Relocating to Ballina Co Mayo

SB14

Hi there
I'm new to the site,hoping to get some helpful info.
My husband and I will soon be relocating to Ballina from Dublin with our two small children. We will be looking for a place to rent for a while until we are in a position to buy a property.
I was hoping to get some advice on what would be nice areas/estates to look into. We would like somewhere that is suitable for children,safe,quiet and not too far from town. There are a lot of estates on the killala/ Sligo road but I'm wondering are some more desirable than others?
Also another question..what is there to do with two kids under 2?
If anyone had any advice regarding relocating in general I would love ir hear it.This will be a huge change for us after 12 years in a Dublin , leaving our home and jobs behind to raise our girls In mayo.
Thanks everyone

neiphin

are you stuck on ballina ?

SB14

neiphin wrote: »

are you stuck on ballina ?

Yeah it suits best for work and have family in the area .
Where you living?

greenpilot

Would you not try the Westport area? Its only 35-40 mins from Ballina. Nicer town IMHO.

There is also the whole Castlebar, Pontoon to Ballina area which is a sort of shortcut to ballina from Westport.

greenpilot

I moved to Westport 15 years ago and knew nobody. I would never move back East. Let me give you one piece of advice: Get involved in the community. Don't hang around with Dubs only. It will take at least 5 years to feel really at home. I now consider Westport my home now and i have a great circle of friends, but it takes work and trust.
Ballina is a nice big town, but if I was to pick between castle bar, westport and ballina, it would be Westport hands down.

I have seen countless people moving from Dublin/Kildare and only staying a year or so. Get to know your Neighbours (be they next door or a mile away). Also, have you looked at houses in the countryside rather than in an estate? There are some serious bargains out there!

SB14

greenpilot wrote: »

I moved to Westport 15 years ago and knew nobody. I would never move back East. Let me give you one piece of advice: Get involved in the community. Don't hang around with Dubs only. It will take at least 5 years to feel really at home. I now consider Westport my home now and i have a great circle of friends, but it takes work and trust.
Ballina is a nice big town, but if I was to pick between castle bar, westport and ballina, it would be Westport hands down.

I have seen countless people moving from Dublin/Kildare and only staying a year or so. Get to know your Neighbours (be they next door or a mile away). Also, have you looked at houses in the countryside rather than in an estate? There are some serious bargains out there!

Thanks for reply.westport is lovely for sure but we are set on ballina as i have family there and the whole point of the move is to have a support network.we have an 18 month old and a newborn.

greenpilot

SB14 wrote: »

Thanks for reply.westport is lovely for sure but we are set on ballina as i have family there and the whole point of the move is to have a support network.we have an 18 month old and a newborn.

Right. So, as a matter of interest, where have your family suggested for you to live?:) seeing as they are native. You should be able to get good advice from them

yop

SB14 wrote: »

Thanks for reply.westport is lovely for sure but we are set on ballina as i have family there and the whole point of the move is to have a support network.we have an 18 month old and a newborn.

Makes sense that you have the network but if your family are there then not sure why you are on here asking. I'm sure they know ballina better than most of us non ballina people om here

Ilovelucy

Church Road and The Quay are nice areas to live in. Killala road is very built up and busy. Church Road is walking distance to town. My children are older but the Family Resource Centre on Abbey St run a very good mother/baby& toddler session.

SamforMayo

I would avoid the estates if possible or at least go for the older well established ones eg The Moorings or Librador. I would look for something a little out of town but still walking distance, detached if possible. Also think about where you want your children going to school. Lots to do with kids, swimming, lots of Mother and toddler groups (great for getting to know people) Tom Ruane park in town is just after getting a major face lift and of course Enniscrone beach is very near. Good luck with the move

Castlebar12

Castlebar and also westport are much nicer than Ballina I moved to castlebar 10 years ago for work and it worked out brilliantly for me. I would defiantly recommend it

SB14

yop wrote: »

Makes sense that you have the network but if your family are there then not sure why you are on here asking. I'm sure they know ballina better than most of us non ballina people om here

I specifically asked about Ballina ( the hint was in the title) so if you don't have any info why bother replying!
My patents are elderly and there has been a massive building boom of new estates on the outskirts of town.
Hope that answers your question!

SB14

SamforMayo wrote: »

I would avoid the estates if possible or at least go for the older well established ones eg The Moorings or Librador. I would look for something a little out of town but still walking distance, detached if possible. Also think about where you want your children going to school. Lots to do with kids, swimming, lots of Mother and toddler groups (great for getting to know people) Tom Ruane park in town is just after getting a major face lift and of course Enniscrone beach is very near. Good luck with the move

Thanks a mill !

Ilovelucy

Two nice estates on church Road are The Glebe and the Paddocks. For rentals check Moy Property at the Ridgepool.

yop

SB14 wrote: »

I specifically asked about Ballina ( the hint was in the title) so if you don't have any info why bother replying!
My patents are elderly and there has been a massive building boom of new estates on the outskirts of town.
Hope that answers your question!

Mod Comment Relax, don't, people asked the question and made their comments. There was no hint in the original post that you had family, it would have been insightful to have relayed the information.
If you have elderly parents then they are going to have their hands full with a newborn and an 18 month old if they are your "support network".

truedoom

I don't live in ballina, but i lived in castlebar for 22 years.

Before i say anything about ballina, let me just say Castlebar is turning into a sh1thole.

But ballina IMO has always had a rather...crappy reputation. Full of knackers. Everytime i go there it seems to have gotten worse.

Now that's all just my opinion from my own experience with it, maybe it's a lovely town and i haven't given it enough of a chance.

But if i was to advise anything, maybe check outside the town, 5-10 minutes drive? At least then you'll have some space and rent might be a bit cheaper.

Also check Swinford and Foxford which are nearby.

monument

greenpilot wrote: »

Would you not try the Westport area? Its only 35-40 mins from Ballina.

More like 50+ mins depending on traffic.

Castlebar12 wrote: »

Castlebar and also westport are much nicer than Ballina I moved to castlebar 10 years ago for work and it worked out brilliantly for me. I would defiantly recommend it

Westport has set it self up quite well and the people have worked harder than most towns in Ireland at making their town one of the nicest small towns in Ireland.

But when it comes to Ballina vs Castlebar -- it's much of a muchness and both have their up and down sides. For example on the plus side in Ballina: the centre of the town is looking a lot healthier than Castlebar and Ballina has the river and the woods in the town and beaches close by. The only thing better in Castlebar is a few shops -- which Ballina people can just travel to when they need to or go to Sligo.

SB14

yop wrote: »

Relax, don't, people asked the question and made their comments. There was no hint in the original post that you had family, it would have been insightful to have relayed the information.
If you have elderly parents then they are going to have their hands full with a newborn and an 18 month old if they are your "support network".

Thanks a mill you are so helpful and not at all patronising !think you can just leave it now and go find another thread that you have no actual contribution to make to snd pick holes in that!fun hobby !!go you!!!!

Lorraine30

Hi there, my husband and I relocated from Dublin a few months ago with our baby, we are living ten mins from Ballina. I can't help you out about recommendations about houses as I'm not familiar enough with Ballina but in regard to things to do with your children there is a good variety, there are loads of mother and toddler groups, baby massage, mother and children fitness group, there's a play centre called tumble jungle, a lovely playground and Belleek has lovely grounds for walks the beach in Enniscrone is ten mins drive out the road too , if you need and more specific Info let me know, sorry I couldn't be if more help x

TheBully

Castlebar much nicer than ballina??? How do u work that one out?

Castlebar12 wrote: »

Castlebar and also westport are much nicer than Ballina I moved to castlebar 10 years ago for work and it worked out brilliantly for me. I would defiantly recommend it

helimachoptor

As a Dub who is around the Ballina area quite a bit and married to a mayo woman, neither of us would choose Ballina, it would be Westport, Castlebar, Ballina

shaca

Hi SB14, hope your relocation goes well. There are some nice Estates on the Bonniconlon Road just before the Golf club. Lovely houses and quiet area with a lot of young families. There will be lots for you to do with the kids and as mentioned above I go to Belleek Woods a lot with the kids to feed the ducks and have a nice stroll with them. You will always meet people along that track. If I can help you with anything feel free to pm me.

Just to mention for yourself and ur hubby there is a lot of gyms, sports and fitness places to check out if you are into that sort of thing, great place to meet people too.

farmchoice

The Sligo rd estates quignalecka- moy view (on the right as you head towards Sligo) and knocknalyre (on the left) are both nice enough and are full of families with young children, neither would have a reputation for any type of anti social behavior. These are both within walking distance of the town and the quay and are near the park (parts of quignalecka have been left unfinished so that's not great).

Riverside drive is on the quay side of quignaleka it is a little older then quignalecka and has lots of families but also has a good few rented properties and I have heard of a few people having trouble with neighbors.

Further down the quay rd you have blackcock court and the moorings, these are older estates and are very nice and quite, they are near the quay village and you could still walk to town.

the estates on the bonniconlon rd at the top of ardnaree, glen ri and mossgrove and the fairways are all nice with lots or young families and quite a little community feel as a lot of people whose families would come from the ardnaree-shanaghy area moved there as its close to ardnaree and they hate moving too far from their mothers (think little Dubliners)!!! If you are into golf this is where you want to be, its near the golf club and everyone up there seems to play golf. Again close to town.
now some people might consider this part of town a little rough, and while traditionally arnaree was a working class area with a bit or a reputation nowadays its really very quite, its mainly older people who have lived there all their lives.

Out the church rd there are a few estates, the glebe (the oldest) and the spires. the glebe is very nice, the spires less so as would have more rented houses.

out the foxford rd there are 3 large estates, moy heights, Childers heights and dolmen view, these are private estates and have some nice parts and some very nice people living in them but they have also a lot of let properties and they would be the last places in town I would rent a house if I was new to the area and didn't know who's who.

killala rd there are 5 or 6 private estates some a good bit out of town, they are grand i suppose but have little to offer really, nothing wrong with them either I would not be too keen on the ones a good bit out of town.

Out from the estates the quay, beleek, bohernasup, church rd, station rd and behy are all nice areas. once you go more the a mile from the town you are effectively living in the country and then its more or less all the same ( lovely, but one town-land much like the next).

in general ballina is a nice place to live especially if you have kids. There is a nice park, beleek woods is great, enniscrone just down the road. There are plenty of sports clubs drama group's gyms social group's etc great water sports, fishing boating etc.

Personally if you are new to the area I would pick a house in town, moving out to the countryside straight away could leave you a bit isolated until you have your bearings, there are a number of letting agents in the town but beware! The houses they are letting are often buy to lets that constantly have different tenants and are not always in great nick.

one final thing, a lot of people who move to ballina or even ballina people when they decide to rent a place go for enniscrone, nice houses can be got for a good price as there were a lot of holiday homes built that are empty most of the time, in the summer its lovely with beautiful see views and a real holiday atmosphere and still only 10 mins from ballina, this works out great for the summer but come autumn and winter it is pretty bleak and empty and every single person I know who has done this has ended up moving back to ballina.

finisklin

Crikey this thread has really turned into the battle of the Mayo towns and each are defending their own town which is fair enough.

It never ceases to amaze how Ballina polls so poorly given the significant attractions that it has (see previous posts). The town really has a lot going for it despite it being the biggest town in Mayo. The Moy, Belleek and the Monasteries (BTW, When is the monasteries of the moy going to happen?), Enniscone and though Westport the Croagh Patrick, you don't get the best perspective of Mayo from it. This is best got from the top of Neiphin which is beside Ballina. Here you can view all of North Mayo, Belmullet, Castebar and the reek!

The other good thing about Ballina is that it didn't get ahead of itself during the boom times and the development/infrastructure hasn't disadvantaged the town as a whole. Look at Castlebar and the main street.

As an aside, Westport is a fantastic town with great working locals and amenities. Sometimes, I think that there is an element of us and them though between the locals and the people that are not "covies", as the latter are quick to remind non denizens of their origin!

Best to rent a house initially in Ballina and scout around and get a feel for the place and what you like don't like.

yop

Mod Note: I'm closing this thread as the OP has decided to close their account. Also as per other threads of similar topic it has turned into as Finisklin said a "Ours is better than yours" thread, though there have been a few v good posts and will be there for others to search and reference