Donaghedy 2nd Presbyterian Church, Altrest Road, Bready, Strabane, BT47 2SJ

A detached single-cell Presbyterian Church in the Gothic Revival style, dated 1855, situated on the west side of Altrest Road at Bready, Strabane. The church was built on the site of an earlier meeting house and stands on a prominent elevated site with views over the surrounding countryside, reinforcing its significance to the local rural community.

The church is rectangular in plan with a pitched natural slate roof finished with blue and black clay ridge tiles. The roof features raised sandstone verges on casement moulded kneelers and two metal ventilation stacks along the ridge line. The walls are constructed of squared coursed sandstone on the principal elevation, with roughly coursed sandstone elsewhere, set over a stepped plinth. Ashlar banded quoins articulate the corners.

The principal gable faces east and contains a central pointed-arched-headed entrance with replacement double-leaf timber panelled doors and a panelled tympanum set within a chamfered stepped sandstone surround surmounted by a hood mould with stop-ends. Above the entrance is a large window containing three lights with a cusped-headed grilled opening in a plain surround extending to the apex. Windows to the left and right are each surmounted by cusped-headed marble datestones inscribed 'AD 1855' in plain surrounds. The south elevation displays six windows in a row, with ventilation grilles at low level. The west gable contains two windows surmounted by an ogee-headed louvred opening with a plain surround to the apex. The north elevation mirrors the south. All windows are pointed-arched-headed with replacement uPVC Y-tracery and lattice lights set in chamfered stepped sandstone surrounds surmounted by hood moulds with stop-ends, and sandstone sills. The building retains cast-iron half-round gutters and round downpipes.

The church displays beautifully detailed local sandstone while retaining simplicity in design. Despite replacement uPVC windows, the building retains much of its original character.

The site is set within a rural churchyard and is bounded to the road at the east by roughcast walling with saddleback coping. Access is gained through a pair of square piers supporting a pair of cast-iron entrance gates, which are fine examples of their type. The boundary is further defined to the north and south by wire fencing. A church hall, built circa 1960, stands to the west, and a community hall, built circa 2000, stands to the south-east.

The historical record shows that a meeting house has occupied this site since at least the second half of the eighteenth century. A "Meeting Ho." is recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1832–3), captioned as "Presbyterian Meeting House" on the second edition (1853) and as "Donaghedy Presb. Ch. (2nd)" on the third edition (1905). The Townland Valuation Records (1828–40) describe the old meeting house with dimensions of 74 by 28 by 13 feet, with an addition measuring 24 by 50 by 15.6 feet, valued together at £9 12s 9¾d. Following the replacement of the old meeting house in 1855, Griffith's Valuation records show the new meeting house, held by the Reverend J. G. Porter from the Marquis of Abercorn, with dimensions of 75 by 50 by 27 feet, together with a school house, a sessions house, and a stable. The entire complex was valued at £24. The Annual Revisions of 1889 record an increase in the building's value to £32, suggesting possible improvements had been undertaken.

The congregation of Donaghedy experienced a significant division in 1736–41. Following the death of the Reverend Thomas Winsley, who had served as minister for thirty-seven years, the congregation became unable to agree on the choice of his successor. Disputes escalated until a riot broke out during a Sunday service. In 1741, the Synod of Ulster sanctioned the separation of the congregation into two distinct parts. The congregation that continued in the old church became known as First Donaghedy, while the new congregation, called Second Donaghedy, had their first minister, the Reverend Robert Wirling, installed in August 1741 in a meeting house constructed barely 200 yards from the original church. The two congregations were reunited on 1 January 1933, with the united congregation using the Second Donaghedy church building thereafter.