Newbuildings or New Buildings is a large

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. 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 status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

. It had a population of 3,381 in the 2011 Census. It is within

Derry and Strabane Derry City and Strabane is a local government district that was created on 1 April 2015 by merging the City of Derry District and Strabane District. It covers most of the northwest of Northern Ireland. The local authority is Derry City and St ...

district.

History

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

Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ) was the organised Settler colonialism, colonisation (''Plantation (settlement or colony), plantation'') of Ulstera Provinces of Ireland, province of Irelandby people from Great ...

, on land allocated to the

Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths (commonly known as ''The Goldsmiths' Company'' and formally styled ''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 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. 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 Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

, Independent Methodist,

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

and

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

). It also has two

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

s – one administered by the

Western Education and Library Board The education system in Northern Ireland differs from 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'' system and ...

, one by the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools. 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 Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

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

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

s, whose names mostly come from the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

. 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, associated with the creation of the landscape and with the weather, especially storms and winter. The word literally means 'old woman, hag', and is found with t ...

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 Stranorlar () is a town, townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in the River Finn (County Donegal), Finn Valley of County Donegal, in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Stranorlar and Ballybofey (located on the other side of the River F ...

and other destinations and along the east bank of the

from

Strabane Strabane (; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Strabane had a population of 13,507 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th Open Government Li ...

to Londonderry Victoria Road. New Buildings railway station 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 Sen ...

plays

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

in the

Northern Ireland Intermediate League The Northern Ireland Intermediate League was 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 could be promoted to the NIFL P ...

. 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 branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

background and 37.90% were from a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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)