Gungahlin Suburb Guide

Amaroo was gazetted on 18 October 1991.

Amaroo - which means 'a beautiful place' in one of the local Aboriginal dialects. Place names in Amaroo such as Shoalhaven Avenue are named after Australian rivers and lakes. Amaroo is adjacent to the suburbs of Ngunnawal, Gungahlin, Moncrieff, Forde, Bonner and Jacka. The suburb is bounded by Mirrabei Drive and Horse Park Drive and Gundaroo Drive. The suburb is located approximately 1 km from the Gungahlin Town Centre and 12 km from the centre of Canberra.

Although the suburb of Amaroo is newly established, the history of the land upon which the suburb is situated stretches back at least one hundred and fifty years. Amongst the historic remnants from Amaroo's colonial past is Crinigan's stone cottage located in Wanderer Court Amaroo.

John and Maria (née Mansfield) Crinigan lived in a stone cottage at this site from about 1842 until 1863. John was a native of Westmeath, Ireland and at 19 years of age was sentenced to transportation for life for "assaulting habitation". He arrived in the colony of New South Wales in 1836 and was assigned to work for George Thomas Palmer on his property Palmerville (the remains of the homestead are now under the Heritage Park in Belconnen).

They settled here in the stone cottage and in 1849 John was pardoned. The site of this cottage was well selected as it is near a pool of water on Ginninderra Creek.