Living in the Midlands

newstart

We are thinking of relocating to the midlands. Looking for some guidance on places to live - can anyone give 'reviews' of Ballymore and Ballymahon? or any other town within about 20 mins to the North/east of Athlone? Advice would be appreciated. Also is broadband available in these towns?

ei0675

Well if its broadband you want then ballymahon no good, longford town is serviced with eircom, bt ireland, and the usual suspects but the cable B.B. here is supplied by crossans and is 10meg+. so hope that helps!!!

Donie75

How about Athlone itself? There are plenty of houses for sale and it's a good big town with all the amenities you could ask for...
There are good value houses in Longford because of some sort of tax incentive but some of them are a bit remote and towns like Ballymahon & Ballymore would be a bit quiet (for me anyway).
Athlone has great shopping, pubs, restaurants, the river/lake, good sports clubs & gyms and it has the Institute of Technology as well.
The village of Glasson, about 5 miles north east of Athlone is a lovely area but it is expensive unless you go out a bit.

Occidental

Ballymahon exchange is due to be enabled shortly, but for the moment Lastmile is as good as you'll get. The town itself has picked up in the last few years, but it's still very limited, with no decent restaurants(or chipper) and Supervalu being the height of the local shopping experience. Athlone, Mullingar and Longford Town are all within a half an hour. Mullingar and Athlone roads due to be upgraded within the next few years.

Still very much a local population at the moment, with a few Dubs, Poles and English thrown in. Most people are very friendly, though they pride themselves on knowing more about you than you know yourself.

Anything specific, just ask.

newstart

Thanks a mill for the info guys. Really want to make an informed choice. Planning to make a good few visits before we settle on a location but it's good to get first hand information from people who know the scene. Honing in on Athlone itself then, where my new job will be, what is traffic like driving in to it in the morning from the various directions? Or are there nice housing estates in/around the town, somewhere with a bit of community spirit?

E@gle.

Do not buy a house in ballymahon. Longford is part of the section 23 tax relief and builders are building houses for the sake of it. They will be worth nothing in a few years time.

I live in Glasson you would be able to buy a nice 4 bedroom house for the price of a house in glasson.

Have ya considered Moate Motorway coming down there soon and house prices gonna go up big time there soon so could get em now while they cheap.

Occidental

Traffic is becoming a problem, though nothing compared to the hell of Dublin. A new one way system is planned for the centre of town next year and a new ring and a few roundabouts are planned between Coosan and Cornamaddy(mainly to cope with the new housing estates). A new bridge across the Shannon in the town centre would help a lot, but doesn't seem to be on the cards at the moment. In general, most of the traffic delays are on the town side of the bypass(schools and the industrial estates being the exception).

A large bank of land from Cornamaddy school to Coosan church has been rezoned for medium/high density housing, so this area is going to become much busier over the next few years. Most other new housing development is on the Connaught side town and out the back roads towards Tuam. Most of the older estates within the 2 Mile are fairly quiet now, with the children off to college and just the parents left at home.

E@gle,

Ballymahon may be Section 23, but many of the houses are a little over half what you'll pay for the same thing in Athlone. For a 20 minute drive, I wouldn't call that bad value and I can't see how they're going to collapse in the next few years. The Mullingar-Ballymahon-Athlone road is also to be upgraded, including the bypass of Glasson and Ballykeeran, so if anything the drive should get easier.

I'd also worry that Moate is about to become the new Rochfordbridge, once the DC to Dublin opens. If you're working in Athlone, surely you'd be avoiding competing on houses with Dublin commuters, when you don't have to.

E@gle. wrote:

I live in Glasson you would be able to buy a nice 4 bedroom house for the price of a house in glasson.

Can you explain what you mean?

E@gle.

I just meant that that you could buy a 4 bedroom house in athlone for the price of a site for a house in Glasson. it very over priced

E@gle.

i just meant to say as well that iv heard that a lot of houses have being built and theres no one to live in them. im only a few miles from ballymahon and there
are some very nice houses and some realy nice apartements beside the river inny.

As for Ballymore its smaller than Ballymahon and only 2 shops there(i think). I think there is a small housing estate being built there. but not as much as Athlone.

As for traffic problems. Ahlone town centre is choked up with heavy constuction
work at the moment.

You should have no traffic problems driving into athlone from either ballymore or ballymahon in the mornings. There can be traffic build up when you take a left at cornamaddy towards erickson and around the college area.

newstart

great information, just what i need. saw some houses in glassan that didn't look like exorbitant prices, there must be a catch! anyway all told, all reports of athlone and the surrounding area seem to be positive as a place to live/work. better quality of life is what i'm after ..

newstart

any info on good sports clubs or other activities, especially kids/family orientated?

Donie75

Newstart,
Athlone has great sports & leisure facilities.

Buccaneers Rugby Club. Under 10's up to All Ireland League Division 1. They also hosted all of Ireland U21 Internationals last season and they sometimes host Connaught matches.

Athlone Town FC. Brand new stadium nearing completion. Lot's of good junior clubs for underage.

GAA. Athlone & Garrycastle are the two big clubs but there are lots of other clubs around the area.

Golf. Athlone, Glasson, Mount Temple and many more within a half hour drive.

Leisure Centre. Large new leisure centre with swimming pool. Also home to a few competitive swimming clubs.

Watersports. Having the River Shannon & Lough Ree on your doorstep is a big plus. Boating, sailing, rowing, scuba diving, fishing, canoeing, etc.
Canoeing and sailing courses are run on the lake during the Summer months.

There are also the usual clubs and societies that most towns have. If there is anything specific, feel free to ask.

Saint_Mel

Donie75 wrote:

GAA. Athlone & Garrycastle are the two big clubs but there are lots of other clubs around the area.

Add to that Southern Gaels hurling club who are based in Athlone.

newstart

well seeing as though you've offered to answer specifics. what about tae kwan do, pitch ad putt, or tennis?

Saint_Mel

newstart wrote:

well seeing as though you've offered to answer specifics.
what about tae kwan do, pitch ad putt, or tennis?

Dunno about tae kwan do but there are karate club(s) in Athlone.
Dont have any info on them, just saw a flyer somewhere in town the
other day.

There’s a pitch and putt course in Bealamula which isn’t that far from
Athlone.

There used to be tennis courts in the grounds of Athlone GAA but not
sure if there’s a club, or if they're even still there!

As Donie75 said, Athlone Town are moving into their new stadium this year
and recently held an open day for people to come in for a look around.
Stadium has a 2000 seater stand which makes going to games as a family a
lot better.

Leisure centre has a gym and swimming pool along with astroturf pitches

Other than sport there’s also music and drama societies

Wompa1

I've heard good things about Ardagh in Longford, its pretty close to Dublin and Athlone and the people for the most part seem friendly...just don't cross them!

E@gle.

newstart wrote:

well seeing as though you've offered to answer specifics. what about tae kwan do, pitch ad putt, or tennis?

there is tae kwan do in the sports centre (swimming pool complex) i think.
There is a good pitch and putt course in Ballymore. Not sure about tennis

Brenda 59

Can anyone tell me what Lanesborough in longford is like. I'm thinking of buying a house in Cnoc na gaoite thanks