The Community of Magherafelt
Where are we?
Magherafelt lies almost in the geographical centre of Northern Ireland. It has a population a little less than 9,000 and is surrounded by the district of the same name. "Magherafelt" is an Angicization of the Irish "Machaire Fíolta" meaning "plain of Fíolta" - Fiolta being an old Gaelic man's name. The town's foundation dates back to 1425 although it owes its present layout to the Seventeenth Century "Plantation of Ulster".
The Magherafelt area covers a swathe of farmland in mid-Ulster, nestling in the shelter of the Sperrin hills (that bisect Northern Ireland) to the west and extending to Lough Neagh, the British Isles’ largest inland lake, to the east. Although transected by main roads it is a gentle place of small market towns and villages, and its fields and meadows readily meet the visitor’s expectation of Ireland’s “forty shades of green”
It has interesting historical features. Knockloughrim Windmill standing in a prominent position in the village of the same name. Badly damaged in a storm in the 1890s it was recently restored - a local Bahá’í was involved with the project. Inside there is a circular stairway up to a balcony. This balcony gives you a commanding view of the whole village, the surrounding countryside and Lough Neagh. The Timoney Dolmen, just outside Magherafelt town, is a prehistoric tomb at least 4,000 years old. Dolmens are found in a number of places in Ireland, tomb structures with standing stones and a horizontal capstone.
Knockloughrim Windmill
WHERE WE ARE
Timoney Dolmen
What we believe
The Bahá'í Faith is the youngest of the world's independent religions. Its founder, Bahá’u’lláh (a title meaning “Glory of God”) (1817-1892), is regarded by Bahá'ís as the most recent in the line of Messengers of God that stretches back beyond recorded time. In just over a century-and-a-half it has established itself as the world's second most widespread religion (after Christianity) and it is now the eighth-largest organized religion (these statements come from non-Bahá'í scholars, by the way, not from us).
The central theme of Bahá'u'lláh's message is that humanity is one single race and that the day has come for its coming together in a global society based on justice and cooperation. Historical forces are breaking down traditional barriers of race, class, creed, and nation and that will, in time, give birth to a universal civilization. The main challenge facing the peoples of the earth is to accept the fact of their oneness and to work together.
For more than a century, Bahá'í communities around the globe have been working to break down barriers of prejudice between peoples and have collaborated with other like-minded groups to promote the model of a global society. At the heart of our belief is the conviction that humanity is a single people with a common destiny. In the words of Bahá'u'lláh, "The Earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
There are no Bahá'í clergy or leaders, the community is administered at all levels by elected bodies. All members have a say in the work of community and play their part. To learn more about the Bahá'í Faith and its teachings and see something of its activities world-wide in the section below.
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Or to learn more you can contact us at bcni@bahai.org.uk.
Find out more
The Bahá'Ãs of the Republic of Ireland
The Bahá'Ãs Worldwide Community
The Bahá'Ãs of the United Kingdom