]]
| constituency_ni_assembly = [[Mid-Ulster (Assembly constituency)|Mid-Ulster]]
| country = Northern Ireland
| historic_county = 
| post_town = MAGHERA
| postcode_area = BT
| postcode_district = BT46
| dial_code = 028
}}
[[File:Galwilly Bridge Maghera.jpg|thumb|Galwilly Bridge Over The Milltown Burn Located Outside Maghera in Glen Housing Estate.]]
[[File:Tirnony Dolmen - geograph.org.uk - 587263.jpg|thumb|Tirnony Dolmen]]
'''Maghera''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|m|æ|h|ə|ˈ|r|ɑː|,_|ˌ|m|æ|k|ə|ˈ|r|ɑː}} {{respell|MA|hə|RAH|,_|MAK|ə|RAH}}; {{Irish derived place name|Machaire Rátha|plain of
the [[ringfort]]}}) is a small town at the foot of the [[Glenshane Pass]] in [[Northern Ireland]]. Its population was 4,235 in the [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]].<ref name="2021pop"/> Formerly in the [[Barony (Ireland)|barony]] of [[Loughinsholin]] within the historic [[County Londonderry]], it is today in the local-government district of [[Mid-Ulster District|Mid-Ulster.]]

==History==
One mile north of the town is a single-chamber [[Megalith|megalithic]] tomb known as Tirnony dolmen. The portals surrounding the tomb are five feet tall.<ref>{{cite book |last=Meehan |first=Cary |date=2004 |title=Sacred Ireland |url= |location=Somerset |publisher=Gothic Image Publications |page=171 |isbn=0 906362 43 1 |access-date=}}</ref> The town dates back at least to the 6th century to the monastery founded by Saint Lurach whose family were possibly evangelised by [[Saint Patrick]]. The ''[[Annals of Ulster]]'' say that the seat of the [[Cenél nEógain|Cenél nEoghain]] was at Ráth Luraig in Maghera. Standing upon the site of the monastery, the present day ruins of St. Lurach's Church date back to the 10th century (see [[Maghera Old Church]]). They include, over a doorway, a relief of the crucifixion, possibly the oldest in Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web|title=St. Lurach's Church – Mid Ulster District Council|url=https://www.midulstercouncil.org/visitor/places-to-visit/ancient-ulster/st-lurach's-church|access-date=2021-10-20|publisher=Mid Ulster Council|language=en-GB}}</ref> The crucifixion lintel is reproduced in the contemporary Catholic church, St Mary's.

The old church and town were burned in the 12th century. Afterwards, Maghera became the seat of the [[Bishop of Derry|Bishopric of Cinél nEógain]] with a cathedral church.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Home – Maghera Historical Society|url=https://magherahistoricalsociety.org/|access-date=2021-10-20|language=en-GB}}</ref> In 1246 its bishop, Germanus O'Carolan (Gilla in Choimded Ó Cerbailláin), pleading the remoteness of Maghera, obtained sanction from [[Pope Innocent IV]] to have the see transferred to [[Derry]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Diocese of Derry, Northern Ireland|url=http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/derr0.htm|access-date=2021-10-20|website=GCatholic}}</ref>

As a result of the [[Plantation of Ulster]] and of the [[Irish Rebellion of 1641|Rebellion of 1641]] which drove out many of the first English families, Maghera and district attracted Scottish settlers. They came into conflict not only with the dispossessed Irish, but as tenants and as [[Presbyterian Church in Ireland|Presbyterians]] also with the land-owning, [[Church of Ireland]], [[Protestant Ascendancy|Ascendancy.]] A result was large-scale emigration to the American colonies ([[Charles Thomson]], recording himself as from Maghera, signed the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]])<ref>{{Cite web|last=Macafee|first=William|date=2009|title=Researching Derry and Londonderry Ancestors: Historical Background|url=http://www.billmacafee.com/homepage/historicalbackground.pdf}}</ref> and, in the 1790s, the organising of the [[Society of United Irishmen|United Irishmen]].

Despairing of reform, and determined to make common cause with their Catholic neighbours, on 7 June 1798 the United Irishmen mustered upwards of 5,000 men in Maghera. But the poorly armed host broke up the following morning on news of the rebel [[Battle of Antrim|defeat at Antrim]] and the approach of government troops. A Presbyterian church elder, [[Watty Graham]], was executed for his part, and his head was paraded through the town. His minister, [[John Glendy]], was forced into American exile.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Morrison|first=A. K.|date=1907|title=John Glendy, of Maghera, Co. Derry, Presbyterian Minister and Patriot, 1798|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20608633|journal=Ulster Journal of Archaeology|volume=13|issue=3|pages=(101–105) 103|jstor=20608633 |issn=0082-7355}}</ref><ref name="Courtney2">{{cite book|last1=Courtney|first1=Roger|title=Dissenting Voices: Rediscovering the Irish Progressive Presbyterian Tradition|date=2013|publisher=Ulster Historical Foundation|isbn=9781909556065|location=Belfast|pages=90, 108–109}}</ref>

On 12 July 1830, [[Orange Order]] and [[Ribbonism|Ribbonmen]] clashed over demonstrations the Orange Order held in Maghera and [[Castledawson]]. Several Catholic homes were burnt by Protestants in the aftermath.<ref>{{cite web|title=Parades and Marches – Chronology 2: Historical Dates and Events|work=Conflict Archive on the Internet|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/parade/chpa2.htm|access-date=28 January 2010}}</ref> Some repair of sectarian relations was achieved by an active [[Tenant Right League|tenant right movement]], but with tenant purchase of land facilitated by the [[Land Acts (Ireland)|Land Acts]] by the end of the century the national question prevailed. Politically the town has remained split between [[Irish nationalism|nationalists]], now in the majority, and [[Unionism in Ireland|unionists]].

The [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] of the 1840s and the years that followed, resulted in a since unrecovered loss of population in the surrounding rural districts. In 2003 the [[Ancient Order of Hibernians]] erected a headstone to make the "Famine Plot" were local victims were buried.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Maghera Parish {{!}} Parish History|url=http://www.magheraparishderry.com/parishhistory.php|access-date=2021-10-20|website=magheraparishderry.com}}</ref>

In the early 20th century, the town itself was relatively prosperous. With its own [[Maghera railway station|railway station]], an embroidery factory, a busy weekly market and close proximity to Clark's linen mill in [[Upperlands]], it was one of two major towns within [[Magherafelt]] Rural District. The town also benefited from post-war advances in education, housing and transport. Separate primary and secondary schools were built for Catholics and Protestants in the 1960s; new housing estates were constructed and motor cars forced a widening of many of the town's narrow streets<ref>Bryson, A. (2007). 'Whatever You Say, Say Nothing': Researching Memory & Identity in Mid-Ulster 1945–1969'. ''Oral History'', 35(2), (45–56), 46.</ref>

{{main|The Troubles in Maghera}}
Maghera suffered violence during [[the Troubles]]. Over the three decades from the end of the 1960s a total of 14 people were killed in or near the village Maghera, 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 deaths. Two, including a [[Sinn Féin]] councillor, were killed by [[Ulster loyalism|loyalist paramilitaries]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths|url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/sutton/chron/|access-date=2021-10-20|publisher=Ulster University}}</ref>

From what was possibly a low of 879 in 1910<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ulster Towns Directory, 1910: Maghera, County Derry|url=https://www.libraryireland.com/UlsterDirectory1910/Maghera.php|access-date=2021-10-20|website=libraryireland.com}}</ref> Maghera population has risen in the course of a century to a census figure in 2011 of 4,220. Reflecting [[European Union]] employment in local food processing, 213 residents in 2011 did not have English as a first language.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Agency|first=Northern Ireland Statistics and Research|title=statistics|url=https://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/AreaProfileReportViewer.aspx?FromAPAddressMulipleRecords=Maghera%20(Magherafelt%20Lgd)@Exact%20match%20of%20location%20name:%20@Exact%20Match%20Of%20Location%20Name:%20Maghera%20(Magherafelt%20Lgd)@23?|access-date=2021-10-20|website=ninis2.nisra.gov.uk}}</ref>

==Governance==
The village was administered by [[Londonderry County Council]] from 1899 until the abolition of county councils in Northern Ireland in 1973.<ref>{{cite web |title=Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/apni/1972/9/contents |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030152505/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/apni/1972/9/contents |archive-date=30 October 2019 |access-date=29 November 2019 |publisher=Legislation.gov.uk}}</ref> Since 2011, the town is part of the [[Mid-Ulster District Council]]. It is located within the Carntogher district electoral area (DLE) which contains the areas Lower Glenshane, [[Swatragh]], Tamlaght O'Crilly, Valley and Maghera.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mid-Ulster District Council| url=https://www.midulstercouncil.org/your-council/elections/electoral-areas|access-date=5 September 2019}}</ref> In the 2015 district elections, Carntogher DLE elected three [[Sinn Féin]], one [[SDLP]] and one [[Democratic Unionist Party|DUP]] representatives to the council.

==Churches==
* [[Maghera Old Church|Old St Lurach's Church]], a church dating to the 10th century which has one of the oldest depictions of the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucifixion]] in Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web |title=St Lurach's Church – Historic Site in Maghera, Northern Ireland |url=https://www.visitmidulster.com/things-to-do/st-lurachs-church-p764041 |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=Visit Mid Ulster |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* St Lurach's Church, which is the site of the local [[Church of Ireland]] congregation.
* St Mary's Catholic Church one of two catholic churches in the town.
* Maghera [[Presbyterian Church in Ireland|Presbyterian]] Church, which is a reformed church. The current building dates from at least 1843
* St Patrick's Church, Glen. The older Catholic Church on the outskirts of the town.
* Maghera [[Elim Pentecostal Church|Elim]] Church

[[File:Maghera RC Church - geograph.org.uk - 877406.jpg|thumb|St. Mary's RC Church, Maghera]]
[[File:Maghera Church of Ireland - geograph.org.uk - 561774.jpg|250px|thumb|Maghera Church of Ireland]]

==Demographics==
===2021 Census===
On Census Day (21 March 2021) the usually resident population of Maghera (Mid Ulster Lgd) Settlement was 4,235.<ref name="2021pop">{{cite web |title=Settlement 2015 |url=https://build.nisra.gov.uk/en/custom/data?d=PEOPLE&v=SETTLEMENT15&%7ESETTLEMENT15=N11000477 |website=NISRA |access-date=18 August 2023}}</ref> Of these:

*22.57% were aged under 16, 61.94% were aged between 16 and 65, and 15.49% were aged 66 and over.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Age |url=https://build.nisra.gov.uk/en/custom/viewdata?d=PEOPLE&v=SETTLEMENT15&v=AGE_BAND_AGG3A&~SETTLEMENT15=N11000477 |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=NISRA}}</ref>
*51.17% of the usually resident population were female, and 48.83% were male.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sex (MS-A07) |url=https://build.nisra.gov.uk/en/custom/viewdata?d=PEOPLE&v=SETTLEMENT15&v=UR_SEX&~SETTLEMENT15=N11000477 |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=NISRA}}</ref>
*78.04% belong to or were brought up in the [[Catholic Church in Ireland|Catholic]] religion, 18.14% belong to or were brought up in a '[[Protestantism in Ireland|Protestant]] and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion, 0.16% belong to or were brought up in an '[[Religion in Northern Ireland#Minor religions|other]]' religion, and 3.66% [[Irreligion|did not belong to]] or weren't brought up with any religion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Religion or religion brought up in |url=https://build.nisra.gov.uk/en/custom/data?d=PEOPLE&v=SETTLEMENT15&v=RELIGION_BELONG_TO_OR_BROUGHT_UP_IN_DVO&%7ESETTLEMENT15=N11000477 |website=NISRA |access-date=18 August 2023}}</ref>
*19.24% indicated that they had a British national identity,<ref>{{cite web |title=National Identity (British) |url=https://build.nisra.gov.uk/en/custom/data?d=PEOPLE&v=SETTLEMENT15&v=NAT_ID_BRITISH&%7ESETTLEMENT15=N11000477 |website=NISRA |access-date=18 August 2023}}</ref> 55.84% had an Irish national identity<ref>{{cite web |title=National Identity (Irish) |url=https://build.nisra.gov.uk/en/custom/data?d=PEOPLE&v=SETTLEMENT15&v=NAT_ID_IRISH_AGG3&%7ESETTLEMENT15=N11000477 |website=NISRA |access-date=18 August 2023}}</ref> and 24.16% had a Northern Irish national identity.<ref>{{cite web |title=National Identity (Northern Irish) |url=https://build.nisra.gov.uk/en/custom/data?d=PEOPLE&v=SETTLEMENT15&v=NAT_ID_NORTHERN_IRISH_AGG3&%7ESETTLEMENT15=N11000477 |website=NISRA |access-date=18 August 2023}}</ref> Respondents could select more than one nationality.
*24.27% had some knowledge of [[Irish language|Irish]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Knowledge of Irish |url=https://build.nisra.gov.uk/en/custom/viewdata?d=PEOPLE&v=SETTLEMENT15&v=IRISH_SKILLS_INTERMEDIATE&~SETTLEMENT15=N11000477 |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=NISRA}}</ref>
*6.49% had some knowledge of [[Ulster Scots dialect|Ulster-Scots]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Knowledge of Ulster-Scots |url=https://build.nisra.gov.uk/en/custom/viewdata?d=PEOPLE&v=SETTLEMENT15&v=ULSTER_SCOTS_SKILLS_INTERMEDIATE&~SETTLEMENT15=N11000477 |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=NISRA}}</ref>

===2011 Census===
On Census Day (27 March 2011) the usually resident population of Maghera (Magherafelt Lgd) Settlement was 4,220 accounting for 0.23% of the NI total.<ref name="2011 Census">{{cite web |title=Census 2011 Population Statistics for Maghera (Magherafelt Lgd) Settlement |url=https://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/AreaProfileReportViewer.aspx?FromAPAddressMulipleRecords=Maghera%20(Magherafelt%20Lgd)@Exact%20match%20of%20location%20name:%20@Exact%20Match%20Of%20Location%20Name:%20Maghera%20(Magherafelt%20Lgd)@23? |website=NISRA |access-date=29 September 2022}}</ref><ref name=Census2011>{{cite web | url = https://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/PivotGrid.aspx?ds=6609&lh=74&yn=2011&sk=136&sn=Census%202011&yearfilter=2011 | title = Census 2011 Usually Resident Population: KS101NI – Table view | page = 6 | publisher = [[Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency]] (NISRA) | access-date = 30 July 2019}}</ref> increasing from 3,711 in the 2001 Census.<ref name=Census2001>{{cite web | url = https://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/PivotGrid.aspx?ds=4840&lh=69&yn=2001&sk=135&sn=Census%202001&yearfilter=2001 | title = Census 2001 Usually Resident Population: KS01 (Settlements) – Table view | page = 5 | publisher = [[Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency]] (NISRA) | access-date = 30 July 2019}}</ref>
 
*99.55% were from the white (including Irish Traveller) ethnic group.
*74.86% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion and 22.61% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion.
*22.56% indicated that they had a British national identity, 48.82% had an Irish national identity and 27.44% had a Northern Irish national identity.
*21.23% had some knowledge of Irish
*6.46% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots
*5.06% did not have English as their first language.

==Transport==
The [[Northern Counties Committee]]'s [[Derry Central Railway]] had a station in Maghera. [[Maghera railway station]] opened on 18 December 1880, shut for passenger traffic on 28 August 1950 and shut altogether on 1 October 1959 when the [[Ulster Transport Authority]] closed the Derry Central.<ref>{{cite web|title=Maghera station|work=Railscot – Irish Railways|url=http://www.railbrit.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf|access-date=28 September 2011}}</ref> The station building is now part of the Mid Ulster Garden Centre.

[[File:Maghera Goods Shed, Downpatrick - geograph.org.uk - 350046.jpg|thumb|Maghera Goods Shed, now at [[Downpatrick railway station]] on the [[Downpatrick and County Down Railway]].]]

[[Ulsterbus]] runs routes through Maghera, which includes the 116/a/b/d to [[Kilrea]], [[Coleraine]] and [[Magherafelt]], 212 from [[Belfast]] to [[Derry]], 246 to [[Limavady]] and [[Eglinton, County Londonderry|Eglinton]] and 278 from [[Monaghan]] to [[Portrush]].

==Notable people==
===1700s===
* [[Charles Thomson]] (1729–1824), signatory to the [[United States Declaration of Independence|U.S. Declaration of Independence]], secretary of the [[Continental Congress]].
*[[John Glendy]] (1755–1832), republican Presbyterian minister, in American exile twice elected to chaplaincies in the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]]
*[[Adam Clarke]] (1762–1832), Methodist theologian and bible scholar.
*[[Watty Graham]] (1768–1798), [[Society of United Irishmen|United Irishman]], Colonel of the Maghera National Guard, executed in 1798.
* [[Henry Cooke (minister)|Henry Cooke]] (1788–1868), [[Presbyterian]] theologian and [[Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland|Moderator]].

===1800s===
* [[James Johnston Clark]] (1809–1891), Unionist MP for [[Londonderry (UK Parliament constituency)|County Londonderry]], born at Largantogher House.
* [[Robert Hawthorne]] (1822–1879), [[Victoria Cross]], assault on Delhi, [[Indian Mutiny|Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
* [[William Shiels]] (1848–1904), Australian colonial politician and 16th Premier of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]].
* [[James Lenox-Conyngham Chichester-Clark]] (1884–1933), Unionist MP for [[South Londonderry (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)|South Londonderry]] in the [[House of Commons of Northern Ireland]]. 
*[[Helena Concannon]] (1878–1952) Irish historian, writer, language scholar and [[Seanad Éireann|Senator]].
*[[Louis Joseph Walsh]] (1880–1942) solicitor, playwright, [[Sinn Féin]] politician.

===1900s===
* [[Eve Bunting]] (1928–2023 ), American-based children's author and novelist.
*[[Erwin Gabathuler]] [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire|OBE]] [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (1933–2016) particle physicist.
* [[John Kelly (Sinn Féin politician)|John Kelly]] (1936–2007), founder member and a leader of the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]].
*[[Mickey Moran]] (1951– ) Gaelic footballer and manager-coach,
*[[Kenny Shiels]] (1956– ), footballer, Northern Ireland team manager.

==Schools==
There are three primary schools and one secondary school 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 College, Maghera|St. Patrick's College]], a co-educational college.

==Sport==
*The local [[Gaelic football]] club is [[Glen GAC|Watty Graham's Gaelic Athletic Club]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Maghera, County Londonderry|Maghera}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070321173953/http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/town_Home.aspx?co=1&to=96&ca=0&sca=0&navID=1 Culture Northern Ireland]

{{County Londonderry}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Maghera, County Londonderry| ]]
[[Category:Towns in County Londonderry]]
[[Category:Mid-Ulster District]]