MAGHERAFELT

Irish Machaire Folta town, seat, and district (established 1973), formerly within County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Magherafelt town was originally an English-company (Plantation of Ulster) town and is now the marketing centre and administrative seat of the district; Maghera town, 9 miles (14 km) to the northwest, was the birthplace of Charles Thomson (17301824), who served as secretary to the First and Second U.S. Continental Congresses (177489) and who wrote out the Declaration of Independence. Motor-vehicle components are manufactured in nearby Tobermore, and Draperstown has an important metal-fabrication industry. Magherafelt district covers an area of 245 square miles (635 square km) and is bounded by the River Bann and Lough (lake) Neagh on the east and by the Sperrin Mountains on the west. It borders the districts of Antrim and Ballymena to the east; Coleraine to the north; Limavady, Strabane, and Omagh to the west; and Cookstown to the south. Gently rolling lowlands in the east rise gradually westward to elevations of more than 1,800 feet (550 m) above sea level in the Sperrin Mountains. The district is largely agricultural; its chief crops include potatoes, barley, flax, and oats. There is salmon fishing along the River Bann, and granite is quarried in the Sperrin Mountains. Pop. (1981) town, 5,044; (1987 est.) district, 33,300.