Newcastle, Co. Dublin

homer1916

I am in need of urgent help. I am looking at buying a house in Pine Hall on the main street in Newcastle which is surrounded by bungelows and settled homes. We have been only out there a few times and we thought it was ok, but when we spoke to my wifes uncle, he said the place is a kip and to stay clear. He drives through once a week and hates it but i am a bit concerned now as to what to do

Does anyone live there or know the area?

thebiglad

homer1916 wrote: »

I am in need of urgent help. I am looking at buying a house in Pine Hall on the main street in Newcastle which is surrounded by bungelows and settled homes. We have been only out there a few times and we thought it was ok, but when we spoke to my wifes uncle, he said the place is a kip and to stay clear. He drives through once a week and hates it but i am a bit concerned now as to what to do

Does anyone live there or know the area?

I live in Newcastle and do not understand why anyone would call it a kip - what exactly is his issue?

We have the Texaco with Spar and a convenience store in the village open to 9, Rathcoole with lots of convenience stores and Dunnes in Saggart so served well enough for day to day needs.

Village is quiet and clean with nice area around us.

Transport - if you do not have a car then that may be an issue, there is the Dublin Bus 68 and the bus link to The Square, Tallaght but with a car it is an easy trip over to the Luas or onto town if you so wish. Like anywhere on edge of Dublin need to time your trip to get into work for 9.

Without more details of why you worry its a kip or your personal details it is hard to answer

Certainly I can see no reason to stay clear of Newcastle and I am happy there.

The_Conductor

I'm in Newcastle a few times a week. Personally I'd consider Pine Hall overpriced- but that aside, I have nothing against it. I was in the show house and was very impressed with it- looked lovely, the Velux windows were really effective, given the aspect. I have no idea what your uncle is going on about.

homer1916

I work in Sandymount and my wife works in Castleknock. We will both have cars so its not that much of an issue. What is the local pub like?

He just does not like the place, im surprised as i am not looking for Grafton Street on my doorstep

He spoke to a fella that told him he lives there and hates it

How far is Liffey Valley?

The_Conductor

homer1916 wrote: »

I work in Sandymount and my wife works in Castleknock. We will both have cars so its not that much of an issue. What is the local pub like?

He just does not like the place, im surprised as i am not looking for Grafton Street on my doorstep

He spoke to a fella that told him he lives there and hates it

How far is Liffey Valley?

You could get to Liffey Valley- either by going up the old Lucan road and out on the N4- or far faster (most of the time)- by nipping out onto the N7- down to the M50 (there is a delay at Newlands Cross at the moment- as a flyover is being constructed), out onto the M50 and around onto the N4. In either case its a 10-15 minute journey tops. You also have Dundrum up the M50 Southbound- and a little further northbound you have Blanchardstown (though this involves the tollbridge).

Some people will always hate where they live- regardless of where it is- its part of human nature, we always imagine the grass is greener on the other side.

thebiglad

homer1916 wrote: »

What is the local pub like?

Depends on what you look for in a pub really, we have The Gondola which is fine, although quiet - why not head up there for a drink and see the village after dark too, get it clear there aren't gangs roaming the main street etc!

GavMan

What is the asking price for Pine Hall, as a matter of interest, Conductor?? Fine big houses I'm led to believe

homer1916

They wont go below 400k on the asking price, but they are really nice houses. My commute to work would be difficult, but that does not bother me as long as 7.30 leaving gets me in for 9pm

GavMan

homer1916 wrote: »

They wont go below 400k on the asking price, but they are really nice houses. My commute to work would be difficult, but that does not bother me as long as 7.30 leaving gets me in for 9pm

Expensive for Newcastle but I suppose when u take into account the square footage and if the finish is as good as the pics suggest, then 400k wouldn't be too bad

scuba8

I have friends who live there and are very happy. There is no trouble that I know of. Pub is ok. Soccer club and GAA club have excellent facilities. If you have kids there are plans to build a new school. It is convenient to both N4 and N7, if you ever travel West or South. Liffey valley is about 15 mins going the back way via Nangor rd and Fonthill. It also has one of the best butchers in the country and a great Chinese restaurant . If you want city living you won't find it there but if not it is a fine village.

bulmersgal

I live in celbridge and Newcastle and prefer celbridge. Back In celbridge on hazel hatch side, I found Newcastle very small and had to drive either to saggart or celbridge if I wanted decent shop. Least in celbridge I can walk to several supermarkets, coffee shops, pubs restaurant. There is plenty of primary and secondary school. Also the bus service and night links are better and we have train station close by

athtrasna

The standard wisdom on buying in an unfamiliar area is to rent there for a few months before you commit to buying. Sounds like a sensible idea.

djimi

bulmersgal wrote: »

I live in celbridge and Newcastle and prefer celbridge. Back In celbridge on hazel hatch side, I found Newcastle very small and had to drive either to saggart or celbridge if I wanted decent shop. Least in celbridge I can walk to several supermarkets, coffee shops, pubs restaurant. There is plenty of primary and secondary school. Also the bus service and night links are better and we have train station close by

Youre not exactly comparing like for like when comparing Celbridge to Newcastle in fairness; Celbridge is a town, Newcastle is basically a village.

bulmersgal

athtrasna wrote: »

The standard wisdom on buying in an unfamiliar area is to rent there for a few months before you commit to buying. Sounds like a sensible idea.

I second this, I didn't realise what it was like till I move there. It's only ten minutes away from celbridge where my child's crèche was but it does get tiring having to drive everywhere

anncoates

Seems like a nice enough place. Could probably do with a few more shops and pubs but the likes of rathcoole and Saggart are close enough to drive to.

If he thinks Newcastle is a kip, I'd hate to hear what he'd think of some other places.

murphaph

Newcastle is where I spent my childhood years. It's fine. Remember that there's a Local Area Plan for Newcastle in place. When the economy permits development will resume around the back of the main street. The plan is on the SDCC website somewhere. It's not necessarily a bad thing but it will make Noticably noticeably larger in the future. There is also a planned bypass for Celbridge-Rathcoole traffic but who knows when that will be built.

monflat

My friend lives in newcastle one of the original residents there when it was a country village.
She feels there is nothing there for families no playgrounds even though one was promised.
Few shops and lots and lots of people live there
Thats her opinion thou. Depends if you are single married etc etc

Duckjob

Every area in the country will have it's detractors. Sometimes I think it says more about the person giving that opinion than it does the area.

I consider where I live now to be the one of the nicest places in Dublin to wake up in, but I've no doubt I could find people that would write it off as a "kip". That doesn't mean anything to me. It doesn't bother me, in fact I'd prefer to have people around who have a genuine like for the area they live in.

Best way is to find out for yourself. Spend a bit of time in the area day and evening, go and have a pint in the local pubs, walk to local shops, and listen to what your gut instinct says to you about the place when you think of spending the next 15-20 yrs living there.

murphaph

Unfortunately there's only 1 pub left. There used to be 2 in the village and 3 if you counted the Happy Brigg (later Polly Hops)...but 2 "burned down" including the genuinely old fashioned McEvoys which had original thatched roof. That was a real loss IMO. Newcastle lost its importance (it was at one time a royal manor and an important enough place) with the building of the Grand Canal which was forced to avoid the village because of Athgoe Hill. It was effectively "bypassed" over 200 years ago and never recovered economically. It has played second fiddle to towns along the main road routes south and west ever since. when I was a kid that meant almost no through traffic. That's all changed of course with people living AND working in West and South Dublin and commuting through Newcastle to do it.

The crap thing about Newcastle is that there's no secondary school, so kids generally take a private hire bus to (mostly) Rathcoole or Celbridge to attend school there.

DoozerT6

I actually like Newcastle village, as I pass through there quite frequently, but I noticed how built-up it became during the Tiger years. I'd worry about too many houses vs. not enough facilities. Also demand for school places in years to come....

In terms of location, well it's spitting distance from the Naas road for access to town, it would be very handy for someone working in Citywest or Tallaght, and is very close to good shopping facilities, (although I think Texaco might be one of the only places in the village where you could run out and get a carton of milk if you were stuck). So I would weigh that up against possible rush-hour traffic through the village and a feeling of overcrowding...it's one of the reasons I never considered Newcastle myself when I was buying, even though it would be convenient for me location-wise.

homer1916

DoozerT6 wrote: »

I actually like Newcastle village, as I pass through there quite frequently, but I noticed how built-up it became during the Tiger years. I'd worry about too many houses vs. not enough facilities. Also demand for school places in years to come....

In terms of location, well it's spitting distance from the Naas road for access to town, it would be very handy for someone working in Citywest or Tallaght, and is very close to good shopping facilities, (although I think Texaco might be one of the only places in the village where you could run out and get a carton of milk if you were stuck). So I would weigh that up against possible rush-hour traffic through the village and a feeling of overcrowding...it's one of the reasons I never considered Newcastle myself when I was buying, even though it would be convenient for me location-wise.

I decided to pull the plug, the second house in Pine Hall is nowhere near as nice as the house they show you. I've asked more people and the same answer keeps coming back, it's ok but there is nothing in it and they would not live there. Resale value looks like it would be poor and on spending more time in the village since this post, I do not get the feel for it. Thanks for all the opinions folks

The_Conductor

Fair enough. Personally I think the price they're looking for is far in excess of good value for the area- its quite staggering that they're looking at that sort of price (north of 400k) again.

Duckjob

The_Conductor wrote: »

Fair enough. Personally I think the price they're looking for is far in excess of good value for the area- its quite staggering that they're looking at that sort of price (north of 400k) again.

I thought it was just me! Has a bit of a 2006-7 feel to things when 400k for a house (albeit a decent sized one) in a small commuter town well outside of Dublin barely raises an eyebrow with potential buyers.

murphaph

It's probably because Newcastle is not a town that people are prepared to part with the money. It's 20km from Newcastle to O'Connell Bridge and you get to live in a village. This appeals to a section of people out there I suppose. Newcastle is hardly "well outside Dublin" at 20km from the traditional city centre. People are commuting from muuuuch further out than that (Portlaoise, Longford, Drogheda etc.) and would kill for such a short commute into town.

The_Conductor

I fully accept that- its just the 400k pricetag seems, almost like someone made a mistake when they were inputting the details........ Its busy enough in the morning and evening (I was there both this morning and evening en-route to Portlaoise)- its not a little village by any imagination- its sprawled and has a pretty vast industrial area (which is also the only way to get onto the N7- unless you have a 4x4 and feel like tempting fate and going via Athgoe.......

400k just seems wrong (on several different levels)

WHIP IT!

homer1916 wrote: »

I am in need of urgent help. I am looking at buying a house in Pine Hall on the main street in Newcastle which is surrounded by bungelows and settled homes. We have been only out there a few times and we thought it was ok, but when we spoke to my wifes uncle, he said the place is a kip and to stay clear. He drives through once a week and hates it but i am a bit concerned now as to what to do

Does anyone live there or know the area?

Born and reared - how anyone could think a small li'l village like it is "a kip" is beyond me. Stick the kettle on when ya move in, I'm not far from ya! :pac:

murphaph

Yeah the 400k price tag seems madness to me as well.