Glendalough history: the valley of the lakes

Glendalough is a small suburb with a long history. It sits between two of Perth’s great wetlands, and for most of its first century it was church land and market gardens rather than streets of houses.

How Glendalough got its name

The City of Stirling says the name means valley of the lakes, a fitting name for a suburb that sits between Galup (Lake Monger) and Herdsman Lake.

Some early streets, including Leeder Street and Powis Street, were named after passengers on the ship Rockingham.

Before the suburb

The City of Stirling’s thematic history records that the Whadjuk leader Yellagonga lived by turns at the Narrows, Herdsman Lake (Ngurgenboro), Dog Swamp and Galup, the wetlands either side of today’s suburb.

In 1837 the Glendalough land and part of Herdsman Lake were granted to Thomas Helms. The land later passed to the Catholic Church under Bishop Matthew Gibney, and parts of it were drained in the 1880s.

How it grew

From 1887 to 1921 the land was leased to market gardeners, and Chinese market gardens operated beside the Yambago and Careniup swamps. From 1921 the Little Sisters of the Poor used part of the land for a rest home.

Suburban Glendalough came after the Second World War. In 1949 the State Housing Commission bought part of the land for subdivision, and the suburb filled with brick and tile houses. In the 1970s blocks of units were built around Harborne and Cayley Streets, near where the station now stands.

Places that tell the story

The Glendalough Parish building was built in 1898 as a reform school. The City of Stirling describes it as the first Catholic building within today’s City of Stirling.

St Bernadette’s Church and Presbytery, on the corner of Leeder and Jugan Streets, was built from 1961 to a design by Stan Costello.

Glendalough today

Glendalough is mostly in the City of Stirling, with a small section next to Lake Monger outside the City’s boundary. Glendalough Station on the Yanchep Line and the two lakes still define the suburb.

More about Glendalough

For what Glendalough is like to live in now, read our Glendalough suburb profile. If you own a property in Glendalough and are thinking about selling, start with buyers for your property.

Sources

• City of Stirling: Glendalough
• City of Stirling: Thematic History
• inHerit: St Bernadette’s Church and Presbytery

Dates and names are drawn from the sources above. Where sources differ, we have said so or given an approximate date.

By Key Performance Real Estate, 338 Beaufort Street, Perth