Arklow Schools

Tortoise

hi, I'm thinking of moving to Arklow from Greystones, to have lower costs of living and a chance to give up work to mind my children fulltime while they are pre-schoolers. Cannot decide if I will regret leaving here where I know the schools, people and links to Dublin but really cannot afford a house.
Can anyone tell me what living in Arklow is like? What primary schools are good? Has anyone bought a house in Cluain Ard?

SarahMc

My opinions...

Cluain Ard is a lovely estate. Nearest school is St Josephs, walking distance, mixed, Catholic, excellent resources especially for children with special needs, quite big.

St Michaels, girls only, Catholic, quite big, good reputation.

St Peters, boys only, Catholic, quite big, not so good reputation.

Gaelscoil, not walking distance, small, excellent reputation, new gaelcolaiste in Arklow, hard to get into.

Carysford, small, Church of Ireland, mixed, excellent reputation.

As you can see, there is plenty of choice.

yogert

I've lived in Arklow all my life (im twenty one!) and I have to say I love the place so my reply may be a bit biased! I agree with the first reply although I myself went to St. Peters and this is the first ive heard of its not so good reputation. There's also another all boys national school Arklow BNS which i also attended and has a good rep. (i turned out alright!) Templerainey is probably your best bet though if your thinking of living in Cluain Ard as its closer.
Cluain Ard seems to be a nice quiet estate as far as I know a lot of young professionals/couples. A friend has a house in the estate and she seems keen on it.
Arklow's a grand spot in my opinion. Theres a right few sports clubs around and the bridgewater centre and cinema just opened a few months back so theres a bit to do aswell. Main street has any amount of pubs you could want!
Best of luck with your decision!

ADK

Hi Tortoise, I would advise you to really consider your options before you move. I made the move from Dublin to Gorey and found myself in a big house and had my daughter there but was really lonely and spent my time commuting to work and to socialise. I got so fed up with it that I moved to a much smaller house in Greystones but am so happy here. My commute is much smaller (my husband changed jobs also). Granted I have made much more of an effort to meet people and with my daughter being in school now, there is much more opportunity. My husband used to work in Arklow and I found it to be a nice place and the people really friendly. I think the key is not to have a huge commute and since you won't, it could work for you. Best of luck

Tortoise

Thanks a million. Great to hear such positives on Arklow. It feels like its a changing place for the better. My husband would have a big commute but that would be the biggest sacrifice. I think its hard starting again, especially since I'm in my mid 30s and everyones social circles and relationships are established. But I'm sure the schools will provide quite a lifeline once settled.
I live in Greystones now and can imagine why you'd be happy there! But I think for the sake of space and lower repayments the move could be good for us.

Tortoise

By the way do you know if the schools are very hard to get into?

SarahMc wrote: »

My opinions...

Cluain Ard is a lovely estate. Nearest school is St Josephs, walking distance, mixed, Catholic, excellent resources especially for children with special needs, quite big.

St Michaels, girls only, Catholic, quite big, good reputation.

St Peters, boys only, Catholic, quite big, not so good reputation.

Gaelscoil, not walking distance, small, excellent reputation, new gaelcolaiste in Arklow, hard to get into.

Carysford, small, Church of Ireland, mixed, excellent reputation.

As you can see, there is plenty of choice.

SarahMc

Don't worry about starting again. Arklow is full of people like you, moving here in their 30s for a better quality of life. You can meet people in so many ways, sport, book club, mother and toddler group, musical and dramatic societies etc.

The only schools that are hard to get into are the Gaelscoil and Carysford. (btw yogert St Peters is the BNS! Perhaps it is unfair to label it as having a bad rep., but I have heard some fairly negative stuff about it recently).

number_1

SarahMc wrote: »

btw yogert St Peters is the BNS!

So what town are you originally from? It certainly isn't Arklow for making such a "schoolboy" error

A more complete list of Arklow schools (not counting playschools) would be:

Boys only:

St. Peter's National School (Castlepark) - caters for Junior Infants up to 1st class
Arklow BNS (Coolgreaney Road) - caters for 2nd class up to 6th class
St. Kevin's CBS (Coolgreaney Road) - secondary school

Girls only:

St Michael's GNS (St Mary's Road) - primary school
St Mary's College (St Mary's Road) - secondary school

Mixed:

Carysfort National School (Knockenrahan) - primary school
St. Joseph's National School (Templerainey) - primary school
Gaelscoil na tInbhear Mór (Emoclew Road) - primary school
Arklow Community College (Coolgreaney Road) - secondary school
Gaelcholáiste na Mara (Vale Road) - secondary school

Tortoise

fair enough it is valuable information. I have applied to register at st josephs. It seems like a big school but no negative stories.

jcsmum

Tortoise, am doing the exact same thing as you, moving to Arklow from Dublin, for all the same reasons. Will still have to commute for a while, but looking forward to the move. St Josephs in Templerainey is also the nearest school to our new house. We have a 3 year old son. These boards are great for info!

Tortoise

jcsmum wrote: »

Tortoise, am doing the exact same thing as you, moving to Arklow from Dublin, for all the same reasons. Will still have to commute for a while, but looking forward to the move. St Josephs in Templerainey is also the nearest school to our new house. We have a 3 year old son. These boards are great for info!

I will have to contact you when / if we move. Starting to look in earnest next week. It really is a good resource.