Population centre

Straid

An tSráid

Straid’s surviving Main Street buildings and a minister’s account of the 1859 revival preserve the history of a small Antrim community.

Recorded locationStraid54.75620° N · 5.92491° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.

Recorded place location · Logainm.ie

The name

sráidstreet, village

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

An tSráid · Irish · main form · validated name
Straid · English · main form

Place & story

The old village street

Straid developed as a small settlement along Main Street. The council’s 2017 appraisal identified the survival of many original buildings as the reason for recognising much of the street as an Area of Village Character. The Bryantang Water forms a natural limit to the village on its eastern side.^[2]

People & connections

James Bain and the revival

The Reverend James Bain left a detailed contemporary account of Straid during the religious revival of 1859. He described the district’s people as mainly small farmers and weavers, and recalled crowded services continuing into the night. His daughter taught people who could not read, while his wife led classes between Sunday services. Bain’s report gives a participant’s view of an intense period of worship, teaching and social change. His claims of spiritual transformation are presented as his own testimony.^[3]

Protecting the church

Straid Congregational Church became the subject of a preservation notice on 6 January 2018. Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council then supported its formal listing by the Department for Communities. The planning committee’s April 2018 minutes record confirmation that the church had been added to the statutory list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest. That decision marks a documented modern chapter in the community’s treatment of its religious heritage.^[4]

Geographic information

Place type: Population centre
County: Antrim
Barony: Belfast Lower
Within: Straid
Civil parish: Ballynure
Coordinates: 54.75620, -5.92491
Logainm ID: 135855 ↗

Population over time

STRAID — Settlement 2015 (N11000562)

Settlement population, 2011–2021

424people · 2021

Both censuses use the same 2015 settlement boundary. These exact counts cover usual residents in the settlement, rather than local government districts or historic counties. Other NISRA tables may use approximate counts.

View population figures

STRAID — Settlement 2015 (N11000562) — census population
Census year	Population
2011	384
2021	424

Source: NISRA — Census 2021 CT0046 and exact Census 2011 Settlement 2015 populations · Supporting source 1. Open Government Licence v3.0. Retrieved 2026-10-25.

Sources & further reading

Logainm.ie — Straid. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Shaping Our Environment: Straid appraisal, January 2017, page 104 · Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council
Straid Congregational Church: James Bain’s account of the revival, 1859–60 · Reverend James Bain, Authentic Records of Revival, 1860; reproduced by UK Wells
Planning Committee minutes, 23 April 2018: item 3.11 · Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2026-06-23. How this page was prepared.