Maghera () is a parish in
County Londonderry
County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. It is bordered by the parishes of
Ballynascreen,
Ballyscullion
Ballyscullion () is a small village and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 census it had a population of 291 people. The civil parish of Ballyscullion covers areas of County Antrim as well as County Londonderry. T ...
,
Desertmartin
Desertmartin (;Toner, Gregory: ''Place-Names of Northern Ireland'', page 85. Queen's University of Belfast, 1996, )Flanagan, Deirdre & Laurence: ''Irish Place Names'', page 202. Gill & Macmillan Ltd., 2002. is a small village in County Londond ...
,
Dungiven
Dungiven () is a small town, townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is near the main A6 road (Northern Ireland), A6 Belfast to Derry road, which bypasses the town. It lies where the river ...
,
Kilcronaghan,
Killelagh,
Magherafelt
Magherafelt ( ; , ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 9,071 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county an ...
,
Tamlaght O'Crilly, and
Termoneeny. As a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
it lies within the former barony of
Loughinsholin
Loughinsholin () is a barony in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Its southeast borders the northwest shore of Lough Neagh, and itself is bordered by seven other baronies: Dungannon Upper to the south; Strabane Upper to the west; Keenaght ...
and as an ecclesiastical parish it lies within the
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...
Diocese of Derry and Raphoe
The Diocese of Derry and Raphoe is a diocese of the Church of Ireland in the north-west of Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Armagh. Its geographical remit straddles two civil jurisdictions: in Northern Ireland, it covers all of ...
.
Name
The name Maghera is derived from the Irish ''Machaire Rátha'' meaning "plain of the fort", however this is itself derived from the older name for the parish, ''Ráth Lúraigh'', meaning "
Lúrach's fort". One manuscript states that Lúrach was from ''Ráith'', which is given as possibly being an even earlier name for the parish before Lúrach's name was suffixed to it.
History
Lúrach mac Cuanach is the 6th-century patron of the eccesliastical parish, with the local parish church, St. Lurachs, named after him. Lúrach's family held a degree of political importance in the area, with seven descendants of Lúrach's father Cuanu being kings of
AirgÃalla
AirgÃalla (; Modern Irish: Oirialla, English: Oriel, Latin: ''Ergallia'') was a medieval Irish over-kingdom and the collective name for the confederation of tribes that formed it. The confederation consisted of nine minor kingdoms, all indepen ...
. Circumstantial evidence places their center of power at ''Ráth Lúraigh''.
St. Lurach's church was plundered by
Vikings
Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9â ...
in 832 according to the Annals of Ulster, and in 1135 was one of several churches burnt down. The ruins of the medieval church still stand in the town of Maghera in the townland of Largantogher, with the earliest remaining sections dating to the 12th century.
In 1111, the parish of Maghera was incorporated into the diocese of the
Cinéal Eoghain, the seat of which was located at
Ardstraw
Ardstraw (from (hill or height of the holm or strath)) is a small village, townland and civil parish in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, three miles northwest of Newtownstewart. In the 2001 census, it had a population of 222 people (in 81 hous ...
. In 1150 however the seat was transferred to Maghera, until 1254 when after complaints of its isolation from the "mainstream of civilisation" it was removed to
Derry
Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...
.
As a result of the
Plantation of Ulster
The Plantation of Ulster (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ) was the organised Settler colonialism, colonisation (''Plantation (settlement or colony), plantation'') of Ulstera Provinces of Ireland, province of Irelandby people from Great ...
, the lands of the parish of Maghera were divided among three of the London
livery companies
A livery company is a type of guild or professional association that originated in medieval times in London, England. Livery companies comprise London's ancient and modern trade associations and guilds, almost all of which are Style (form of a ...
, the
Drapers,
Mercers, and
Vintners
A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes:
*Cooperating with viticulturists
*Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...
. A large portion of land around the modern settlement of Maghera was given over to the
Established Church.
Settlements
*
Culnady
*
Curran
*
Maghera
Maghera ( ; ) 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. Formerly in the Barony (Ireland), barony of Loughinsholin within the historic County ...
*
Gulladuff
*
Upperlands
Townlands
The ecclesiastical parish of Maghera consists of 38 townlands,
however the civil parish consists of 37, with the townland of Upperland being omitted.
Until the 1840s, Maghera ecclesiastical parish consisted of 42 townloads, when the townloads of Beagh Temporal, Culnagrew, Swatragh and Knockoneill were transferred to the neighbouring parish of Killelagh.
See also
*
Beagh
*
List of civil parishes of County Londonderry
References
{{coord missing, County Londonderry
Mid-Ulster District