Newbuildings or New Buildings is a large

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

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. ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. 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 Co ...

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 th ...

, on land allocated to the

Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company and formally titled The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London, is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of Lond ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. 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 Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

, Independent Methodist,

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the sec ...

and

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

). It also has two

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s – 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 A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of Clondermott & Glendermott. This parish is split into a number of

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

s, 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 fou ...

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 purc ...

had a station in Newbuildings, the line running from

Stranorlar Stranorlar () is a town, townland and civil parish in the Finn Valley of County Donegal, in Ireland. Stranorlar and Ballybofey (located on the other side of the River Finn) form ''the Twin Towns''. Transport The town is located at the junctio ...

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 Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the U ...

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 wer ...

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

Sport

Newbuildings United F.C. Newbuildings United Football Club is an intermediate-level football club playing in the Northern Ireland Intermediate League in Northern Ireland. The club is based in Newbuildings, County Londonderry. Honours Senior honours *North West S ...

plays

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

in the

Northern Ireland Intermediate League The Northern Ireland Intermediate League is an amateur intermediate league based in the north-west region of Northern Ireland. As one of the leagues in the 4th tier of Northern Irish football, the league champions can be promoted to the NIFL Prem ...

. 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 Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

background and 37.90% were from a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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)