Killarney Heights is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

Northern Sydney Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney’s north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Sydney is ...

, situated on Middle Harbour, in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Killarney Heights is 12 kilometres north-east of the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...

in the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

Northern Beaches Council The Northern Beaches Council is a local government area located in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 after the amalgamation of Manly, Pittwater and Warringa ...

. Killarney Heights is part of the Forest District, colloquially known as ''The Forest''. Killarney Heights has panoramic views of Middle Harbour from a few locations. The suburb is located on a peninsula bound by the waters of

Middle Harbour Middle Harbour (or ''Warrin ga''), a semi–mature tide dominated ria, drowned valley estuary, is the northern arm of Port Jackson, an inlet of the Tasman Sea located north of Sydney central business district on the coast of New South Wales, Au ...

to the south-west towards

Roseville Chase Roseville Chase is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia 11 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council. Rosevill ...

and

Bantry Bay Bantry Bay ( ga, Cuan Baoi / Inbhear na mBárc / Bádh Bheanntraighe) is a bay located in County Cork, Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km (1.8-to-2.5 mi ...

to the east.

Garigal National Park The Garigal National Park is a protected national park that is located within the North Shore and Forest District regions of Sydney, New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately north of the Sydney cen ...

is on the eastern border.

Schools

There are two schools in Killarney Heights and many more around the area. Killarney Heights Primary School is situated across the road from Killarney Heights Oval. This primary school is noted as having an extensive English - French bilingual program which has led to many French speaking parents moving to the area. A preschool is also nearby. Killarney Heights High School is situated next to the oval, and also has a strong French presence. The High School is a coeducational, comprehensive high school located on Starkey Street, the school has a strong tradition of high academic achievement, catering for individual student needs and providing a broad co-curricular program.

Transport

Killarney Heights is accessible by road, via Warringah Road. Access to Warringah Road is via

Roseville Bridge The Roseville Bridge, is a pre-stressed concrete box girder road bridge that carries Warringah Road, part of the A38 across Middle Harbour, located adjacent to the suburb of , in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The bridge is one of two ...

, via

Spit Bridge Spit may refer to: Common uses * Spit (archaeology), a term for a unit of archaeological excavation * Spit (landform), a section of land that extends into a body of water * Spit or rotisserie, a rotating device used for cooking by roasting over ...

and Wakehurst Parkway or via Forest Way. Killarney Heights is about 20mins from the city during non peak hours. The only public transport around this area is through a private bus company,

Forest Coach Lines Forest Coach Lines is an Australian bus and coach operator. Founded in 1930 in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney, since 2016 it has expanded with purchases in the Mid North Coast and North West Slopes regions in New South Wales. It is a subsidiar ...

. Routes that go through Killarney Heights include services to and from the City and Chatswood.

History

Prior to the arrival of the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...

, the area was inhabited by the Aboriginal

Cadigal The Cadigal, also spelled as Gadigal and Caddiegal, are a group of Indigenous people whose traditional lands are located in Gadi, on Eora country, the location of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Gadigal originally inhabited the area that ...

peoples. It also got its name from a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in the

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

region of

southwest Ireland The South-West is a strategic planning area within the Southern Regional Assembly, Southern Region in Ireland. It is a Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NUTS Level III NUTS statistical regions of Ireland, statistical region of Irela ...

. The suburb was originally part of Forestville and the area was developed from the 1950s as South Forestville and Heidelberg. The suburb east of Starkey Street became the site of considerable development by

LJ Hooker LJ Hooker is one of Australia's largest real estate groups, with 600 franchise offices and 6,000 people engaged in residential and commercial property sales and property management. The company was founded in 1928 by Sir Leslie Joseph ...

in the early 1960s prior to the completion of the second

in 1966. West of Starkey Street was Crown land. Killarney Heights Post Office opened on 1 December 1965 and closed in 1987. In February 1979, a Lithuanian couple who believed they were being chased by Soviet agents were discovered in bushland adjacent to the suburb. Stepan Petrosys (81) and his 68-year-old wife were discovered after having lived in a cave for 28 years. Local children who frequented the bush knew of these people as early as 1960. A guide book called "Killarney Heights - Secrets of a Sleepy suburb" was published in November 2022. The book is an A-Z of fascinating facts, interesting insights and hyper-local heritage.

Heritage listings

Killarney Heights has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Bantry Bay Explosives Depot * Killarney Picnic Grounds * Flat Rock Landing * Soldiers Rock Landing * Bantry Bay Reservoir * Timber Getters Picnic Spot * Old Bullock Track

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 4,469 people in Killarney Heights. 63.3% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 6.4%, China 3.7% and Hong Kong 2.2%. 72.0% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included French 5.6%, Cantonese 4.1%, Mandarin 3.9% and Armenian 2.5%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 36.0%, Catholic 20.7% and Anglican 17.2%.

References

*''The Book of Sydney Suburbs'', Compiled by Frances Pollon, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, , p. 137 *Killarney Heights - Secrets of a Sleepy Suburb by Dan Haigh, 2022, ISBN 978-1-922629-74-6 {{Sydney Northern Beaches suburbs Suburbs of Sydney Northern Beaches Council