Killarney, Manitoba

Killarney
Unincorporated
Downtown Killarney, Manitoba
Killarney
Coordinates: 49°11′00″N 99°39′46″W / 49.18333°N 99.66278°W / 49.18333; -99.66278Coordinates: 49°11′00″N 99°39′46″W / 49.18333°N 99.66278°W / 49.18333; -99.66278
Country	Canada
Province	Manitoba
Area
• Metro	5.10 km2 (1.97 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Unincorporated	2,197
• Density	430.9/km2 (1,116/sq mi)
Time zone	CST (UTC−5)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC−6)

Killarney is an unincorporated community in southwestern Manitoba, Canada, at the corner of Manitoba Provincial Trunk Highways 3 & 18. The community was formerly an incorporated town before amalgamating with the surrounding Rural Municipality of Turtle Mountain to form the Municipality of Killarney-Turtle Mountain. Killarney is known for the lake situated within the community. Killarney is located in a rural area, dependent primarily on agriculture and agribusiness. It is approximately 20 km (12 mi) from the US border, 100 km (62 mi) south of Brandon and 250 km (160 mi) southwest of the provincial capital, Winnipeg.

The Municipality of Killarney-Turtle Mountain area is rich in history and tradition. In the late 1800s, the Boundary Commission Trail ran through the southern part of the municipality. North-West Mounted Police used the trail, as they travelled west to the Rockies in an effort to tame the prairies. Prior to this time, the area was home to many Aboriginal people, as well as hunters and trappers taking part in the fur trade. The R.M. of Turtle Mountain was incorporated in 1882.

The Town of Killarney was officially incorporated in 1906. An Irish land surveyor named John Sidney O'Brien, named Killarney Lake (before that, it was called Oak Lake by the aboriginal people) after the Lakes of Killarney, in Ireland. Legend has it that as he sat on the shore of the lake, homesick for his native home, he took a bottle of "Good Irish" from his pack and pouring it into the lake christened it Killarney. The "Irish"-ness of the community is often used as a tourist attraction with things such as green fire engines, Erin and Kerry Parks, Little Irish Downs, and many other good Irish-themed attractions used to play up this theme. Killarney, Manitoba does not have any actual connection with the town of Killarney, Ireland. Most of the people who originally settled the region were from the Scottish Highlands, the English or were Mennonites or Hutterites of Central European extraction.