Good areas?

Jyll

Hello,

I am so glad I found this forum as I am looking for some advice!! Myself, my husband and our 2 little kids are moving from South Africa to Ireland in April next year. I have done quite a bit of research on areas but have no idea whether they are "good" areas or "bad" areas. We are looking for a town outside of Dublin but within reasonable commuting distance, reasonably priced areas close to shops/restaurants etc but with lots of children. So far I am quite keen on Arklow in Wicklow and Athy in Kildare, any advice on these 2 places? Thanks so much!! We are very excited!

wirelessdude01

Don't think you can go too far wrong with the town of Maynooth in Kildare. Everything you need here. Good schools, good public transport links, not far from Dublin, good road network.

HonalD

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Don't think you can go too far wrong with the town of Maynooth in Kildare. Everything you need here. Good schools, good public transport links, not far from Dublin, good road network.

The train service from Athy is poor. Being on the Kildare Route is preferable. Athy also doesn't have a good name. Newbridge or Naas will have all you need.

van damme

Hi Jyll,
I think Leixlip or Maynooth would be ideal for you - good train & bus service to Dublin, good schools, good roads. Also, both Leixlip and Maynooth are nice villages with lots of shops and restaurants.
I should specify here that I live in Leixlip and love it - 2 of my kids are in a local school that we're very happy with.
I'd agree with the earlier poster - the train service from Athy is not great.
Good luck!

HonalD

I don't live in nort Kildare but maynooth and leixlip are both served by Dublin Bus as well as Bus Eireann. Also, the maynooth rail line is within the short shop zone for tickets so is significantly cheaper to commute.

Tube

Where will you be working? Public transport in the greater Dublin area tends to only really serve the city centre.

SQ2

Maynooth would fit your wish list nicely, there are a few Saffers in the area too if you're feeling homesick!

Jyll

Thanks so much everyone for such useful info! I'm going to start investigating these areas!!

Moonbeam

Maynooth is a lovely place to live with kids,there are plenty of transport links,everything is within walking distance and there is a really nice play ground.

jethrothe2nd

I'd say Maynooth as well. Good transport links, schools, restaurants, good playground for the kids, library, plenty of choice for the weekly food shopping, altogether a buzzing place. I'm biased though, I live there.

Joe Public

If I were to choose I'd go for Arklow in Wicklow, more happening there, near the sea, within easy reach of scenic sites in Wicklow, is on bus and rail routes to Dublin, near the motorway, well catered for by shops and schools and more than likely a nice place to live. I haven't lived there but have often visited.

Moonbeam

Arklow is an awful commute to Dublin and outside the Dublin Area network. House would be cheaper to buy though.
I would not choose to live there , Greystones is lovely though.

Staplor

Moral of the story is to be on a rail line.

If you are going north or south of the city check out the DART stations. DART is a frequent rail system and is excellent.

If you're coming out west I'd agree with Leixlip and Maynooth. Do not venture past Maynooth, too difficult to get public transport further out.

Joe Public

Moonbeam wrote: »

Arklow is an awful commute to Dublin and outside the Dublin Area network. House would be cheaper to buy though.
I would not choose to live there , Greystones is lovely though.

It depends on what "reasonable" means, it takes about and hour and a half on the train.

Beer Assistant

Some good advice there, would also say Leixlip/Maynooth are good

choices,

all good commuter area's 30mins to Dublin city centre and about

the same to Dublin Airport.

And your in Leinster for the best of Irish Rugby.

Emme

Jyll wrote: »

Hello,

I am so glad I found this forum as I am looking for some advice!! Myself, my husband and our 2 little kids are moving from South Africa to Ireland in April next year. I have done quite a bit of research on areas but have no idea whether they are "good" areas or "bad" areas. We are looking for a town outside of Dublin but within reasonable commuting distance, reasonably priced areas close to shops/restaurants etc but with lots of children. So far I am quite keen on Arklow in Wicklow and Athy in Kildare, any advice on these 2 places? Thanks so much!! We are very excited!

Athy has very little to recommend itself. The train service is poor and expensive. For example, a yearly ticket from Athy to Dublin costs €3,000 while a yearly ticket from Portlaoise to Dublin (on the Kildare line, better service but further from Dublin than Athy) is €2,900. There are no decent restaurants in Athy apart from the Chinese. The shops aren't great and they're relatively expensive apart from Lidl. Fuel is also expensive in Athy. Everything in Athy seems to be geared towards people who aren't working and there is a lot of unemployment in the town and the crime that goes with it. Anything you would save on housing costs would quickly go on fuel, train/bus tickets and the increased cost of everything in the town. One reason everything is so expensive is that there are no chain stores in the town. There are lots of children in the town but there are also lots of children in Celbridge and Maynooth. Both of these towns are closer to Dublin, have more amenities than Athy and you could have a life there while being close enough to commute to Dublin. If you commuted from Athy to Dublin you could say goodbye to a life of any sort.

On the other hand if you think you'll feel homesick for the shanty towns of Jo'Burg by all means move to one of the less salubrious estates in Athy.

Jyll

Thanks again for the info! Will be steering clear of Athy!! Goodness no, we live in a very beautiful part of Cape Town so I don't think we'd be at home in an area mimicking a jo burg shanty town. Google can be so misleading so the advice from everyone has been extremely helpful!! Down to where we'd find the best rugby (hubby will be pleased!) Thanks again everyone

Davidth88

Jyll wrote: »

Down to where we'd find the best rugby (hubby will be pleased!) Thanks again everyone

Living in Celbridge I would be biased .... but any of the three North Kildare towns are great TBH

The reason I quote that part of your post :-

http://www.nuimbarnhall.com/

Based in Leixlip

http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/northkildarerfc

Based just outside Maynooth

http://www.buysafrica.com/ps/en/home

This is a shop in Kilcock which is the next Village/town out from Maynooth in case you get home sick.

JohnGonne1

Davidth88 wrote: »

Living in Celbridge I would be biased .... but any of the three North Kildare towns are great TBH

I can see that it's a N Kildare love-in at the moment, so in the interests of balance, I would also recommend Newbridge and Naas - good schools, plenty of good places to eat around, excellent for commuting / connections to Dublin and other parts of the country.

Some points not highlighted
a) Maynooth is essentially a university town - lot of students renting, so it pays to check out the area you plan to live in, if you're looking for a quiet area to bring up kids
b) Celbridge & Leixlip - both nice but kinda similar (small village street surrounded by a lot of housing). Leixlip has HP & Intel - both good local employers

I have nothing against the 3 towns mentioned, but essentially it's personal preference - good luck in your search, just don't be limited by it

wirelessdude01

I agree re Maynooth and the university but the better estates aren't over run by students. I know in my estate you wouldn't notice them at all but that in other estates that there is a noticeable difference in appearance that the houses/lawns/green areas aren't as well kept. I know for a fact this year that due to lack of any type of housing that students are also living/renting in Celbridge/Leixlip/Kilcock/Clane/Dunboyne.

Dark Phoenix

Jyll any ideas where you want to work? Is it just yourself or a couple or have you kids as well? What would they key things you would be looking for in an area be?

Personally i'd stay well away from Athy as its a town thats quite far from everywhere, would take you ages to drive to dublin, public transport is not great and the town itself is just not that nice.

Naas or sallins is a spot worth looking at as you are very close to the N7 and the M7, its not too far a drive to the likes of carlow or dublin, the train service from sallins is great (there are buses from naas to it) and there is decent bus service too. I am biased but I just think its a much nicer town than many in the area.

SQ2

Naas and Sallins are nice alright, but Maynooth has more frequent public transport, whether it's bus or train. Maynooth is the last stop for the "Dublin Bus" double decker bus and has a service to dublin which must leave less than every 30min, and the train service is much the same to Dublin 30 minutes to an hour wait at worst. Also the Maynooth train goes to the more central Connolly station which is just a change of platform to take a dart to the Aviva should you wish, or Croke park is on the line too. And again, I don't think the variety of very good quality restaurants in Maynooth can be bet to be honest

wildlifeboy

Blanchardstown is far better than any of these suggestions.

Dark Phoenix

Depends where the OP needs to be travelling to I guess. Maynooth is great if you want to travel to Dublin where as Naas / Sallins / Newbridge are more central for reaching dublin and / or other areas such as Carlow / Kilkenny / Portlaoise.

Jyll

Thanks so much for the additional responses! It seems I've stopped receiving notifications so had no idea there were more. All this information is extremely useful. The poster that asked where I'd be working, I am essentially working "from home" but would need to have access to Dublin on a fairly regular basis. As my husband hasn't even started applying for jobs yet we don't know where he will be working but I presume being close enough to Dublin would be the best in terms of opportunities. We are looking for a relatively quiet area as we have young children but not in the middle of nowhere. Where would be the best place to look for rental properties initially? I've had a look on daft.ie, the rental property prices are lower than I expected, are these accurate? Thanks so very much for all this information!

Jyll

Sorry that's a little confusing...what sites would be the best for rental properties?

Jyll

Thanks so much Davidth88 those links (especially the last one for me) will come in handy!

Joe Public

It's not easy to get rental accommodation in Maynooth, especially during the school season when the population increases by about 10,000.

wirelessdude01

Maynooth rental market is nuts at the moment. Expansion in Intel(in Leixlip) is having an effect on the number of units coming onto the rental market.

Devi

Jyll wrote: »

Sorry that's a little confusing...what sites would be the best for rental properties?

Yes daft is the best and yes they are accurate.

pad199207

Probably nearly better off choosing between the North Kildare Towns of (Maynooth, Leixlip, Naas, Celbridge). Great transport available (although Traffic in all towns can be a nightmare) also advantages of Dublin Bus running in the N Kildare area too!

All have very respectable schools too!

Like others have said Athy has really fallen dead over the years of the recession

Basically try and get as close to the City as possible and try and find a decent rent(cheap) and your sorted!