Moving to Cork Co - need info on schools, neighborhoods, etc.

howingtonsmith

Hello,

My family might be moving to Cork Co. due to my husband's work. We are from US but living in Germany currently.

His office would be in Clonakilty. I am looking for "insider" information on the area?
1. Which area would be best to live in with kids? We need good schools and my kids love to play sports. Also, we are very outdoorsy and the idea of being on or near the water really appeals to me but not sure if there is enough to "do" in Clonakilty? ie - grocery stores, doctors, eating out, sports facilities, etc.

2. If we did choose Clonakily are there any areas that are good for families? My kids really want to be near other kids as they have lots of friends in the neighhborhood back home. Are the schools good in Clonakilty?

Any information you can provlide to help with this decision would be very much appreciated.
Thanks!

pwurple

If you are outdoorsy there is no shortage of things to do around clonakilty, or any part of west cork. Inchydoney beach is there, great waves. There is a surf school, sea kayaking all sorts. The whole coastline there has lots of space for activities. Snorkling, hiking, fishing. You are not too far for weekend trips to bantry bay, skibbereen, glengarriff, kerry. Maybe 90 mins drive to bantry, where you can go out to the islands on boats, and there are a few canoe schools there. The west cork coastline is one of the most stunning in the world. If I worked anywhere near there I would live there in a shot.

I don't know if you want country living or townie living. Clon is a big enough town, so plenty of doctors, restaurants and shops. I don't know what the school reputations are, so can't comment.

If you want quiet and space, then maybe a bit outside clonakilty would suit? Dunmore is beautiful, near beaches too. Fairly remote feeling though. You won't see many lights in the evenings from houses.

Balmed Out

I live very close to clon and commute to Cork city. If I worked in clon itself I would probably live in the ardfield / rathbarry area or close to the town depending on whether living in a rural scenic area is more important to you then having the towns amenities on your doorstep.
Clon is a great place to live. The population is fairly diverse for an Irish town, it has plenty of tourists passing through without being overtly touristy, its a popular weekend destination, it attracts a lot of surfers from around Cork etc etc. The amount and quality of nightlife and restaurants far exceeds what you would expect for a town of its size.

Theres a few gyms, a leisure centre with a pool, a cinema, weekly farmers market, tennis club, badminton club, gaa club, soccer club, rugby club, coastal rowing clubs etc in and around the town. The area would also have a strong traditional music scene as well as a pub called de barras that would be famous regionally and cater for a more rock n' roll scene (they have the odd comedian too).

As for grocery stores there's a few large grocery stores in the town and theres an aldi or lidl being built at the moment.

As for other shops there is a strange abundance of gift shops as well as the normal clothing, shoes etc. Theres also a public library which is handy.

None of the schools would have a bad reputation but not having kids Im no expert.
There are a load of rural small primary schools (ages 5 -11) and within the town theres a boys, girls and a mixed gaelschoil or irish language school. There is a girls secondary school (ages 12-18) and a mixed (90% boys) school. Plenty of people in the rathbarry area i mentioned would go to the mixed secondary in rosscarberry.

trotter_inc

I can't flaw Clon, I've been living 5 miles outside the town and I love the whole area. I would recommend Rathbarry and Dunmore like a poster already has done above, it's close enough to both the town and the coastline.

Clon has so much to offer in terms of shops, sports, schools, outdoor activities, family events, festivals etc. If you've questions on anything specific just let us know or pop me a PM anytime.

Vonny4

We are also moving back with 4 children, we are looking at Clon and areas around Clon. My big problem at the moment is schools so I am very interested on peoples opinions on different schools. All my children will be primary age.

Balmed Out

Boys or girls?
All the schools have a fairly good reputation. Within the town St. Josephs girls and Scoin na Buachaili boys or the Gaelschoil for mixed. Outside the town there are loads of small rural schools. If you like the idea of that there's also on the old timoleague road a very small school - traditionally Protestant but I think a good mixture now.

Balky78

Hiya! we have a 15 ,9, 3 yrs boys, 14 yr girl,
we are moving in July for the new school year 2015.
Can someone tell me Col An Spioraid Naoimh, is an Irish speaking school? and what does that mean , all subjects taught in Irish language?? pardon my ignorance, my husband has lived to many years out to be helpful!
logistics where to live, Douglas, Middleton, Clon, Carrigaline, can someone help with what traffic can be like during peak times getting into of these areas. We would look at setting up a Yoga studio for seniors and kids and a tea shop, any ideas on which neighbourhoods would be best to venture this on???
Thanks a mil!

Balmed Out

Balky78 wrote: »

Hiya! we have a 15 ,9, 3 yrs boys, 14 yr girl,
we are moving in July for the new school year 2015.
Can someone tell me Col An Spioraid Naoimh, is an Irish speaking school? and what does that mean , all subjects taught in Irish language?? pardon my ignorance, my husband has lived to many years out to be helpful!
logistics where to live, Douglas, Middleton, Clon, Carrigaline, can someone help with what traffic can be like during peak times getting into of these areas. We would look at setting up a Yoga studio for seniors and kids and a tea shop, any ideas on which neighbourhoods would be best to venture this on???
Thanks a mil!

Im pretty sure Spioraid naoimh is not a gaelschoil so everything is though through english, it does have an excellent reputation. Its in Bishopstown in the south east of the city. Douglas is in the south of the city too with carrigaline a short commute further out from Douglas.
Middleton is nice as is Clon. I know very little about Middleton.
As for a yoga centre I dont know. I work in Blackrock and every business has flyers for spinning, pilates, yoga etc so there seems to be a lot already in Cork, clonakilty would be a similar story.....
Younger commuter areas like Carrigaline, Ballincollig or even somewhere like Rathcormac might have an opening but I dont know.

I presume you know Middleton and particularly Clonakilty arent very close to Cork city.

Balky78

Thank you very much, all the info I can get is useful! yes I am aware that Middleton and Clon aren`t close to Cork city;)
thanks again.