Moving to Sligo from the States...

alf7199

My family and I are considering a move to Sligo from the States so I thought what better way to find out all I can then to ask people that live there, have lived there or have visited. We have 2 children, both girls, ages 6 & 10, so schooling is important as well as the experience of living in Ireland. Any information would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!!

Radharc na Sleibhte

Any area in mind?
What do you want to know?

Sligo is a great place.
Really, something for everyone.

alf7199

The job is located in Sligo Town, I believe, it is different reading the job postings for overseas jobs then in the states

I am interested in knowing more about how the schools work, I seen some conflicting information on the internet. Health care information (my oldest is type 1 diabetic)? Traveling around? Lifestyle? What to do? Weather/seasons? Anything you are willing to share, good & bad Areas that are good to live in, areas to stay away from...

ETA... DH wants less then a 20 minute commute

eire-kp

Well what state do you live in? Weather wise if your coming from Arizona you wont be happy, but if its North Dakota it will be an improvement..!

It varys from year to year but mainly its mild and wet for autumn spring and summer. Cold in winter possibly one week of snow on average per year...this will shut the county down though:D
Basically you can expect it to be raining a lot!

This should cover the schools.. http://www.schooldays.ie/thread/American-to-Irish-Educational-System-Translation--0810052217

The health system could be expensive when your not an EU citizen but wouldn't know enough about it to comment possible look at the HSE website for info http://www.hse.ie/eng/

Travelling around a car is really essential.

Things to do plenty if you like outdoors stuff, hiking, etc and some of the best surfing in Ireland.

Places to stay http://www.daft.ie/lettings/ Pretty cheap compared to other areas of the country.

alf7199

Currently we live in Utah, we have lived in Ohio, Alabama, Kansas and Connecticut as well...

Thank you the websites... I will be busy

Pete M.

Good luck with the move!!

Have two round that age myself and I personally think it's the best place in the world to bring up kids.

It's going to be great

Scarlet42

Have to agree with Pete .. Sligo is such an underated place! .. it can be a bit wet at times.. but it is just beautiful.

I have a 4 year old and a 6 year old.. there is loads to keep them occupied .. i could not imagine bringing them up anywhere else.

I have a 5 mins commute into work .. 10 if I have to drop of the 6 year old to school

I finish work at 5pm and could be jogging on the beach by 5:30!

JyesusChrist

Go to Hazlewood with the family. Thank me later.

blackiebest

First, GREAT, you are coming to the best place on the planet! Éire, do not wish to be pedantic but a slight correction, Sligo has as good as the best SURF and SURFERS in the world, youtube 'Mullaghmore' if in any doubt!

I recommend Ballintogher, the 9 mile commute through Slish Wood and Dooney Rock is amongst the most beautiful of anywhere on this planet. While Ballintogher is a tiny village, it has it all And what it lacks is a 3 mile spin to Dromahair. In particular I recommend the town land of Killerry. It is God's place with God's people:p My 7 yr old daughter is getting an education that makes up for the PortaKabin classroom our DISASTEROUS GOVERNMENTS provide. Her teacher and the other teachers in this 5 teacher primary School are excellent. Killerry itself looks out on Lough Gill and specifically the Lake Isle of Innishfree, as immortalized by Yeats.

There is a SUP (stand up paddle) club there on the river/lake and the operators stated ambition is to produce an Irish medal winner in SUP for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil. This sport caters for everyone who can stand, regardless of previous water skills including swimming, no one gets wet!

There is a junior table tennis club running every Thursday night with intentions of becoming a centre of excellence in this sport. When the kids go home (8:45pm) the fathers play on till 10:45 and a quick pint of Guinness and slag/chat. Its lovely!

There is an extremely well run and highly organized GAA club, St. Michaels, who have brought home lots of trophies, especially from the Ladies teams. Even on an indifferent day, like today, the tranquility of Killerry is enriching. PM me and I will happily assist in any way I can to get you more information.

Soccer, Boxing, Karate, Art, Music, etc are all active in one form or another either in Ballintogher or Dromahair.

It is rural but only a stones throw from Dromahair (Co. Leitrim)

SugarbenderMom

I don't know anything about living in Sligo but I do know about moving to Ireland from America and living in Ireland with a Type-1 Diabetic (Our daughter has been diagnosed for 8 years and our son was just diagnosed last month). As a resident in Ireland your daughter is eligible for a Long Term Illness book or LTI. In order to get an LTI your daughter would have to obtain a PPSN (it's like a Social Security Number) and then visit a GP (doctor) who would then refer her for an LTI. The LTI will come in the mail. It entitles your daughter to FREE diabetic medical visits and supplies. Yes, you read right, FREE. Your endo fills out the book with the prescriptions your require and you go to a pharmacy and pick them up. It's that simple.
Sligo General Hospital has a Diabetes service, though I am not sure if it is a full service clinic. I live In Dublin and we have 2 clinics, so I'm sure Sligo has at least one.

The schools deal with Diabetes differently here than they do in the states. In general there is no 501 plan to fill out and each school has it's own guidelines for dealing with diabetic students. The one big thing that is universal is that the schools are not allowed to give glucagon shots, even in an emergency. (It's an insurance liability) The schools that my kids are in have been more that supportive of both of my kids and have experience working with diabetic children. I have found that my experience with diabetes in the schools has been fantastic!

Finding a school for your girls will be the hard part. Children do not attend neighborhood schools like in most of the States. You get to pick which school they attend. This seems nice in theory, but can lead to a lot of stress. Especially if you move over during the summer as most schools are closed right up until the week before school! Some schools also have waiting lists, so it takes a little of looking (and asking) around. The majority of the schools are public and are free, but the children have to wear uniforms and in some cases provide their own books (in Primary school, which is up to age 12, some schools provide rental books for the kids to use). This year it cost me about $200 total for my son's uniform and books. The cost goes up dramatically in Secondary school, but you don't have to worry about that! Most schools also have a "voluntary contribution" for each family. Think of this as a fund raiser for the school (no more selling wrapping paper or cookie dough) and is usually payable at the beginning of the year.

We have been living here for about 1 1/2 years and we love it! It was the best move we could have made. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to answer them!

blackiebest

Well SugarBenderMom, that qualifies for the best First Post in this section, IMO! How brilliant and OP feel free to PM me if you wish any help regarding any part of your move to Sligo. We are here to help!

TheQ47

SugarbenderMom wrote: »

Finding a school for your girls will be the hard part. Children do not attend neighborhood schools like in most of the States. You get to pick which school they attend. This seems nice in theory, but can lead to a lot of stress.

On that point of what school you go to, SugarbenderMom raises a good point, but it may not be quite as relevant in the more rural areas of Sligo compared to Dublin. Certainly, where I live (outside Ballymote) there are two schools, and I could have chosen either one for my children, I live equidistant from either. One is a small 3-teacher school with a teaching principal (approximately 60 students), but we chose the other with 9 teachers, and a full-time principal (approximately 200 pupils). It is not unknown for people to just turn up on the first day of school with their children, and they've been enroled. Both schools (as with most primary schools in Ireland, around 95%, I think) are owned and operated as Roman Catholic schools, but there are numerous non-RC children attending.

If you are moving to a rural area, you may find that the local school may be a 2/3/4 teacher school, which can take some getting used to. Generally what happens is that one teacher teaches 2 or 3 classes (think grades) at once, and there are pros and cons to this method of teaching. I'm not qualified to talk about it as I and my children have all gone to one teacher per class schools.




Ballymote is a good area to live, around 15-20 mins commute to Sligo. It has most things you could want from a small town:

• pre-school, primary schools & 2 secondary schools
• 3 small supermarkets, hardware store, pharmacies, petrol (gas) station, optician, clothes stores, butchers, newsagents, toy shop, fast food restaurants
• churches, banks, post office, beauty salons, hairdressers, barbers
• library, police station, fire station, train station
• public parks, children's playground, Eagles Flying wild bird conservancy
• solicitors, doctors, vet, auctioneers, estate agents, accountants
• a weekly country market
• a few nice pubs and a very vibrant community.

Activities for adults and/or children that take place on a regular basis include:

• The Corran Players amateur drama group
• Ballymote Celtic FC (soccer) under age girls, boys and adults
• Ballymote Round Towers Gaelic FC under age boys and adults
• Ballymote Ladies Gaelic Football Club, under age girls and adults
• South Sligo Rugby Football Club under age girls, boys, mixed, tag
• karate club, indoor bowls, boxing club, angling, badminton, basketball, bridge club, 9-hole golf course
• Community games
• traditional music lessons and sessions, irish dancing classes
• A busy heritage group
• many, many night classes in everything from photography to parenting skills

and loads of other things, this is just for starters. This post is longer than I originally intended it to be, but I just got carried away.:D I lived most of my life in Sligo town, and only moved to Ballymote temporarily to buy a house. That was almost 11 years ago, and now I'd never even consider moving from where I live.

thebuzz

Live as close as possible to Sligo Town, you don't want to be living out the country as suggested by some here. Unless you like somewhere really quiet with very little to do, kids could get bored very quickly.

Oh and for entertainment if you're a sports fan, go to some Sligo Rovers games.

Ulisses78

Well... I know, it's not so important information, like other people post here, but I would like to tell You something Alf: I moved to Sligo about 3,5 years ago and... I just found my "place on Earth". My homeland, my family and friends are about 1600 miles from here, but if someday, something push me to leave Sligo, it will be probably one of worst days in my life. Fact is, that Sligo sometimes can be boring, but it's still magnificent:)