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St.Gerard’s Parish

St Gerard's Church in Newtownabbey in North Belfast sits on high ground overlooking magnificent views of Belfast Lough

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St Gerard's Church in Newtownabbey in North Belfast sits on high ground overlooking magnificent views of Belfast Lough. The church itself is no less impressive than the panoramic landscapes that surround it.

A large red brick building fronts the Antrim Road and can seat up to 600 Mass goers, the church is the focal point of a parish best known for its status as the first Redemptorist parish in Ireland.

The story of St Gerard's begins in 1951 when the former owner of the property (a Protestant Major) died, and the land was sold to the Redemptorist order, who bought it with the view to establishing a new church, monastery and retreat house in the area.

Hopes to build a new church were soon put into action and a fundraising campaign quickly got underway. Building works took some time and for a number of years parishioners had to be temporarily accommodated in a hut. However, the parish's perseverance was to pay off and on December 9 1956 the completed church of St Gerard's opened its doors to the joy of the Redemptorists and the local Catholic community.

In 1969 St Gerard's was officially made a parish, carved out of Whitehouse. Though small in numbers to begin with (it had approximately 2,000 parishioners at the time), the Redemptorist parish of St Gerard's was to grow healthily in subsequent years.

Today the parish is looked after by parish priest, Fr Gerard Cassidy and it is host to a wide variety of groups and organisations.

Aerial view showing the Church and Parish House alongside the Antrim Road

Parish House

St Gerard’s Church