placenames.ie
Population centre

Newtownbreda

Baile Nua na Bréadaí

An eighteenth-century parish church and a twentieth-century Baptist congregation record successive phases of local religious life.

Watercolour and fine ink illustration of Knockbreda Parish Church near Newtownbreda, as photographed in May 2008.
Illustration, Knockbreda Parish Church near Newtownbreda, as photographed in May 2008
Recorded locationNewtownbreda54.55123° N · 5.91330° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Approximate recorded location · Logainm.ie

The name

bailetownland, town, homesteadnuanew

These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.

An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.

Recorded forms

  • Baile Nua na Bréadaí · Irish · main form · validated name
  • Newtownbreda · English · main form

Place & story

Knockbreda Parish Church

Knockbreda Parish Church on Church Road dates to about 1737 and was designed by Richard Cassels. Its tower rises to an octagonal spire above a pedimented entrance. The building acquired an apsidal chancel designed by Thomas Drew around 1883, adding a Victorian layer to the earlier church. Stone memorials and mausolea surround it within the walled burial ground. [2]

A congregation on the move

Newtownbreda Baptist Church traces its beginnings to a small group meeting in an upstairs room at the Inns Shops. Its own account records a subsequent move to School Road, followed by a new building on Newtownbreda Road in 1979. [3]

Geographic information

Place type
Population centre
County
Down
Civil parish
Knockbreda
Coordinates
54.55123, -5.91330 (approximate)
Logainm ID
130141 ↗

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Newtownbreda. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. Knockbreda Parish Church: HB25/16/005 A · Department for Communities, Historic Buildings survey
  3. About Us: Our History · Newtownbreda Baptist Church
  4. Knockbreda Parish Church near Newtownbreda, as photographed in May 2008 illustration: based on a Knockbreda Parish Church, Belfast by Rossographer. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2019-10-08. How this page was prepared.