Info about Whitehall - Larkhill, Glendun, Glencloy Area

IsThisOneFree

Hi All

I'm considering buying a house in this area, and I'm wondering if anybody has any feedback/thoughts about these roads ? What are the neighbours like, is it a good area and how would it compare (neighborhood wise) somewhere like Collins Avenue or Gaeltacht Park ?

Also, what is the school like there ? I don't have any children, but I'm wondering what kind of "clientelle" might be doing dropoffs/collections in the mornings/evenings ? Does anybody know where the school is on the Departments league tables (I'm assuming they have some but I couldn't find any)

Also, I think the local Garda station has had its hours cut, does anybody know if crime in the area has increased since this happened at all ? I noticed most houses around there seem to have burglar alarms

Thanks in advance

RubyRoss

I live in the Larkhill area and find it to be very normal easy going place. By normal I mean it reminds me of the kind of small town I grew up in.

It's a pretty quiet place aside from morning/evening rush hours. In my area the population is probably a bit more mature but there are lots of students around during the summer with DCU. The school on Collins Ave doesn't seem to have an undesirable elements.

The station in Whitehall did close but that's closer to the Drumbondra side anyway. Don't most houses have bulgular alarms these days? It probably depends what part of the area you live in - i.e. the closer you get to Ballymun the more likely you will invest in added security. With the school and DCU on Collins Ave I find Larkhill to be fine security wise.

IsThisOneFree

Thanks for the reply. I didn't realise there is a school on Collins Avenue, the school I was referring to is actually the Boys & Girls Schools on Larkhill (I think they're called Holy Child Schools ??)

Quiet is fine with me

Don't most houses have bulgular alarms these days?

I thought somebody might say this ! I don't know TBH, I live in a rented apartment block so I don't really know; I've heard before that burglar alarms can be a warning sign but I guess even a house in D4 could get burled while the occupants are at work so that's probably not really relevant for a city.

Is Larkhill/Glendun/Glencloy far from Ballymun ? I would have thought there's Santry in between (from my basic Dublin geography !!) ??

IsThisOneFree

Thanks for the reply. I didn't realise there is a school on Collins Avenue, the school I was referring to is actually the Boys & Girls Schools on Larkhill (I think they're called Holy Child Schools ??)

Quiet is fine with me

Don't most houses have bulgular alarms these days?

I thought somebody might say this ! I don't know TBH, I live in a rented apartment block so I don't really know; I've heard before that burglar alarms can be a warning sign but I guess even a house in D4 could get burled while the occupants are at work so that's probably not really relevant for a city.

Is Larkhill/Glendun/Glencloy far from Ballymun ? I would have thought there's Santry in between (from my basic Dublin geography !!) ??

Taylor365

I don't mean to deter you but there are a good few unsavory characters around that way.

IsThisOneFree

Thanks for the reply Taylor365 - would you mind expanding a bit further ? I'm guessing you're saying this because of some "goings on" that you're aware of ? Just wondering what these might be ...... ??

Taylor365

Largely it's a grand area with plenty of elderly neighbors but there are a few drug dealers and young thugs about.

Ste-

Taylor365 wrote: »

Largely it's a grand area with plenty of elderly neighbors but there are a few drug dealers and young thugs about.

Typically in Dublin you can say this about any area.
Largely the area in question is fine just as always have your wits about you.

IsThisOneFree

hmmm, I'd expect that about pretty much every street unfortunately. My uncle who has lived on the same quiet street for 40 years recently saw a drugs raid on a house just a few doors away, and that was in the midlands ... just a sad fact of life. And in all honesty, you never really know what's going on behind closed doors .... as long as it stays there. It's the "good few" rather than "a few" in Taylor365's post that worried me a little. What I want to avoid is having "randoms" hanging around outside/near my house

SantryRed

I went to Larkhill Boys School and it wasn't great to say the least. Have the two schools amalgamated yet? I know that was on the cards.

A better primary school would be St. Fiachras in Beaumont or St. Pats in Drumcondra. The secondary school St. Aidan's CBS is a great school and is one of the top public schools in the country. Waiting list is supposed to be ridiculously long now though.

Triangular

Yeah there is unsavoury characters in the dáil and drug dealers in foxrock so this area is no different to the rest of todays society.

Some of the keyholes in Larkhill are very quiet and peaceful places to live, although a nightmare for parking if you have 2 cars or ever have people visiting in bulk and have several cars looking for parking on a road that was designed for pedestrians and bikes!

I personally would live in Larkhill, but the houses are a bit small for families if you are used to a bit more space. I'd live in Gaeltacht park in a heartbeat though. Close to town, schools, parks, shops, the airport and a bingo hall!

IsThisOneFree

Yup, that bingo hall's definitely got to be pushing up the property prices around there I agreed, parking is a bit of a pain, luckily I've only got my own car to worry about though. And the houses are a tad small .... personally I think even if they were just a few feet wider it would make a hugh difference as the bedrooms are a pretty decent size. Looked at a place in Gaeltacht Park but unfortunately there were interested parties involved who had way more cash available to them than me

@SantryRed, as far as I know, the primary schools are still separate. I didn't know the secondary school was there so that's good to know. My main concern about the primary schools was more about the "clientelle" who might be doing drop offs; the quality of the school was more of a secondary thing really. If that makes sense

Love2love

Just moved onto Larkhill recently and I have to say I love it

Area seems to be quiet and has a sense of community which I think is important - neighbours looking out for one another and all that! We are a family with 2 children and I find it accomodating to our needs.Shops (omni around the corner), parks and the cinema, oh and its the right distance to the centre

IsThisOneFree

Area seems to be quiet and has a sense of community which I think is important

Yea I agree, very important. Thanks for the reply, and thanks to everybody else too for their replies

rameire

if you think larkhill may be on the small side house-wise, why don't you try Crestfield.

IsThisOneFree

A little bit over my budget unfortunately

Boom_Bap

It's a lovely mature area with a great community spirit. My brother has lived there for 10+ years and rarely sees trouble. There are some dodgy characters, but they tend to normally stick to themselves and respect the residents.

The school there is great, I am actually going to send my son there next year by the looks of things. It's a bit crowded around the area at drop off and pick up times at the school. I've experienced this picking up my nephews from the school. But I've survived to tell the tale and not mentally or physically scared by it.

MrO

It's a not a bad place to live at all, I think in comparison to a lot of the bigger corporation estates built around the same time it is very quiet - and I always felt that was because it was much smaller than a Cabra or Ballyfermot.

I went to the primary school in Larkhil, my memory of the school is a good one...but then I dont have much to compare it to :-)

Maybe if you wanted to look for slightly quieter than larkhill but more affordable than Gaeltatch, check out some houses in Ellenfield (thatch rd, yellow rd. etc.)

condra

In my opinion, Larkhill, (much like Ballygall and Donnycarney), is one of those areas where you can get really affordable housing, but live in a pretty quiet area, well located in the overall scheme of things in Dublin.

There is serious value to be had in the likes of Larkhill, Ballygall and Donnycarney.

In terms of antisocial behavior, and personal safety in general, I don’t think these areas even compare to the more built up corpo areas like Finglas West, parts of Tallaght, etc.

Good luck with your search.

Jayminato

I grew up in whitehall, plenty of happy memories there. Quality community with its usual dark side that can be found everywhere. I have great memories of hanging out in the park as kids etc and never much hassle.

Would not have a prob living there