Kilbirnie (from ) is a suburb of

Wellington Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

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 Commerce, commercial and business center 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 wit ...

via the Mount Victoria Tunnel and Hataitai, 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 th ...

isthmus between Evans Bay to the north (part of

Port Nicholson A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

) and Lyall Bay to the south (on

Cook Strait Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North Island, 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, ...

). 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 () 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 Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley and ...

in Scotland. It was named by Coutts Crawford, 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 Ākau Tangi Sports Centre (formerly the ASB Sports Centre), a recreation centre, a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending 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 servic ...

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

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

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. In November 2022 it was renamed as Ākau Tangi Sports Centre, reflecting an early name for the coastline along the head of Evans Bay. 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 The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census. Resu ...

, an increase of 39 people (0.8%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 48 people (−1.0%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,872 households, comprising 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 ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

, 12.6%

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, 10.7% Pasifika, 22.1% Asian, and 7.8% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 34.9, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 42.3% had no religion, 34.9% were

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, 0.7% had

Māori religious beliefs Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, 7.0% were

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, 5.0% were

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 1.8% were

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and 3.1% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 1,287 (31.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 627 (15.2%) people had no formal qualifications. 729 people (17.7%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. 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 in Hataitai 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 students as of . About 55 percent of the students are of Eu ...

(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
{{Authority control Suburbs of Wellington City Populated places around the Wellington Harbour