Moving to Courtown/ riverchaple.

Yum mum 80

I go to bray also but in at 9, i get on the motor way about 8 o clock and only hit traffic in bray itself so i'd say giv urself an hour / hour 15 minutes for sandyford! But no sure of traffic once ur off the motor way at sandyford?;) best of luck

farela2017

Hi
Looking for opinions about quality of life in Wexford.
Might be moving there with two kids.
Looking at Courtown area. Which primary school are good? Also will be looking for a new job. Any comments welcome. Anyone in the same situation?

Cantona's Collars

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056919847

Marhay70

farela2017 wrote: »

Hi
Looking for opinions about quality of life in Wexford.
Might be moving there with two kids.
Looking at Courtown area. Which primary school are good? Also will be looking for a new job. Any comments welcome. Anyone in the same situation?

Quality of life is what you make it but pace of life is certainly slower and more agreeable than in the city.
Riverchapel N.S is the only primary school in the immediate area and has an excellent reputation. There are also primary schools in Ballygarret, which will require your own transport and Gorey, which is served by the school bus service.
As for employment, the much vaunted recovery has yet to arrive in Wexford and your prospects very much depend on your skills. For the most part, employment tends to be in retail and service industries, there is little industry or logistics work and any work there is around would be in the Gorey area, which again would require your own transport as there is no public transport to speak of.

farela2017

Marhay70 wrote: »

Quality of life is what you make it but pace of life is certainly slower and more agreeable than in the city.
Riverchapel N.S is the only primary school in the immediate area and has an excellent reputation. There are also primary schools in Ballygarret, which will require your own transport and Gorey, which is served by the school bus service.
As for employment, the much vaunted recovery has yet to arrive in Wexford and your prospects very much depend on your skills. For the most part, employment tends to be in retail and service industries, there is little industry or logistics work and any work there is around would be in the Gorey area, which again would require your own transport as there is no public transport to speak of.

Thanks for such a comprehensive answer, it was really helpful. I have a car so the transport around for work won't be an issue.

iw0na26

hello I bought house in riverchapel sunshine avenue. I have 2 children anyone can say me about estate and school and any activity after school thanks

Marhay70

iw0na26 wrote: »

hello I bought house in riverchapel sunshine avenue. I have 2 children anyone can say me about estate and school and any activity after school thanks

Do you mean Sunset Avenue? I don't know any Sunshine Avenue in Riverchapel.
Sunset Avenue was a state of the art development of Eco friendly homes which were top of the price range when they launched. I don't know how successful they've been but they seem to come on to the market fairly regularly.
Riverchapel National School has an excellent reputation and is a feeder school for Gorey Community School, meaning your children will automatically qualify for admission. Riverchapel itself is a busy area, with a mixed population of natives and non nationals and though it has some problems it is very much in line with similar places around the country.
There are lots of after school activities for kids, soccer and Gaa clubs close by, Tae-Kwon Do. Boxing, tennis and skateboarding in Gorey and a running track in the Community Centre.

Yum mum 80

hi
we moved from dublin to an area in between ballygarrett and riverchapel, right beside the beach best move we have ever made. kids are in the gealscoil in gorey so only reason i would be in riverchapel would be to pop into the shops, it has obviuosly gotten alot livelier since the summer but not as bad as i was told it would be. but saying that i do only drive tru it. loads of after school activities down here than my son would of had in dublin and people around here are very friendly. only wish we had of moved down years ago good luck

trip adviser

Branogue Park. My daughter just put an offer on a house in Branogue Park. I know a lot of the houses had storage heaters when built however this house my daughter is buying has oil heating. I know in the past this estate did not have a good name and was wondering if anything has changed in the past year or 2. Many thanks

hairyslug

We live in the estate beside it. We only moved in 14 months ago but have never seen any hassle there. A few houses that look fairly run down but also a few that are well looked after.
Can't help with the heating question though.

trip adviser

Many thanks, been in the estate a fews weeks ago and it did not look too bad. For a 4 bed house the price was also OK and around 1 hour to Dublin

Julia105

Hi all, we are thinking of buying a house in the Ardamine area that was initially built as a holiday home. Would like to know if anyone has experience of living permanently in a holiday built home, how is the insulation and so on. I'm reading everywhere that the insulation is non existent in them. Would like to know how are the winters in them.
Also is the Ardamine area suitable for a young family. I have a 6 year old and a small baby. How is the local school? Are there any afterschool activities that do not require driving?

I love the area as a holiday retreat and would like to know how the permanent residents find it there.
Thank you in advance!

Marhay70

Julia105 wrote: »

Hi all, we are thinking of buying a house in the Ardamine area that was initially built as a holiday home. Would like to know if anyone has experience of living permanently in a holiday built home, how is the insulation and so on. I'm reading everywhere that the insulation is non existent in them. Would like to know how are the winters in them.
Also is the Ardamine area suitable for a young family. I have a 6 year old and a small baby. How is the local school? Are there any afterschool activities that do not require driving?

I love the area as a holiday retreat and would like to know how the permanent residents find it there.
Thank you in advance!

Think long and hard and do your homework thoroughly before you take this step. While not universally true, in general houses built as holiday homes make poor all year round options.
For the most part they are cold and damp, have poor insulation and heating systems and generally are not finished to the same standards as normal houses when it comes to carpentry, electrical and outside brick and render work.
While we were waiting for our house to be completed we stayed over winter in a friend's holiday home in Courtown. It is not an experience I would like to have on a long term basis. heating was by way of electric storage heaters, inefficient and ineffective and needed to be supplemented with extra electric heaters, creating more expense. We experimented temporarily with bottle gas heaters and, while they delivered instant heat, they contributed to the biggest problem which was condensation and damp. Condensation would form on the insides of windows and doors, (all single glazing) and on frosty nights would turn to ice. It was virtually impossible to get clothes dry, a major consideration with infants and small children, and would usually make the trip to the laundrette in Gorey, only for the clothes to get damp again in the storage drawers.
I assume you are thinking of buying somewhere like Seascapes, Seaview or Glenbeg and my recommendation would be to hire a reputable surveyor to assess whether solid fuel, Calor gas or oil heating systems can be installed, this is not always possible as walls cannot support the weight of radiators. Some of the holiday homes may already have a fireplace but I would worry as to how safe they might be.
Make sure the house is insulated in both walls and roofspace, the seller should provide a BER Certificate and I would walk away from anything higher than a C.
Riverchapel N.S. is a very good school but at this stage you may have difficulty enrolling your child for the current school year.
There are all sorts of activities for children in Riverchapel and they'll be advertised in the supermarket, Community Centre or school. These would all be within walking distance of Ardamine.
Best of luck.

Julia105

Thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate it.

Malooska

Hi

I am wondering about The Middleton Valley estate. I have my eye on a house there & it seems to be for sale for a very long time. Its a beautiful house imo the area looks lovely, the thread seems to suggest its a nice area. I am wondering if theres' something wrong with the house or is there a reason why its not selling, I will of course ask the agent, but I was just wondering if local people might have some idea. I am looking for a nice area, with good people in the neighbourhood that look out for each other. Low anti social & break ins. I was disappointed to read some of the threads here about the area any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Marhay70

Malooska wrote: »

Hi

I am wondering about The Middleton Valley estate. I have my eye on a house there & it seems to be for sale for a very long time. Its a beautiful house imo the area looks lovely, the thread seems to suggest its a nice area. I am wondering if theres' something wrong with the house or is there a reason why its not selling, I will of course ask the agent, but I was just wondering if local people might have some idea. I am looking for a nice area, with good people in the neighbourhood that look out for each other. Low anti social & break ins. I was disappointed to read some of the threads here about the area any help would be appreciated. Thanks

If you've read the thread you will also have seen the posts from people who, like you, had reservations but moved anyway and haven't regretted it. A lot of the bad publicity about Riverchapel is anecdotal hype, granted there are some bad eggs but tell me where you won't find them.
As for Middleton, a nice, settled estate with little in the way of anti social behaviour to my knowledge. The house itself is a different matter, it may have structural problems and I would imagine the Agent would be duty bound to mention any he knew of, anyway you would presumably be getting a survey done before you commit. Neighbours are an unknown factor and nobody can know who they are going to get beside them, I always favour the direct approach of knocking on nearby doors, people are usually willing to tell if there are local troublemakers and, after all, it's a big commitment you are making so don't be shy.
Best of luck.

Malooska

Marhay70 wrote: »

If you've read the thread you will also have seen the posts from people who, like you, had reservations but moved anyway and haven't regretted it. A lot of the bad publicity about Riverchapel is anecdotal hype, granted there are some bad eggs but tell me where you won't find them.
As for Middleton, a nice, settled estate with little in the way of anti social behaviour to my knowledge. The house itself is a different matter, it may have structural problems and I would imagine the Agent would be duty bound to mention any he knew of, anyway you would presumably be getting a survey done before you commit. Neighbours are an unknown factor and nobody can know who they are going to get beside them, I always favour the direct approach of knocking on nearby doors, people are usually willing to tell if there are local troublemakers and, after all, it's a big commitment you are making so don't be shy.
Best of luck.

Thanks a million for yr help.

hairyslug

I can't speak for the estate itself but we love the village, we moved down in June '16 and have never regretted it.

Malooska

hairyslug wrote: »

I can't speak for the estate itself but we love the village, we moved down in June '16 and have never regretted it.

That's great to hear it does seem a nice village

Malooska

Malooska wrote: »

That's great to hear it does seem a nice village

Is Riverchapel Court a nice area?

Marhay70

Malooska wrote: »

Is Riverchapel Court a nice area?

Riverchapel Court would be quiet enough, only about twenty houses in the development and isolated from most other areas. Another option in that area is Riverchapel Wood, Phase 1, where I myself live and I know of a least one receiver sale in that development which could be a bargain.

Malooska

You are a great mind of information Marhay70 thanks for all yr input
They are lovely houses in that area.

Aisling_Dublin

Hello to all in this thread,

is it all right if I revive it? I'm new to boards.ie, this is my second post.
Long story short, we'll be moving from Dublin to Riverchapel (Middleton area) early next year,
we have two families there whom we know and hope to call friends as we go on.
They are both in Beachside and reasonably happy there. Ourselves - a family of four with two little boys.
To all locals (and those who moved from Dublin) who are willing to be helpful with information I have a couple of simple questions - anything useful we should know for our early stage? We'll be renovating the house and getting all the furniture, there is nothing there at present. I'm thinking to get vinyl for the kitchen tiles as in the winter I'm sure the kitchen floor will be cold. Probably wood for the bedrooms.
Any smart piece of advice on moving and settling in? All answers greatly appreciated, many thanks in advance.

Marhay70

Aisling_Dublin wrote: »

Hello to all in this thread,

is it all right if I revive it? I'm new to boards.ie, this is my second post.
Long story short, we'll be moving from Dublin to Riverchapel (Middleton area) early next year,
we have two families there whom we know and hope to call friends as we go on.
They are both in Beachside and reasonably happy there. Ourselves - a family of four with two little boys.
To all locals (and those who moved from Dublin) who are willing to be helpful with information I have a couple of simple questions - anything useful we should know for our early stage? We'll be renovating the house and getting all the furniture, there is nothing there at present. I'm thinking to get vinyl for the kitchen tiles as in the winter I'm sure the kitchen floor will be cold. Probably wood for the bedrooms.
Any smart piece of advice on moving and settling in? All answers greatly appreciated, many thanks in advance.

Drop into Boland's on the old Arklow Road, they will sort all your furniture and floor coverings for you, you could also try Murphy's across the road from them who specialise in job lot and factory clearance furniture.
Wouldn't be a big fan of wood floors in bedrooms, very noisy especially with kids. Have a read back through this thread and you'll get plenty of info on activities etc. in the area.

Aisling_Dublin

Thank you for your advice, Boland's do seem to have a huge showroom, great.