Kilbirnie (from gd, Cille Bhraonaidh) is a suburb of

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

in New Zealand, to the south-east of the city centre. Travellers can reach Kilbirnie from the Wellington

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

via the

Mount Victoria Tunnel The Mount Victoria Tunnel in the New Zealand capital city of Wellington is 623 metres (slightly more than a third of a mile) long and 5 metres (16.4 ft) in height, connecting Hataitai to the centre of Wellington and the suburb of Mount Vic ...

and

Hataitai Hataitai is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, 3.5 kilometres southeast of the city centre. The suburb extends over the southeastern flank of Mount Victoria and down a valley between the Town Belt and a ridge al ...

, or over Mount Victoria, or around the coast. Kilbirnie sits on the eastern flank of the ridge which becomes Mount Victoria and on the flat of the

Rongotai Rongotai is a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, located southeast of the city centre. It is on the Rongotai isthmus, between the Miramar Peninsula and the suburbs of Kilbirnie and Lyall Bay. It is known mostly for being the location of the We ...

isthmus between Evans Bay to the north (part of

Port Nicholson A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

) and

Lyall Bay Lyall Bay is a bay and suburb on the south side of the Rongotai isthmus in Wellington, New Zealand. The bay is a popular surf beach, featuring a breakwater at the eastern end. It is home to two surf lifesaving clubs and has also been the site of ...

to the south (on

Cook Strait Cook Strait ( mi, Te Moana-o-Raukawa) separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, A H, ...

). No clear boundaries separate Kilbirnie from its neighbouring suburbs, with the exception of the town belt to the west which separates Kilbirnie from Newtown.

Etymology

Kilbirnie takes its name after the town of

Kilbirnie Kilbirnie ( Gaelic: ''Cill Bhraonaigh'') is a small town of 7,280 (as of 2001) inhabitants situated in the Garnock Valley area of North Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland. It is around southwest of Glasgow and approximately from Paisle ...

in Scotland. It was named by

Coutts Crawford James Coutts Crawford (19 January 1817 – 8 April 1889), known as Coutts Crawford, was a Naval officer, farmer, scientist, explorer and public servant in New Zealand. He was born in Strathaven, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, the son of naval off ...

, who initially owned the land. Two streets in the area are named for him.

Activities

The suburb features a shopping area, the Wellington Regional Aquatic Centre, the ASB Sports Centre, a recreation centre, a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

, and a sports field, Kilbirnie Park. Kilbirnie hosts the only

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

in Wellington City. There is also a Hindu temple located in Kilbirnie, which serves as the headquarters for the Wellington Indian Association. There is a catholic church, St Patrick's, next to St Patrick's primary school in Childers Terrace. St Giles church in Kilbirnie Crescent was used for Presbyterian services until 2013 and after that served the Niuean community, but it closed in 2019 due to earthquake risk. The majority of the population live in single-storey dwellings, but with a growing population, a business centre and proximity to the airport and to the city centre, the suburb also has a few hotels and apartment buildings, such as the Brentwood Hotel, 747 Motel and Rongotai Apartments.

Sport

Kilbirnie Park is home to Poneke Football Club, Poneke Kilbirnie Softball Club, Eastern Suburbs Cricket Club and Marist Association Football Club. Kilbirnie Bowling Club was situated adjacent to Kilbirnie Park but closed and was demolished around 2018. As of February 2021 Wellington City Council had plans to landscape the site. Kilbirnie Tennis Club has courts in Crawford Road. The ASB Sports Centre opened in Kilbirnie in 2011. It has solidified Kilbirnie's status as the most essential suburb in Wellington for sports and recreation, making Kilbirnie a likely destination for anybody wishing to play casual or competitively.

Demographics

Kilbirnie, comprising the statistical areas of Kilbirnie Central and Kilbirnie East, covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Kilbirnie had a population of 4,842 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 39 people (0.8%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 48 people (-1.0%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 1,872 households. There were 2,349 males and 2,496 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.94 males per female, with 723 people (14.9%) aged under 15 years, 1,188 (24.5%) aged 15 to 29, 2,238 (46.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 693 (14.3%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 61.1% European/Pākehā, 12.6% Māori, 10.7% Pacific peoples, 22.1% Asian, and 7.8% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 34.9%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 42.3% had no religion, 34.9% were Christian, 7.0% were Hindu, 5.0% were Muslim, 1.8% were Buddhist and 3.8% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 1,287 (31.2%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 627 (15.2%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 2,145 (52.1%) people were employed full-time, 513 (12.5%) were part-time, and 198 (4.8%) were unemployed.

Education

Public schools

The nearest primary schools are

Kilbirnie School Hataitai is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, 3.5 kilometres southeast of the city centre. The suburb extends over the southeastern flank of Mount Victoria and down a valley between the Town Belt and a ridge al ...

to the north and Lyall Bay School to the south. Evans Bay Intermediate School is a co-educational state intermediate school for Year 7 and 8 students, with a roll of as of . The nearest secondary school is

Rongotai College Rongotai College is a state single-sex boys' secondary school in the southeastern suburb of Rongotai, Wellington, New Zealand. Serving Years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18), the school has 622 students as of July 2015. About 40 per cent of the student ...

(for boys only) in

Catholic schools

St Patrick's School is a co-educational state-integrated Catholic primary school for Year 1 to 6 students, with a roll of as of . The nearby St Catherine's College is a girls' state-integrated Catholic secondary school for Year 9 to 13 students, founded in 1950. It has a roll of . St Patrick's College (Kilbirnie) is a boys' state-integrated Catholic secondary school for Year 9 to 13 students, founded in 1885. with a roll of .

References

External links

The Kilbirnie Business Network
{{Coord, -41.3204, 174.7941, region:NZ_type:city(6429)_source:enwiki-googlemaplink, format=dms, display=title Suburbs of Wellington City Populated places around the Wellington Harbour