Moving to Kilcock

Ushm

Hi, my wife and I are currently looking at a house in Abbeyfield in Kilcock. The house is perfect for us, my wife is pregnant with our first child so we mostly looked at houses in Celbridge, Maynooth, Kilcock and Naas because we wanted a nice bit of space and once you cross the border into Dublin everything in our price range is either tiny or in a kip of an estate!
I think Kilcock seems like a lovely place and I know there are new amenities due for development. I just worry about what the place is like for kids growing up so if anybody could answer these questions that would be amazing!
-what are the schools like?
-would we be better off sending them to a school in a nearby town?
-are enough things to do so that they're not just hanging around which usually leads to acting the maggot?
-are there many young families in the town?
-what are the local sports clubs like?
I realise some of these questions are difficult to answer but any advice would be greatly appreciated!

ixus

Age range of your kids?

I don't know everything about the town but snippets:

Primary school, Gaelscoil has a good rep. I know a lot of lads who went there and all well rounded individuals. Be in 30's now. I don't know anything about other primary school.

Post primary had a bit of a slack rep in the past but there's a new principal as of last year. He is a former Math/Engineering lecturer, Math teacher in Dunboyne (maybe not 100% accurate on lecturing subject but I'm pretty close) and a school inspector. Dunboyne has a very good rep. He is intent on reshaping the school in Kilcock. There sports teams, particularly GAA, are quite strong.

A good GAA setup and facilities. There's also a strong athletic team there with a running track. Water polo in the canal is quite active.

A lot of young families.

I think Kilcock will be similar to Maynooth in the next 7-10yrs. It has the potential to be a great little town if the centre is redevloped the right way.

Ushm

ixus wrote: »

Age range of your kids?

I don't know everything about the town but snippets:

Primary school, Gaelscoil has a good rep. I know a lot of lads who went there and all well rounded individuals. Be in 30's now. I don't know anything about other primary school.

Post primary had a bit of a slack rep in the past but there's a new principal as of last year. He is a former Math/Engineering lecturer, Math teacher in Dunboyne (maybe not 100% accurate on lecturing subject but I'm pretty close) and a school inspector. Dunboyne has a very good rep. He is intent on reshaping the school in Kilcock. There sports teams, particularly GAA, are quite strong.

A good GAA setup and facilities. There's also a strong athletic team there with a running track. Water polo in the canal is quite active.

A lot of young families.

I think Kilcock will be similar to Maynooth in the next 7-10yrs. It has the potential to be a great little town if the centre is redevloped the right way.

Thanks for your reply!
My wife is expecting our first child so my other children are but a twinkle in my eye at this point! 😂 It's quite early to be worrying about what school they'll go to I know but I'm thinking long-term about where we choose to live because it will more than likely be where my children grow up! Thanks for the info anyway!

Ushm

Actually Fergiesarmy I lived in Maynooth for a year and a half so I would argue against a lot oft points you made.
-The restaurants in Maynooth are absolutely fantastic I agree, one of my favourite things about living there, I still eat in Picaderos regularly. However Kilcock is about a 5 minute drive from all those lovely restaurants! They are so close that they may as well be in Kilcock! Hardly a huge advantage Maynooth has!
-shopping centres? Manor mills is crap man! You know it I know it! If I'm going shopping I'm driving the 15 mins to liffey valley! A dunnes stores, an easons and a few scaldy clothes shops does not a shopping centre make!
-hotels? Yeah grand maynooth has hotels, not really something I'd care about if I was buying a house there!
-there's a train from maynooth to heuston, there's a train from Kilcock to Connolly, I would argue that the bus services to both locations are both crap!
-and finally the fact that maynooth is full of students, possibly the thing I found most annoying about living there. Drunk teenagers on the streets 3 or 4 nights a week. That meant noise pollution, piss and vomit on the streets, fights outside pubs. You can argue that thoset things are a rarity but as I said I lived there and it was regular enough!
All said and done living in Kilcock is cheaper, there's less traffic and Maynooth is only minutes away should you want to avail of their amenities.

ixus

@fergiesarmy I'm in Maynooth a long time. I see Kilcock as having "potential" if the town is developed with care in the future. There's nothing ground breaking in a statement like that. Have a think about how it could be a great little town rather than slamming it.

Tristram

fergiesarmy wrote: »

Sorry but Kilcock and Maynnoth are worlds apart.

Kilcock has to be one of the most depressing and rundown towns in the area. Just look at the state of the buildings etc. Compare to Maynooth and it puts it to shame.

Shopping: Tesco extra, Dunnes, lidl, Aldi, super valu
Restaurants: Where do you start. Picaderos, oak alley, bistro53, le Maison, avenue, stone haven etc etc. Over 40 eateries in the town. I can think of a Chinese restaurant in Kilcock and that's it!

Shopping centres manor mills, carton park... Kilcock has none

Hotels, carton house and Glenroyal.... None in Kilcock.

Multiple trains and bus service to and from Dublin. Extremely limited in Kilcock.

Add in the fact Maynooth is a college town where there is always something happening.

No comparison really.

I would tend to agree with this post the above edit included. Not really comparing like with like. Lot of small towns with "potential" scattered around the country but I'd rather locate my family somewhere with actual resources as opposed to the hypothetical down the road types.

One point on bus services above is highly inaccurate as Maynooth enjoys far superior bus service. Would also question driving times from Kilcock to Maynooth and Liffey Valley as posted above. Maybe in the middle of the night with no traffic on the roads?

Bananaleaf

Shopping in Kilcock - Lidl, Tesco (small enough) and Supervalu. Personally, it's plenty. And believe me, there is a major advantage money-wise to not having a huge Tesco so close to you!

Transport - yes there is a train service in kilcock that runs to Dublin. It seems to suit commuters' timetables perfectly but for weekend journeys into Dublin it's not great - very limited. We have never used the service. However, Bus Eireann service is brilliant - regular, reliable, really lovely drivers and comfortable busses. This bus comes from Mullingar and goes to Dublin via Maynooth.

Driving times quoted above are spot-on. There is never any traffic Kilcock - Maynooth. You can actually get from Kilcock to Aldi Maynooth in 3 minutes. Maynooth is a horribly congested town. Again - Kilcock - Liffey Valley - 15mins. Never any traffic. You can hit traffic coming back though.

I love Kilcock. I would definitely buy here. However, I don't and won't be having kids, so I'm not thinking about the same things as you are. When I'm out and about though I do see quite a lot of families in the newer estates

Ushm

Tristram wrote: »

I would tend to agree with this post the above edit included. Not really comparing like with like. Lot of small towns with "potential" scattered around the country but I'd rather locate my family somewhere with actual resources as opposed to the hypothetical down the road types.

One point on bus services above is highly inaccurate as Maynooth enjoys far superior bus service. Would also question driving times from Kilcock to Maynooth and Liffey Valley as posted above. Maybe in the middle of the night with no traffic on the roads?

Yeah I think those driving times are very accurate. As to the superior bus service, unfortunately I had to use that service from Dublin every day for a few months when I had no car and it was a hellish experience! The 66 goes through Leixlip on the way, the 67 goes through Celbridge, both take over an hour. That might be said for most commuter bus services I don't know. Thankfully I don't have to get the bus anymore!
The traffic in Maynooth is also a huge problem! The village is a bottleneck for most of the day. In the mornings and evenings it's ridiculous!
To be honest I've been looking at houses for the past two months and you'll pay an extra 20 to 30 grand for the same size house in Maynooth as you would in Kilcock. For me, having lived in Maynooth, I can't see where the extra money is worth it.

donspeekinglesh

Ushm wrote: »

-there's a train from maynooth to heuston, there's a train from Kilcock to Connolly,

It's the same line from Maynooth to Kilcock - both go to Connolly.

n97 mini

Kilcock is outside the Leap card despite being closer to O'Connell Bridge than Balbriggan or Kilcoole (blame your elected representatives for not fixing that), which makes transport considerably more expensive, especially the train. The cheapest single journey is €6, including to Maynooth! In contrast, Maynooth to Leixlip is €2.09, and Maynooth to Dublin is €4.60.

Moral of the story is there may be unexpected costs associated with living in somewhere that on the surface seems to be cheaper.

Someone said above that Kilcock has potential. It's had potential for a very long time....

micko45

I lived in Kilcock for a long time, 30ish year and still have family in it. Now living nearer Maynooth.
As a youth with a social life i hated it as it was so quite, but as a adult with kids i really like it. You are not far from anywhere. Public transport is not as good as maynooth but its a much smaller town.

I think the large Super Value being built in the square is going to be game changer, it will draw people to the town instead of them going
shopping in Maynooth. I hear there is a new restaurant and coffee shop and a few smaller shops in it too. I just hope they get the parking right.

Speaking of parking, its an issue in the town lately as people getting the early bus or train park all day in the town. The locals are trying to get 2 hour parking introduced as some people cant even get parking at their own houses anymore.

I have young kids going to the primary schools, in what was the girls and the boys which are now mixed. I think they are great and the kids are happy.

Abbeyfield is one of the nicer estates. I have a friend living there who moved down from Dublin and she really likes it. Walking distance to everywhere in the town, bus train, gaa club, town center, schools all close enough to walk to.

So your questions
what are the schools like?
All the Primary schools are excellent and some really good pre-schools (tir na og)
-would we be better off sending them to a school in a nearby town?
For pre school and primary, absolutely not. You can send them to kilcock. I can answer about the secondary in a few years time.
-are enough things to do so that they're not just hanging around which usually leads to acting the maggot?
cant answer, if your kids are not into sports, acting, singing, etc. this is tricky in any town.
-are there many young families in the town?
yes lots.
-what are the local sports clubs like?
like any town, is has a gaa club, my daughter likes it, there is a soccer club which my 42 year buddy loves, there is basketball which my son likes, it also has a canoe club, scouts, men shed, singing/dancing, etc.

Hope it helps.

WittyName1

Kilcock to Liffey Valley in 15 minutes is untrue.
I did this drive every day for over a year. Quickest ever was 19 minutes, very early morning with no traffic.
Every other day it could vary from 25 minutes to 60 minutes depending on traffic and crashes on the n4 which was a regular occurrence between exit 8 and exit 6 for some reason.


Getting from kilcock to the motorway could take up to 15 minutes some mornings with heavy traffic from people skipping through kilcock to avoid the toll.

Edited to add that 15 minutes is untrue if sticking to the speed limits. I'm presuming some of the extreme speeders on the n4 every morning could possibly achieve it.

Bananaleaf

WittyName1 wrote: »

Kilcock to Liffey Valley in 15 minutes is untrue.
I did this drive every day for over a year. Quickest ever was 19 minutes, very early morning with no traffic.
Every other day it could vary from 25 minutes to 60 minutes depending on traffic and crashes on the n4 which was a regular occurrence between exit 8 and exit 6 for some reason.


Getting from kilcock to the motorway could take up to 15 minutes some mornings with heavy traffic from people skipping through kilcock to avoid the toll.

Edited to add that 15 minutes is untrue if sticking to the speed limits. I'm presuming some of the extreme speeders on the n4 every morning could possibly achieve it.

I have timed it and it can be done in 15 mins - not sticking to the speed limit but not going way over it either, so I take your point there.

It has never taken me 60 mins though, but having said that I don't commute from kilcock so it could very well be hell at 8am or so.

re: the bus Eireann bus to Dublin - it takes roughly 40mins.

There is a fab restaurant here now too - Timeless Cafe - it's just as good as the restaurants in Maynooth if not better.

Parking is an issue and it can get dangerous around the main street as drivers don't respect double yellow lines and park on the street on both sides of road making it very dangerous if you are trying to enter the road from Church, cul-de-sacs, tesco etc as you can't see round the corners.

bigsheepdog

Kilcock used to be a nice quiet village bfore the booms times. Then came the celtic tiger and 3 or 4 new estates were built and the village has gone downhill ever since. Lived here all my life but think its time to get out of it.
Best thing about the village is the gaa club. Gaa is king in this neck of the woods

Bananaleaf

bigsheepdog wrote: »

Kilcock used to be a nice quiet village bfore the booms times. Then came the celtic tiger and 3 or 4 new estates were built and the village has gone downhill ever since. Lived here all my life but think its time to get out of it.
Best thing about the village is the gaa club. Gaa is king in this neck of the woods

Why did you think it's time to get out?

liam7831

Ah i think its ok, the square looks fairly good now with new SV

ChewChew

Drove through it at the weekend and think it looks good!

bigsheepdog

Because you blow ins have the place ruined