[3] It is the biggest town in the south of the county and is the social, economic and political hub of the area.

[5] The Salters Company of London[6] was granted the surrounding lands in South Londonderry in the seventeenth century as part of the Plantation of Ulster.

[8] Magherafelt lies on the A31 route which connects the south west of the province (Tyrone, Fermanagh) to the north east (Coleraine, Ballymena etc.).

Traffic from north and south used to pass through the town centre frequently leading to considerable congestion.

Magherafelt Buscentre operates the routes 89b (Ardboe), 89/d (Cookstown), 89e (Ballyronan) 110/b/f (Antrim bus and railway station or Cookstown), 112/a (Draperstown), 116b/c (Maghera), 127 (Portglenone and Ballymena bus and railway station), 389a/c/d (run around the town), 389b (Castledawson) and 403 (Cranagh).

Magherafelt was once served by the Northern Counties Committee as a junction station for the Cookstown, Draperstown and Derry Central lines.

[16] The town of Magherafelt encompasses the Super Data Zones of Magherafelt_A, Magherafelt_B and Magherafelt_C according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.