Dublin Commute, Schools (& Beach) Questions

thebostonian

Hi there,

We are a family of 4 considering a move to Ireland for work and we are considering settling in Greystones to take advantage of the coast, the mountains and the community. I have been following along on the forum and it is a great resource. Some of our early questions have been answered, but it would be great to get some opinions on the following:

Commute:

I would be commuting in on the DART to Grand Canal Dock. I have read up on the commute times on the DART site (about 45 minutes I think), but was wondering if anyone could comment on the daily grind - is it manageable? Are there frequent delays or is service reliable? Can you park a car at the Greystones station, or would I need to get dropped off or take a bus (due to a possible lack of parking).

Is Greystones "close enough" for a comfortable daily commute, or would we be better off a bit closer to the city up the DART line? Are the daily Greystones DART riders out there generally happy with the commute?

Would driving to the city daily be impossible?

Greystones vs. Other Towns

Although Greystones is our first choice, we are also considering:

• Bray
• Dun Laoghaire
• Blackrock

If anyone would be willing to take a crack at comparing towns, that would be great!

Schools:

Our kids are 4 and 7 and will be enrolling in school this fall. We have read up on all of the primary schools in town, and the options seem great. We have contacted most of them, and most are full for next year it seems, although there appears to be a little wiggle room. What will be new for us is the religious aspect of public schools in Ireland. My wife and I were born Catholic, but are not practicing.

Therefore, the question is, noting our background, could our kids attend a Protestant school, such as St. Patrick's? Would they have a chance to be accepted? Would they feel comfortable/uncomfortable if a) we as a family are not religious and b) they are in a non-Catholic school?

If we are not practicing Catholics, is that problematic if we consider a Catholic school? Do the kids need to be baptized to attend either denomination school?

Sorry for all the religious questions, but this part is very new for us and we do not know what to expect or plan for.

Beach:

The last question is super naive - looks like there are two great beaches in town, but does it get warm enough (air and water temp) to swim in the summer at all??

OK, that's a long post and a lot of questions.

Thanks for any and all opinions and help!

loyatemu

thebostonian wrote: »

Commute:

I would be commuting in on the DART to Grand Canal Dock. I have read up on the commute times on the DART site (about 45 minutes I think), but was wondering if anyone could comment on the daily grind - is it manageable? Are there frequent delays or is service reliable? Can you park a car at the Greystones station, or would I need to get dropped off or take a bus (due to a possible lack of parking).

Is Greystones "close enough" for a comfortable daily commute, or would we be better off a bit closer to the city up the DART line? Are the daily Greystones DART riders out there generally happy with the commute?

Would driving to the city daily be impossible?

IMO Greystones is pretty much the outer limit of comfortable commuting as its the southern terminus of the DART - towns to the south are served by a much less frequent commuter service.

Whether you find the 45mins (each way) trip a grind, I suppose it depends what you're used to - you'll always get a seat on the way in so its a good chance to chill out, read the paper or just grab an extra 40 winks. The DART is reasonably reliable, less so if there's any adverse weather (though in fairness, it was the only show in town when the snow hit last year). There's a large free park-and-ride near the station.

grouser

Here is my view, having lived (and raised a family) in Greystones for 35 years.

Greystones is a very pleasant place to live with excellent social, sporting and recreational facilities. The top features are the village feel (despite much growth in recent decades) and the quality of life with access to the countryside and mountains in minutes. Our lads had a great time growing up here, especially in sports and scouts, and they made many excellent friends.

There is probably nowhere else in Ireland with as many high quality sports facilities within a single square mile, at the southern end of the town - numerous soccer, rugby and gaelic football pitches and tennis courts (all with excellent arrangements for children), all weather pitches, two large indoor swimming pools and gyms, athletics track, skateboard park, and community hall. All this and the great outdoors too!

Commute:
I commuted daily into Dublin city centre for over 30 years, by train / DART or by car (DART was not frequent or reliable until recent years). While the commute was an hour or more (by car in rush over) I always felt it was worthwhile for the summer evenings and all weekends in Greystones. DART is generally reliable and is the best option if you are within walking distance in Dublin. Free (Park 'n Ride) parking is available about 300m from G'stones station.

It is possible to commute by car into Grand Canal Dock - if you have parking available there - but you will need to allow 90 mins or more in the rush hour to get in (but 60 mins to get home). At quiet times, commute is 40 mins max by car.

If your commute time matters a lot to you you may choose to stay closer to the city, but you should rely on the DART here too as car commuting is slow. In order of preference, I would put Blackrock, Dun Laoghaire and Bray - for quality of life, not just proximity to the city. None matches G'stones though. Don't stop in Bray - it is not worth the 15 mins each way you would save.

Schools
Don't worry at all about the religious aspects of schools.
It is quite a while since our lads went to the local 'catholic' schools; we did not practice and they are now proud athiests. There are few enough practicing parents in Ireland and there is a high tolerance of different standards of observance. The Protestant St Patrick's school has a high proportion of what a former minister for education called "non-denominational Catholics". So choose which school you prefer (or will accept you) and just say you like their ethos; Catholic schools will hope to save souls, but are sufficiently realistic and tolerant to know that they very likely will not!

Children should feel no pressure at being different in any of the schools.

Beaches
Yes you can swim, a few people do year round, but it is not warm! However, kids will accept conditions in summer.

So, overall, we would definitely recommend G'stones.

thebostonian

loyatemu, thanks for your reply and your view, very helpful.

grouser, thanks very much for your generous, detailed reply. It is extremely helpful and answers our questions!

One quick follow up I forgot to include, I´ll do some infrequent air travel, what sort of time would I need to budget to get to the airport from Greystones rush or non rush hour? Won't be too often, so not a major factor, more curious than anything.

Once again, many thanks for the detailed information!

loobylou

Drive to airport about 1 hour. There is also a regular bus service from Greystones to the airport http://www.aircoach.ie/table.routes.greystones.php

dudmis

Hi,

I agree totally with what has been said prev in this thread. Myself and my young family have just moved to Greystones and I just can't be more positive about the town - it has a lovely community feel to it, with lots of friendly faces, and an amazing amount of activities to do - your children will never have a reason to be bored anyway ;-). I've no experience of the other areas you are considering so I won't compare but for ourselves, I am delighted that we picked this area to settle.

Best of luck with your decision.

thebostonian

loobylou, thanks, an hour sounds great, and a quite frequent bus service also.

thebostonian

dudmis, excellent, glad to hear such a positive review from a "new arrival"!

Thanks again for everyone's feedback, it is really helpful for us.

Aquamarina

Hi there - I agree with what's been posted.

I have lived in Greystones for about 12 years and I agree it's a brilliant place to raise a family. Your children would be welcomed in any of the schools - St Patrick's I know has quite a number of ex-pat kids and the same may be true of the others. There is also a non-denominational school that opened recently.

On the commuting issue - I commute into Dublin everyday. I live a 10 minute walk from the Dart station. While the train ride is undoubtedly long, I use it to chill out, read the paper, listen to podcasts and mentally prepare for work.

You also asked for comparisons with Bray, Blackrock and Dun Laoghaire.

Bray is a great town in many ways but I don't feel as safe there walking around at night as I would do in Greystones, and some parts of town can be a little rough. The shopping in Bray isn't that great, and the main street isn't really a place you would stroll down for the pleasure of it, nor are there many places to go for coffee or to hang out. The seafront is pretty, and a nice place for a walk. The businesses along the seafront tend to mostly be pubs or arcades, which TBH doesn't appeal to me that much, though lots of people love it, and it is very lively there in the Summer.

I love Dun Laoghaire - in fact, am from near there - and it would also be a great place to live. It has a more urban feel and the facilities are more spread out, but the Pier is a great place to go for a walk and there is a thriving market in the People's Park on Sundays. Killiney Hill is a short drive away and a great place to bring the kids at the weekend.

I would have a hard time choosing between Dun Laoghaire and its hinterland, and Greystones.

The beauty of Greystones, especially if you have kids, is that the community facilities - which are second to none in my view - are all within a walk or cycle of each other.

You didn't mention whether one of you was going to be at home full time with the kids? If so, I think that it might be easier and quicker to get integrated into the town, and get a social life going, in Greystones than in Dun Laoghaire, because it's a smaller place and because it's very self-contained.

Finally, Blackrock has the advantage of being close to town, but its town centre is congested and doesn't have the charm, or the seafront access, of either Dun Laoghaire or Greystones.

Hope this helps and best of luck with your move.

thebostonian

Aquamarina, thanks for the lengthy reply - it was very helpful!

In fact, my wife will be home full time with the kids, so this is indeed a factor.

We have been city slickers where we have lived in the past, and are really looking for something more natural, and intend to rent a home with a garden in the beginning, and we hope to settle in for a good while. Dun Laoghaire (and even parts of Dublin) sound similar to places we have lived in the past in some ways - we are now looking for something smaller and in particular, somewhere we can pop out the door and within a few minutes access the sea and the countryside (rather than a 20+ minute drive).

The facilities that have been mentioned, and we have read about seem ideal as well, and a great bonus.

Thanks again for everyone's input!

One additional question, as we have some small kids, where would the nearest hospital be? I assume there are several local medical offices, just wondering how close by a hospital is?

Thanks again!

Rasmus

Tallaght childrens hospital is the closest to Greystones. It can be accessed on the motorway within 30 mins.

Cookie_Monster

Rasmus wrote: »

Tallaght childrens hospital is the closest to Greystones. It can be accessed on the motorway within 30 mins.

There is also an A&E in Loughlinstown* and ambulance services are based here too, so not too far away.

* I'm not sure if they will accept children on a non A&E basis, I'm not sure they do.

I'm not from Greystones but have lived near Dun Laoghaire all my life. Greystones would be slightly nice than DL IMO, but DL is closer to the CC, much closer by DART. Probably more in terms of outdoor activities in Greystones, closer to the Wicklow hills also which are a great resource. I'd place Greystones just above DL on overall family/commuting balance. The DART is probably the most reliable transport in the country, you also have the limited 84x bus services to the city centre, but these will be slower and restricted to rush hour. You'd likely be driving in the n11, which can be pretty crappy for traffic at rush hour.

As others have said Balckrock is a lot more urban and congested, Bray is not a particularly nice places IMO, while out lying residential areas can be perfectly nice, I don't think the town centre is nice at all.

psycho-hope

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

There is also an A&E in Loughlinstown* and ambulance services are based here too, so not too far away.

* I'm not sure if they will accept children on a non A&E basis, I'm not sure they do.

I'm not from Greystones but have lived near Dun Laoghaire all my life. Greystones would be slightly nice than DL IMO, but DL is closer to the CC, much closer by DART. Probably more in terms of outdoor activities in Greystones, closer to the Wicklow hills also which are a great resource. I'd place Greystones just above DL on overall family/commuting balance. The DART is probably the most reliable transport in the country, you also have the limited 84x bus services to the city centre, but these will be slower and restricted to rush hour. You'd likely be driving in the n11, which can be pretty crappy for traffic at rush hour.

As others have said Balckrock is a lot more urban and congested, Bray is not a particularly nice places IMO, while out lying residential areas can be perfectly nice, I don't think the town centre is nice at all.

loughlinstown wont accept children under 16 years, there are a number of doctors in greystones, im not sure where you are coming from op, im going to presume the USA because of your username, but ive a feeling that the health system is a good bit different here, ie children dont go to a pediatrian unless they are refered by their G.P ( general Practioner), Tallaght would be the easiest childrens hospital to get to as it is signposted off the M50

thebostonian

psycho-hope, Cookie_Monster and Rasmus, thanks very much -yep, just curious where the nearest children's hospital would be.. looks like this is it.

One other question to extend the thread a bit further if I may.. as for basic shopping (grocery, etc) I have been reading up on the forum and know there is a Tesco nearby, but it hasn't gotten very good reviews by many.

Where do folks like to do their grocery shopping in and around town? Or, is it necessary to travel a bit further afield beyond town?

Thanks again for everyone's feedback, really helpful stuff!

Blandpebbles

Hi, regards supermarkets you are going to get differing views on whats good or not. Personally we shop in Dunnes Stores Cornellscourt for the weekly shop as it saves us on average 50 compared to Tesco and the food is much better quality.

For the odd bits and pieces Tesco is fine as are the other shops around.

Donnybrook Fair has to be my favorite grocery store in Greystones.

If you are working for a company in GCS that starts with A and ends with E, feel free to pm me and we can discuss as colleagues

audreyp

I shop in Tesco and its fine for me. Its cheap and cheerful. There are some lovely local butchers for meat and La Touche wines is lovely for wine. Superquinn in Charlesland is fine for a few items but otherwise its a little overpriced and understocked!

Donnybrook fair has delicious food but for me its only for a special occasion as its a bit pricey.

Greystones is a fantastic place to live. I only moved here 3 years ago and I love it. The people are so friendly and its a really beautiful village.

grouser

Tesco is the most popular, biggest range and best value in Greystones. Supervalu and Superquinn are good but smaller and somewhat pricier. There is also a cheap German discounter LIDL which has a limited range - one own brand line of most products. So a reasonable choice in the town, with more within 30 mins drive outside.

Cookie_Monster

People always moan about Tesco, but at the end of the day its cheap, has a huge range and is more than adequate.

Aside from that there is a Lidl, Supervalu, Donnybrook Fair and many others.
Bray and Carrickmines are just up the motorway and offer large pet store, computers, outdoor, electronics, clothes etc as well as small local shops that offer some/all of these in Greystones itself.

The one thing you'd find off putting about the place is the ongoing battle about the harbour and the eyesore it is currently. Have a read through the thread in this forum on it, such a pity its a mess.

thebostonian

Hi all,

Thanks again for the grocery replies. Great stuff.

Maybe I am reading too much into the negativity I read about Tesco, glad to hear many find it just fine.

Looks like we may be in luck for a place at St. Pats for our kids.

Anyone out there with some thoughts on St. Patricks for a non-practicing, semi-catholic family, would be greatly appreciated!

We are also trying to squeeze into St. Laurences as another option - less clear if we will get a place there.

If anyone has personal experience (good or bad) would be great to hear.

Once again, many thanks for everyone's very helpful feedback.

(PS too bad about the harbour issue, I have indeed been following it)

Blandpebbles

Tesco is fine, just don't go on your own after 9 or 10pm, Not a silly comment both of my parents have issues down there. One robbed of money one harassed.
Definitely St.Pat's before St.Laws

thebostonian

Blandpebbles, thanks very much for your school opinion.

Just curious, why so positive re: St. Pats over St. Laws?

Thanks!

jobless

Blandpebbles wrote: »

Tesco is fine, just don't go on your own after 9 or 10pm, <<snip>>

Definitely St.Pat's before St.Laws

I do my shop in Lidl... qaulity is just as good as Tesco and i find it a lot cheaper

davocesque

Ive grown up in greystones, parents were from dublin, so had issues gettin into school, (over 20years ago btw). got into st. law's, enjoyed in very much. but all my friends have been from all the schools in greystones, law, pats, delgany, kevins etc. and everyone seems to have enjoyed their own experience, have to say, pats stands out for me though, just seems like a really good place to go. i really recommend greystones, i can honestly say i would not have preferred to grow up anywhere else, the community between all ages is amazing, not like anything iv seen anywhere else, LOVE greystones, living away now, but cant wait to get back!

loyatemu

St Pat's is Church of Ireland (ie Anglican/Episcopalian) and they give generally preference to kids who have been baptised into that church (and possible other protestant churches, I'm not sure...)

there's also the Educate Together school, which is non-denominational, and is relatively new so they may have more space...

thebostonian

Thanks again for the helpful replies.

Looks like we also may have a place at St. Brigids, so now considering St. Pats, St. Brigids and St. Laurences....

Any further opinions on these three would be most welcomed.

Also, looks like our littlest maybe too little for junior infants - could anyone recommend any good play schools / montessori in the area for a few hours of freedom a day for my wife?

Thanks!

Charlie-Bravo

There is a free child placement scheme (ECCE) currently which allows for free montessori teaching for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week during school term (or a variation of the same no. of hours). Usually your child will attend an ECCE the year before starting School. Park Academy have fantastic facilities and I would recommend them!

Linky for more general information Citizen's Information Website

thebostonian

Hi astrofluff, wow thanks - I didn't know that the govt subsidizes 3 hours of preschool a day for the first year - what a bonus!

OK, I will research more, as I have found about 10 or so it seems in Greystones so far... I guess these are quite popular and may be hard to find a place.

If anyone has any specific recommendations out there, would love to hear them.

Thanks!

sagat2

Best of luck bostonian, I have been living in the US for 8 years and if I was to ever move back to Ireland with a young family I wouldn't look to be anywhere other than Greystones. The amenities are fantastic, it's very safe compared to most other areas and the community itself is culturally varied and friendly. Your first point of order should be to join one of the local clubs tennis for example, even if you are only just learning to play you'll know half the town as will your kids in a matter of months.

The Bishop Basher

I would also recommend Flynnstones Montessori.

http://www.anythingineed.ie/listing-page.php?listing=81568

It's a small family run montessori with a fantsastic reputation.

LEIN

Swanner wrote: »

I would also recommend Flynnstones Montessori.

http://www.anythingineed.ie/listing-page.php?listing=81568

It's a small family run montessori with a fantsastic reputation.

I second that.

My daughter is there at the moment and she loves it.

recedite

thebostonian wrote: »

Looks like we also may have a place at St. Brigids, so now considering St. Pats, St. Brigids and St. Laurences....

Any further opinions on these three would be most welcomed.

I'm surprised you were able to get places in all three without showing baptismal certificates and without being on the waiting list.
The new Educate Together school accepts children of all races and creeds (and none), which is why it is considered less exclusive but maybe you knew that already if you didn't apply there.

BTW Greystones is probably the only town in the State with a genuinely mixed population in terms of religion, and you probably won't get any replies contrasting the schools of one religion to another. In these delicate matters its important to stay friendly with one another.