Irene, Gauteng
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Irene (/aɪˈriːniː/ eye-ree-nee) is a small village on the eastern outskirts of
Centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...
,
Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
.


Prehistoric inhabitants

Though they left no historical writings of their own, records from other sources in the early 19th century refer to the
Bakwena The Bakwena or Bakoena ("those who venerate the crocodile") are a large Sotho-Tswana clan in Southern Africa of the Bantu peoples, southern Bantu group. They can be found in different parts of southern Africa such as Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa ...
tribe, also known as the Crocodile people, who lived in the area. When
Mzilikazi Mzilikazi Moselekatse, Khumalo ( 1790 – 9 September 1868) was a Southern African king who founded the Ndebele Kingdom now called Matebeleland which is now part of Zimbabwe. His name means "the great river of blood". He was born the son of M ...
(whose people became known as the Matabele) came to the area in 1825, they killed many of the Crocodile people and drove the rest away.


European settlement

In the 1830s, a
Boer Boers ( ; ; ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch ...
Voortrekker The Great Trek (, ) was a northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial adminis ...
named
Daniel Elardus Erasmus Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the activi ...
left the Cape Colony and settled in the area near present-day Irene. Seeking economic and political independence in the hinterland, Erasmus built a farm that became known as Doornkloof. Doornkloof became known as the "kerkplaas" of the district. When Daniel died in 1875 he left the farm to his three sons. In 1889 a controlling interest (2/3) of Doornkloof was purchased by
Alois Hugo Nellmapius Alois Hugo Nellmapius (5 May 1847 – 27 July 1893), was a South African businessman, industrialist and pioneer conservationist. Life and career Born in Bielitz Poland on 5 May 1847. His given name was Alois Hugo Neumann the son of Albert and C ...
, a businessman. Nellmapius had previously established a transport business between
Lourenço Marques Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...
and Pilgrim's Rest, as well as several industrial concerns (a gin and whisky factory, South Africa's first gunpowder factory, and the Irene lime works). Nellmapius renamed the farm Irene Estate, after his daughter Irene Violet Nellmapius. Irene is derived from the Greek word meaning peace. She used to pronounce her name with three syllables: Ireenee, it is still pronounced like this today. Nellmapius often entertained at the Irene Estate in a grand style; a frequent guest was
Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...
president,
Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904), better known as Paul Kruger, was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and State Preside ...
. Nellmapius employed experts on his farm, including a Mr. Fuchs, who laid out the farmhouse gardens. Another of the authorities consulted by Nellmapius was Sir
Arnold Theiler Sir Arnold Theiler KCMG (26 March 1867 – 24 July 1936) Pour le Mérite is considered to be the father of veterinary science in South Africa. He was born in Frick, Canton Aargau, Switzerland. He received his higher education, and later qu ...
, the founder of Onderstepoort Research and Veterinary College.


Irene

Irene was first proclaimed a township in 1902 by Johannes Albertus van der Byl (better known as Bertie), who had bought the Irene Estate in 1895. Bertie was first in the line of the Irene-born van der Byls, and who are now in their fifth generation, which has now sold the Dairy farm to a Chinese Business Consortium as of September 2024. The Tsai family are now the owners. The family has been responsible for building up the herd of
dairy cow Dairy cattle (also called dairy cows) are cattle bred with the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species ''Bos taurus''. Historically, little distinction was m ...
s on the farm, as well as planting many hundreds of trees, something they began long before the current level of environmental consciousness. In 1908, General
Jan Christiaan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (baptismal name Jan Christiaan Smuts, 24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as P ...
—needing a home for his growing family—bought a third of the original Doornkloof farm. He paid £300 for the wood and iron building which had served as the officers' mess of the British forces in
Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...
during the
Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...
, and transported it to the site at Doornkloof. After his death, Smuts' ashes were scattered on Smuts Koppie, the longtime site of the Smuts' family home, near Doornkloof. Today, the Smuts House Museum on the site illustrates the life-style and multi-faceted career of one of South Africa's most prominent historical figures. Irene was the site of one of the more than forty concentration camps where the British imprisoned the Boer (Afrikaner) women and children, whose homes had been destroyed as part of the British Army's 'scorched earth' policy during the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). More than 1,200 people, most of them children, died at the Irene Camp. Today, the names of those who died here are memorialized at the Irene Concentration Camp Cemetery and Memorial. In 1921 9th Irene Scout troop was founded, the 9th to open in Pretoria. The current Scout grounds were donated by the van der Byls in 1958, at a time when they still owned most of the land in Irene.


Today

Irene lies within the town of
Centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...
; in 2000, along with the rest of Centurion, Irene was incorporated, into the
City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (; ; ), also known as the City of Tshwane (), is the Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of northern Gauteng in South Africa. The metro ...
. It is situated next to the
R21 R21, R-21 or R.21 may refer to: Military * R-21 (missile), a Soviet submarine-launched ballistic missile * , an aircraft carrier of the Royal Australian Navy * , a destroyer of the Royal Navy * , a submarine of the United States Navy * Roads ...
and N1 highways, and has seen increased development in recent years. During the
2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...
, the
United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT), officially recognized as USA by FIFA, represents the United States in men's international Association football, soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation, which is ...
based its training camp in the township and were stationed at the Irene Country Lodge.Longman, Jeré. "U.S. Team Is Nestled in a Bucolic South African Bubble," ''Goal'' (''The New York Times'' soccer blog), Wednesday, 2 June 2010.
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References

{{Authority control Suburbs of Centurion, Gauteng Jan Smuts Second Boer War concentration camps