History of Irene

Irene was first proclaimed a township in 1902 by Johannes Albertus van der Byl. He had bought the Irene Estate, previously known as Doornkloof farm, in 1896 from Alois Hugo Nellmapius, who had named it after his daughter Irene. Today, Irene is part of the municipality of Tshwane.

One of the Boer Voortrekkers, Daniel Elardus Erasmus, who left the Cape Colony in the 1830s, settled on Doornkloof farm. When Daniel died in 1875 he left the farm to his three sons. Fourteen years later Alois Hugo Nellmapius bought two thirds of the farm.

Nellmapius was well-connected and a member of President Kruger’s inner circle of friends and counsellors. He was also a shrewd businessman, who used his connections to obtain concessions for the right to manufacture liquor, gunpowder and ammunition, and he was one of the early pioneers in attempting to produce steel. He was known for driving in an open coach drawn by four zebra. Among the experts Nellmapius employed on his farm was Sir Arnold Theiler, who later established the Onderstepoort Research and Veterinary College.

Irene was also the site of one of the Burgher refugee tent camps where the British housed the Boer women and children during the Anglo Boer war at the turn of the 19th century.

General Jan Smuts bought a third of the original Doornkloof farm in 1908 where he lived for over 40 years. Today the Smuts House Museum, set in beautiful tranquil surroundings with a tea garden and a caravan park, is a unique museum that reveals much about the life and spirit of this great statesman.