athlone .i.t.

miss5

I'm going to Athlone .i.t. next year
looking for info about the college, accomadation
and town. all replies appreciated.

roosterman71

Plenty of accommodation beside the college, but avoid anything that has "Willow" in the address

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

I agree with the above, there's more than enough accommodation around the college that you'll be able to avoid Willow Park (like the plague). Theres Croi Oige above Londis across from the college, I lived there for a year and its grand and theres loads of other lovely places you can live on the Dublin road. Also a few places in closer to town such as Wellmount and Inish House but they arent as convenient to the college.

Theres a regular bus service from the college to the town centre for all your shopping needs there are 2 shopping centres in the town and everything else you'd expect in a large town. And the area around the college itself is like a little village on its own, you have a launderette, internet cafe, a couple of chippers, a few shops, arcade, chemist, 2 pubs, a nightclub etc. I'm going to say it once more. Avoid Willow. I lived there for long enough. And good luck with it all, Athlone is a great town!:D

A bit more info here about accommodation http://www.ait.ie/informationforinternationalstudents/accommodationinathlone/

mr_edge_to_you

roosterman71 wrote: »

Plenty of accommodation beside the college, but avoid anything that has "Willow" in the address

it's a shame but it's true.

miss5

deccurley wrote: »

I agree with the above, there's more than enough accommodation around the college that you'll be able to avoid Willow Park (like the plague). Theres Croi Oige above Londis across from the college, I lived there for a year and its grand and theres loads of other lovely places you can live on the Dublin road. Also a few places in closer to town such as Wellmount and Inish House but they arent as convenient to the college.

Theres a regular bus service from the college to the town centre for all your shopping needs there are 2 shopping centres in the town and everything else you'd expect in a large town. And the area around the college itself is like a little village on its own, you have a launderette, internet cafe, a couple of chippers, a few shops, arcade, chemist, 2 pubs, a nightclub etc. I'm going to say it once more. Avoid Willow. I lived there for long enough. And good luck with it all, Athlone is a great town!:D

A bit more info here about accommodation http://www.ait.ie/informationforinternationalstudents/accommodationinathlone/

Thanks
had no idea about "willow park"
what is the like .i.t. itself?

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

The IT is grand, good big canteen with plenty of seating and some pool tables, theres a big events/sports hall, a good big student bar, a gym, good library and a large open access computer hall where you can get online.

That was the setup when I was there but I left in 2005 so there may be a few extra bits there now.

miss5

What is the nightlife like?

746watts

miss5 wrote: »

What is the nightlife like?

Pub in the college, & Charlie Browns across the road. Tack Room up the road.
1.5miles into town for night clubs which can vary in quality from night to night. Be careful walking alone from town to college area, previous vicious assaults by a lone male unsolved.

Defo avoid Willow accomodation. Cypress gardens (behind college) are very cold houses so avoid for that reason only, otherwise nice family type estate.

miss5

thank you, do you think it's safe during the day?
Do you know anything about heatherview court?

746watts

miss5 wrote: »

thank you, do you think it's safe during the day?
Do you know anything about heatherview court?

should be safe... last assault was nearly a year ago. same attacker discription given. freak might have left the country (hopefully).

Dont know about Heatherview court I'm afraid.
Athlone is a nice town, try Sean's bar behind the Castle.... oldest pub in Ireland (claimed). Theres a Lidl near (300yds) the college too for cheap living.

miss5

what are the best nights to go out?

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

Heatherview is meant to be lovely, I was never in it mind, the apartments are only there a couple of years. When I was in college Wednesday or Thursday were the big nights. There'd usually be a good crowd out on a Sunday evening aswell when people were coming back to Athlone after the weekend, Charlie's would be wedged. The thing about it is there's always a crowd around and you'll make your own craic with your friends so I wouldn't worry too much about the best nights to go out, you'll get an idea of that yourself over time.

miss5

can i ask why willow park has such a bad reputation?
Is it a student area

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

miss5 wrote: »

can i ask why willow park has such a bad reputation?
Is it a student area

In a nutshell -

Willow Park was built as a purely residential area, and was a very respectable place to live well into the 1990's, but as the IT (or RTC as it was known as at the time) expanded, a lot of families started to move out and either sell their house, or keep it and rent to students. After a while it was nearly all students, but the trouble started when the council started buying the houses down the back and filling them with, shall we say "undesirables". The general rule of thumb with the estate is that the further in you went, the worse it got. Up the front of the estate wasn't too bad, but I lived there up until 3 years ago and it was going downhill fast up the front aswell. Now, its best just to avoid it altogether.

miss5

Definitely doesn't sound
like a good place to live thank you
for telling me. Are the societies/clubs good there?

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

miss5 wrote: »

Definitely doesn't sound
like a good place to live thank you
for telling me. Are the societies/clubs good there?

Well I'm no help to you there someone else may be - all I did was go to my lectures and get paralytic in Scribes (the on campus bar) :pac:

miss5

really?.........that often! haha
Is there much to do away from the library etc

mr_edge_to_you

Went to college in Athlone, loved every minute of it. Clubs and societies outside of sports teams are a load of pants in all colleges in my opinion. They're only as good as how active its members are. As a college the only thing that AIT doesn't have on campus is a pool. It's a fantastic place now and full credit to the director C O'Cathain. Presume he's still there.

veryangryman

deccurley wrote: »

In a nutshell -

Willow Park was built as a purely residential area, and was a very respectable place to live well into the 1990's, but as the IT (or RTC as it was known as at the time) expanded, a lot of families started to move out and either sell their house, or keep it and rent to students. After a while it was nearly all students, but the trouble started when the council started buying the houses down the back and filling them with, shall we say "undesirables". The general rule of thumb with the estate is that the further in you went, the worse it got. Up the front of the estate wasn't too bad, but I lived there up until 3 years ago and it was going downhill fast up the front aswell. Now, its best just to avoid it altogether.

QFT. A very sad situation. Not a night i dont go out and end up chatting about the way it used to be with people originally from there. Still a couple of sound heads left but its not by choice (cant sell houses etc)

The college was never really a huge problem directly, but the problem was the vacuum of spare houses that spring up in summer. To get more rent and/or make a profit during the tiger years, the landlords sold to the council, sowing the seeds of the current ghetto.

Ironically, the area now has loads more services (shops, bookie, improved nightclub etc) now that it is almost uninhabitable by anyone wishing to raise a family

miss5

veryangryman wrote: »

QFT. A very sad situation. Not a night i dont go out and end up chatting about the way it used to be with people originally from there. Still a couple of sound heads left but its not by choice (cant sell houses etc)

The college was never really a huge problem directly, but the problem was the vacuum of spare houses that spring up in summer. To get more rent and/or make a profit during the tiger years, the landlords sold to the council, sowing the seeds of the current ghetto.

Ironically, the area now has loads more services (shops, bookie, improved nightclub etc) now that it is almost uninhabitable by anyone wishing to raise a family

would you consider athlone relatively safe otherwise?

roosterman71

Hi miss5,

You seem to be doing alot of worrying about college No need really. Basically, its an IT and there's plenty on here that can tell you more about that than me.

Regarding the houses, there's umpteen houses/apartments near the college. Just avoid Willow Park. Its a scumbag haven, and the houses there would be crap anyway compared to the bunches of new houses/apartments nearby.

The area around the college has shops, bookies, chemist, chippers, pool/snooker, pubs, a club and everything else ya'd expect. There's also the town with a regular bus service and lots of taxis too. The town has the usual mix of shops most towns have. There's not much extra or special compared to other similar sized towns. And its as safe as anywhere too. If ya want trouble, ya'll get it. Just keep awake, don't do stupid stuff (like walking alone at night) and ya'll be safe as houses.

Ya should try get to Athlone someday for a look around. Just so ya can see for yourself

miss5

Do people who live in athlone generally have a positive view of it?

mr_edge_to_you

The town benefits on every level from the college. Without it I reckon a lot of additional businesses would probably fail. It's a massive deal for the town.

miss5

its really a choice between athlone and dublin
so im thinking athlone is the better option
with traffic etc

mr_edge_to_you

if you were planning on living there athlone would probably much cheaper. also you won't need to rely on public transport because of the amount of student accommodation near the college.

miss5

yes there is a lovely variety of apartments
i think the standard would be lower in larger cities

1992

Do NOT live in heatherview court i lived here there this year and was not at all happy. The apartments are lovely though, cudn ask for better but the land lord is a right pain in the ass.. He is VERY strict, waits on the gate after a night out to make sure no one come in with you. Its awful.

athlone M

Hi miss5 I live in athlone for and have to say its a lovely town, to live in you have everything you could want on your doorstep, I live in cypress gardens and its a lovely quiet estate we live in a row across from students and they are so quiet you wouldn't know they are here. As for this quote

Defo avoid Willow accomodation. Cypress gardens (behind college) are very cold houses so avoid for that reason only, otherwise nice family type estate.[/QUOTE]

I can't understand what this person is talking about our house is a lovely warm house, as with anywhere if you don't have weather glazed windows or don't get oil is of course the house is going to be warm in the winter. The only thing to watch out for if you were looking for a house in our estate is to make sure that the house has weather glazed windows as some of them don't.
One of houses of students across the road have said they are hoping to rent the same house again next year.

molloyjazz

athlone M wrote: »

Hi miss5 I live in athlone for and have to say its a lovely town, to live in you have everything you could want on your doorstep, I live in cypress gardens and its a lovely quiet estate we live in a row across from students and they are so quiet you wouldn't know they are here. As for this quote

Defo avoid Willow accomodation. Cypress gardens (behind college) are very cold houses so avoid for that reason only, otherwise nice family type estate.

hehe.. i actually own 2 house in cypress gardens which i live in and rent to students.. i have both double glazed. yes they can get a bit nippy BUT only during the winter months, but nothing oil will not sort out. I have no oil now and only spent 500, shared by 5 of us this winter, which was the worse ever for me, by far! oh the houses at the back of cypress are the best, i see alot of the student ones at the front have normal thin windows.

onlyliveonce

i started in athlone last year....all i can say is Q niteclub on a wednesday is the only place your gonna want to go out! it was unreal every wednesday! there are two other niteclubs...one is genisus but that gets a rough crowd and then there is karma which no student likes! q is a fun club and always has themed nights and drink promos etc! there normal student nite is on a wednesday but hopefully this year they will have student nights on maybe a monday aswell!!

athlonelad

onlyliveonce wrote: »

i started in athlone last year....all i can say is Q niteclub on a wednesday is the only place your gonna want to go out! it was unreal every wednesday! there are two other niteclubs...one is genisus but that gets a rough crowd and then there is karma which no student likes! q is a fun club and always has themed nights and drink promos etc! there normal student nite is on a wednesday but hopefully this year they will have student nights on maybe a monday aswell!!

Ah blinkers back in the day was the only job. it was a kip but the best craic and so handy because it was beside where all the students lived. Q has been very good on a wednesday this college year but they tried the mondays and i was in there one monday and there was 3 other people there! i was waiting for a tumbleweed to come out of tommy fagans arse