O'Halloran Hill is a suburb in the south of Adelaide, South Australia, situated on the hills south of the O'Halloran Hill Escarpment, which rises from the

Adelaide Plains The Adelaide Plains (Kaurna name Tarndanya) is a plain in South Australia lying between the coast (Gulf St Vincent) on the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east. The southernmost tip of the plain is in the southern seaside suburbs of Ade ...

and located 18 km from the city centre via the

Main South Road South Road and its southern section as Main South Road outside of Adelaide is a major north–south conduit connecting Adelaide and the Fleurieu Peninsula, in South Australia. It is one of Adelaide's most important arterial and bypass roads. As ...

. The suburb is split between the Cities of Marion and Onkaparinga, and it neighbours Happy Valley, Hallett Cove,

Trott Park Trott Park is a suburb in the south of Adelaide, South Australia. It has a population of 3,503 people (2016 Census). It is surrounded in most part by open space: the O'Halloran Hill Recreation Park, and Roseworthy Park, a former Commonwealth S ...

and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. It includes a large area of farmland and commercial vineyards known as the Glenthorne Estate.

History

Before British colonisation of South Australia, ''Kaurna Yerta Parngkarra'' ( Kaurna tribal country) stretched from

Cape Jervis Cape Jervis is a town in the Australian state of South Australia located near the western tip of Fleurieu Peninsula on the southern end of the Main South Road approximately south of the state capital of Adelaide. It is named after the headla ...

in the south, to Crystal Brook in the north, west to the Mount Lofty Ranges, across to Gulf Saint Vincent, including the plains and city of Adelaide. An area on the north side of the hill was known as

Wita-wattingga Seacliff Park is a suburb of Adelaide partly in the City of Marion and the City of Holdfast Bay. The suburb is adjacent to South Brighton in the north, Seaview Downs to the east, Hallett Cove to the south, and Marino and Seacliff on its we ...

, meaning "in the midst of peppermint gums", as it was then covered in low woodland of ''

Eucalyptus porosa ''Eucalyptus porosa'', commonly known as mallee box, Quorn mallee or water mallee, is a species of mallee or a tree that is endemic to southern Australia. It has rough, fibrous or flaky bark on the trunk and larger branches, smooth greyish bark ...

'' and/or ''

Eucalyptus odorata ''Eucalyptus odorata'', commonly known as peppermint box, is a species of mallee or a small tree that is endemic to South Australia. It has rough, hard bark on the trunk and larger branches, smooth greyish bark on the thinner branches, lance-sha ...

'', known as mallee peppermint gums. The forested area named thus included the north-western slopes at South Brighton and Seaview Downs across to Seacliff Park and probably also included the area across the hill nearly as far as the present

. Located on the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges and bordering the Adelaide plains, the suburb (and the hill) were named after Major Thomas O'Halloran, the first Police Commissioner of South Australia. O'Halloran was the second son of Major-General Sir

Joseph O'Halloran Joseph O'Halloran Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, GCB (13 August 1763 – 3 November 1843) was a major-general in the East India Company. Background O'Halloran was the youngest son of Sylvester O'Halloran, born in county Limerick, Ir ...

. Majors Road, which runs through the suburb was also named in his honour. During the early years there was conflict with the local Kaurna due to their tradition of burning off scrub in the foothills to encourage game, as the fires tended to cause considerable damage to local farmland. In an official report, O'Halloran claimed the Kaurna also used this as a weapon against the colonists by lighting fires to deliberately destroy fences, survey pegs and to scatter livestock. Due to this regular burning, the foothills' original

stringybark A stringybark can be any of the many ''Eucalyptus'' species which have thick, fibrous bark. Like all eucalypts, stringybarks belong to the family Myrtaceae. In exceptionally fertile locations some stringybark species (in particular messmate strin ...

forests had been largely replaced with grassland by the time the first Europeans arrived. Since the late 1960s, restrictions on subdivision and development have allowed regeneration of native trees and bush to a "natural" condition that would never have actually existed. North of Majors Road and extending into the adjacent suburbs of

and Seaview Downs is the O'Halloran Hill Recreation Park which contains walking trails through remnant bush and farm ruins. East of Main South Road is a large area of privately-owned land used for horse agistment. West of South Road is of farm land and commercial vineyards (Glenthorne Estate) now owned by the University of Adelaide. O'Halloran Hill housing is a wedge-shaped division which, apart from its southern boundary with Reynella East is isolated from other suburban housing by the Glenthorne Estate and the

Happy Valley Reservoir The Happy Valley Reservoir is a water reservoir located in the southern Adelaide suburb of Happy Valley, South Australia. Constructed when the total population of Adelaide numbered 315,200 (1893 census), the Happy Valley Reservoir now supplies o ...

that has resulted in a relatively low crime rate in comparison to surrounding suburbs. The Glenthorne Estate was originally a farm and horse stud owned by O'Halloran, who lived on a property nearby named ''Lizard Lodge''. O'Halloran was buried in a cemetery situated on the western side of South Road, and his tomb can still be found there. At the beginning of World War I the property was purchased by the Australian Army to be used as a horse stud and army remount depot. In 1947 the Federal government took over the property and established the ''Glenthorne''

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

Research Station which was closed in 1998 with the property subsequently sold to the State government. In 2001 the State government handed the property to the University of Adelaide for use as a vineyard and wine research facility in partnership with

BRL Hardy Accolade Wines is an international wine business with headquarters in South Australia and corporate offices in Melbourne. It has been owned by The Carlyle Group, an American private equity company, since 2018. Accolade, which predominantly uses ...

, the world's largest wine company.Vineyard to keep Adelaide at leading edge of wine research

Adelaide University The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

media release 24 June 2001 O'Halloran Hill was also the former site of the Greater Union Drive-in known as the 'Star-line' which was the only drive-in theatre to overlook the lights of Adelaide, closing on the 4th of April 1984. Next to the drive-in was the Kingston TAFE College, which closed in 2014 and the site is now occupied by the IQRA Islamic College. From 1986 to 1998 the TAFE College was also home to community radio station Coast FM. OHalloran-Hill-thistle-1538

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:O'halloran Hill, South Australia Suburbs of Adelaide

History

See also

References