Gleann dara

mikesimons

Hi folks,

We (me, my girlfriend and our 3 year old) are moving to Galway in the next month or so. I've popped over looking for a house and have found quite a nice one in Gleann dara but am torn about the area.

It looks much better than street view would show it to be from 2009 these days and a few passes by at various times of the day didn't raise any alarm bells.

I get the impression it's largely populated by middle-low income families with a few students and immigrant families thrown in the mix.

A search of these boards and the internet at large gives cause for concern though. I can't link anything since this is my first post but some unsavoury stuff popped up; assault, crazy drivers, torched car (have a look for gleann dara on youtube).

Can I get some more recent opinions on what it is like these days?

Thanks in advance

wowee

I lived in Gleann Dara for four years and have never had one problem. There are youths sometimes hanging around outside King Ding from accross the road but besides the hoodies and volume of them, there's never a word from them when you pass. I dropped my wallet a couple of weeks ago as I was walking by them and one of them ran straight after me to give it to me. Yes, there are students living there and various types of all sorts of families but I have to say I love living here. The area in general (Westside/Rahoon) has a great community feel to it and there is an active residents association in the estate itself.

Raging_Ninja

Back when I was a student (5-10 years ago), we used to joke with others who were renting there about how many times they had been broken into.

The shop at the front of the estate (Spar? Mace? Think it shut down) was being constantly robbed.

Granted, things might have changed since then. Was far far worse 20+ years ago before the big housing blocks in Rahoon were knocked.

conor222

Its a fine area now, I lived there 3 years ago and have a number of friends living there now. Never any problems although it did have some in the past (about 8 years ago or so I believe?) but overall very nice. The houses vary quite a bit though, some are more modern than others.
Only downside I would see would be the proximity of that large junction outside the entrance with a small child but thats easily managed (especially if you're not on the front row of houses).
I heard the same stuff about it when I moved there myself but its very different now and I enjoyed living there.

manageit

I know the estate well and have lived there. Never had a problem, has a mixture of residents. A lot of houses are rented, but like most estates that are 20 years old it is settling down. Close to bus routes.