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 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. They include, over a doorway, a relief of the crucifixion, possibly the oldest in Ireland.[3] The crucification 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 Bishopric of Cinél nEógain with a cathedral church.[4] 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.[5]
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 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.[7][8]
On 12 July 1830, Orange Order and Ribbonmen clashed over demonstrations the Orange Order held in Maghera and Castledawson. Several Catholic homes were burnt by Protestants in the aftermath.[9] Some repair of sectarian relations was achieved by an active tenant right movement, but with tenant purchase of land facilitated by the Land Acts by the end of the century the national question prevailed. Politically the town has remained split between nationalists, now in the majority, and unionists.
The 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.[10]
In the early 20th century, the town itself was relatively prosperous. With its own 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[11]
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 loyalist paramilitaries.[12]
From what was possibly a low of 879 in 1910[13] 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.[14]
The village was administered by Londonderry County Council from 1899 until the abolition of county councils in Northern Ireland in 1973.[15] 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.[16] In the 2015 district elections, Carntogher DLE elected three Sinn Féin, one SDLP and one DUP representatives to the council.
On Census Day (21 March 2021) the usually resident population of Maghera (Mid Ulster Lgd) Settlement was 4,235.[2] Of these:
22.57% were aged under 16, 61.94% were aged between 16 and 65, and 15.49% were aged 66 and over.[18]
51.17% of the usually resident population were female, and 48.83% were male.[19]
78.04% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion, 18.14% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion, 0.16% belong to or were brought up in an 'other' religion, and 3.66% did not belong to or weren't brought up with any religion.[20]
19.24% indicated that they had a British national identity,[21] 55.84% had an Irish national identity[22] and 24.16% had a Northern Irish national identity.[23] Respondents could select more than one nationality.
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.[26][27] increasing from 3,711 in the 2001 Census.[28]
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.
