Newbuildings or New Buildings is a large village in

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

, Northern Ireland. It lies close to the banks of the

River Foyle The River Foyle () is a river in west Ulster in the northwest of the island of Ireland, which flows from the confluence of the rivers Finn and Mourne at the towns of Lifford in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, and Strabane in County Ty ...

and south of the city of

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

. It had a population of 3,381 in the 2011 Census. It is within Derry and Strabane district.

History

The village was founded in the early 17th century as part of the

Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster ( gle, Plandáil Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Plantin o Ulstèr'') was the organised colonisation (''plantation'') of Ulstera province of Irelandby people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I. Most of the sett ...

, on land allocated to the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths of London. It remained a small settlement until the 1960s, until large amounts of social housing was built on adjoining townlands. Today, the village has four churches ( Methodist, Independent Methodist, Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic). It also has two primary schools – one administered by the

Western Education and Library Board Education in Northern Ireland differs from education systems elsewhere in the United Kingdom (although it is relatively similar to Wales), but is similar to the Republic of Ireland in sharing in the development of the ''national school'' syste ...

, one by the

Council for Catholic Maintained Schools The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools is the advocate for Catholic Maintained Schools in Northern Ireland. The council represents trustees, schools and governors on issues such as raising and maintaining standards, the school estate and ...

. Newbuildings also has a post office, community association, retail units and a wide range of housing. Newbuildings is represented in the Loyalist flute band scene by Pride of the Orange and Blue Flute Band, formed in 1979.

Geography

Newbuildings sits on an area of flat land between Clondermot Hill to the east and the

to the west. It is within the parish of Clondermott & Glendermott. This parish is split into a number of townlands, whose names mostly come from the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

. Over time, the urban area of Newbuildings has spread into the following townlands: *Ballyore () *Dunhugh (from ''Dún Aodha'' meaning "Hugh's fort") *Gortin (from ''An Goirtín'' meaning "the small enclosed field") *Kittybane (from ''Céide Bán'' meaning "white flat-topped hill") *Magheracanon (from ''Machaire Canánach'' meaning "plain of the canon") *Primity *Prehen *Rossnagalliagh (from ''Ros na gCailleach'' meaning "wood of the

Cailleach In Gaelic (Irish, Scottish and Manx) myth, the Cailleach (, ) is a divine hag and ancestor, associated with the creation of the landscape and with the weather, especially storms and winter. The word literally means 'old woman, hag', and is foun ...

Transport

Between 1900 and 1955 the

County Donegal Railways Joint Committee The County Donegal Railways Joint Committee operated an extensive narrow gauge railway system serving County Donegal, Ireland, from 1906 until 1960. The committee was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1906, which authorised the joint pur ...

had a station in Newbuildings, the line running from Stranorlar and other destinations and along the east bank of the

from

Strabane (CDR) railway station Strabane (CDR) railway station was one of two terminals serving Strabane, County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. The Finn Valley Railway operated an Irish Gauge route to Stranorlar from Strabane (GNI) railway station from 7 September 1863. When ...

to Londonderry Victoria Road.

New Buildings railway station New Buildings railway station served Newbuildings, County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. New Buildings railway was very popular with local people, especially for excursions such as Sunday school outings, and trips to the seaside. Rabbits were ...

opened on 6 August 1900 and finally closed on 1 January 1955.

Sport

Newbuildings United F.C. plays association football in the Northern Ireland Intermediate League. Newbuildings Cricket Club plays in the North West Championship

2011 Census

Newbuildings is classified by th
NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)
as being within Derry Urban Area (DUA). On Census day (27 March 2011) there were 3,381 people living in Newbuildings ward. Of these: *20.38% were aged under 16 years and 13.36% were aged 65 and over *48.27% of the population were male and 51.73% were female *58.72% were from a Protestant background and 37.90% were from a Catholic background *5.20% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed. For more details see
NI Neighbourhood Information Service

Deprivation

According to the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure (NIMDM) of 2005, of 582 wards in Northern Ireland, 'New Buildings' was ranked as the 259th most deprived.NI Neighbourhood Information Service
Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service website

References

{{authority control Derry and Strabane district Villages in County Londonderry Derry (city)