Glendalough means 'valley of the lakes', as it is located between Lake Monger and Herdsman Lake. The majority of housing is brick and tile with timber floors. Find out more about Glendalough, including residential and community development.
History
The name honours a Catholic centre in Ireland, where a hermitage was established in the 7th Century. A crown grant for Glendalough and a portion of Herdsman Lake was made in 1837 to Thomas Helms and eventually transferred to Bishop Gibney in 1887, who leased much of it to market gardeners.
The locality of Glendalough has a strong association with the Catholic Church with the northern portion passing through several orders of the Roman Catholic Church until 1921, when the Little Sisters of the Poor used it as a site for a rest home.
In 1949, the State Housing Commission bought part of Glendalough for subdivision and began to develop the area. Five of the early streets surveyed in the locality, including Leeder Street and Powis Street, were named after passengers on the ship Rockingham.
Residential development
Glendalough is characterised by a significant number of grouped and multiple-unit residential developments with older character housing interspersed throughout.
The majority of post-war housing was built of brick and tile, often with timber floors, while the unit developments in Glendalough were built in the 1970s. Most of the units within the area are concentrated around Harborne Street and Cayley Street, near Glendalough train station.
With the exception of the high-rise unit developments, the majority of residential development does not exceed 2 storeys.
Community development
Glendalough contains little public open space but the suburb is located adjacent to the significant regional recreational reserves of Lake Monger and Herdsman Lake.
There is a small shopping centre on the corner of Powis Street and Harborne Street, which provides for local needs.
Glendalough contains two schools, the Lake Monger Primary School and the Chrysalis Montessori School, as well as a senior citizens home.
Significant landmarks
Significant landmarks include the Glendalough Parish, originally built in 1898 as a reform school. It was the first building established by the Catholic Church within the boundaries of the City of Stirling.
Glendalough train station was built as part of Perth's northern suburbs transit system and provides Glendalough residents with convenient access to public transport with many using it as a transfer station for buses to Scarborough Beach.
A small section of Glendalough adjoining Lake Monger is officially outside the bounds of the City of Stirling.