Irene Village

Irene Village

Irene has long been remarkable for its rural village atmosphere, its stone walls and its lovely gardens. Towards the end of the nineteenth century the Hungarian-born entrepreneur and land-owner, Alois Hugo Nellmapius bought a farm in the area. He later founded the village which he named after his little daughter.

His horticulturalists were Richard Wills Adlam, who had been the Curator of the Pietermaritzburg Botanical Garden, and his successor, Hans Fuchs. With their botanical expertise, a perfect climate, abundant water and fertile soil, Adlam and Fuchs transformed the land into a prestigious and extensive flower, fruit and vegetable garden of world renown.

Flora Shaw, a correspondent of "The Times" of London visited the Irene Estate in 1892 and was amazed at the grand scale of the farm and gardens: "With the exception of cherries, gooseberries and currants, all European fruits flourish well. Throughout the estate the water courses, which divided the fields, were bordered by hedges of quince, pear, apple, plum and peach...acres of roses, violets and ornamental plants surrounded the house...".

Sadly, shortly after this article was written, Nellmapius was taken ill and died prematurely in July of 1893. Three years later in 1896, J A van der Byl, known as Bertie, bought the farm at auction and today, it is still owned by the van der Byl family. The gardens have matured now and some of the trees have grown to be the largest of their species in the country.

The Irene Country Club, like Irene itself has a special history, the idea for the club was instigated by Bertie van der Byl himself and it came into being in 1912.

Today Irene boasts a very popular craft market, held twice a month at Smuts house, it is one of the largest of it's kind in South Africa. You will also find several historical monuments, like Cornwall Hill, Smuts Koppie, (which means small hill) a Boer War Concentration Camp Memorial and Smuts House Museum, all well worth a visit.