living in Carlow town and working in Dublin

Be well and win

I'm speaking as a blow in who's been in Carlow 8 years and commutes to Dublin daily.

The drive is an issue unless you work in the south or west outside the m50. You're looking at 50 minutes to 1 hr to Newlands cross (within the speed limit). N7 is the main hold up and it can be a lot worse getting home. Whilst most days I do it in 75 mins, I have been delayed for 4 hrs + but I guess that can happen on any commute. Longer term the commute should improve when the n7/m7 works are complete but that may take 3-4 years for that to happen so there will be delays in that period

Carlow has a lot going for it, cheap housing (in comparison to Dublin), good schools, plenty of clubs and societies and largely a peaceful place. It has it's criminal element and dodgy areas but what town doesn't.

The negative, shopping is not great and the country council planning policy has killed the centre of town, maybe the new Pennys development might help. That's especially the case for clothes as other then Shaws, there is no quality department store. I also find it very cliquey and it takes a while to get settled in.

denis160

Jed and Dave wrote: »

sorry if i offended anyone with my opinion, in general its a nice town
theres good and bad everywhere really suppose thats what i meant

No offence taken by me anyway, you're right it is a nice town & it does have good & bad parts as do everywhere. One's perspective on it is bound to be different from someone elses depending on where they are coming from. If you've lived in Dublin/limerick/cork etc & moved here, yes you are going to think it's much safer than those cities, but for people who have lived here a long time, or who have only ever know Carlow as their home, it has grown in massive amounts over years & they are bound to have a different view of things.

road_high

There's a few really nice and I would say "well to do" parts of Carlow town for anyone that knows it well. Oakpark/Dublin road area is really nice (I'd love to live around there) and also the Kilkenny road areas has some very fine older properties. There's obvious old wealth and prosperity in Carlow.
All around Pollerton and those estates are pretty good too and more affordable. I think it's a desirable town to live in, vast majority of housing estates are very well settled. I can see why it's so popular with people leaving the big city.

It's these bizarre out of hand dismissions that's "it's a kip" by a few posters that have probably ever only passed through or heard the odd story I take issue with.

RoisinClare6

I think sometimes when you grow up somewhere it's easy to condemn it as a '****hole' but you don't see it the same as people with fresh eyes.

Take me for example I moved here and think Carlow is lovely whereas I'd often think of home(wexford) as a bit of a kip. It's not really but you just think of it that way because it's all you really know.

Emme

I live between Athy and Carlow and commute by train every day. I would not recommend the train on the Waterford line at all for anyone travelling south of Kildare station. However you have a chance of getting a seat in Carlow in the mornings but after that it gets difficult. The trains on the Waterford line are infrequent, crowded, dirty and worse maintained than the trains on the Portlaoise line.

Carlow is not a bad town but I think it's a bit far for regular commuting and I've been doing the commute for 5 years now. However it's much better than Athy which is 10 minutes up the line closer to Dublin. If you want to commute by train I would recommend that you move somewhere along the Portlaoise line. The train service is infinitely better. The trains are better maintained, cleaner and more frequent. Think of it this way - you would be paying less for an annual ticket than if you travelled on the Waterford line but getting a far better service.

Check out the train lines when you are deciding where to live. Anything between Dublin and Kildare is fine. Anything between Kildare and Portlaoise is OK. Anything between Kildare and Waterford - avoid. They don't even have working toilets at Athy station (something to do with junkies I believe) :eek: but if you must Carlow station is good for a rural station and is probably your best bet on the Waterford line.

Mink

Emme wrote: »

They don't even have working toilets at Athy station (something to do with junkies I believe) :eek: but if you must Carlow station is good for a rural station and is probably your best bet on the Waterford line.

Toilets were closed at Athy & Newbridge station and other stations had their toilets combined into unisex facilities as a cost saving measure.

link to article

road_high

Emme wrote: »

I live between Athy and Carlow and commute by train every day. I would not recommend the train on the Waterford line at all for anyone travelling south of Kildare station. However you have a chance of getting a seat in Carlow in the mornings but after that it gets difficult. The trains on the Waterford line are infrequent, crowded, dirty and worse maintained than the trains on the Portlaoise line.

Carlow is not a bad town but I think it's a bit far for regular commuting and I've been doing the commute for 5 years now. However it's much better than Athy which is 10 minutes up the line closer to Dublin. If you want to commute by train I would recommend that you move somewhere along the Portlaoise line. The train service is infinitely better. The trains are better maintained, cleaner and more frequent. Think of it this way - you would be paying less for an annual ticket than if you travelled on the Waterford line but getting a far better service.

Check out the train lines when you are deciding where to live. Anything between Dublin and Kildare is fine. Anything between Kildare and Portlaoise is OK. Anything between Kildare and Waterford - avoid. They don't even have working toilets at Athy station (something to do with junkies I believe) :eek: but if you must Carlow station is good for a rural station and is probably your best bet on the Waterford line.

I don't get IR disdain for the Waterford line, it has huge potential for more passengers but they couldn't be bothered. There's 4 (by Irish standards) large towns on it.
There's no Kilkenny to Waterford morning service (pre 09.00 am) or any attempt made to market that potential (or to/from Carlow either).

Emme

Mink wrote: »

Toilets were closed at Athy & Newbridge station and other stations had their toilets combined into unisex facilities as a cost saving measure.

link to article

Just because there's a link to an article about it doesn't mean it's all right. It's actually a health hazard for the stations that don't have toilets. It's a pity the cost saving didn't get passed onto those travelling from those train stations.

road_high wrote: »

I don't get IR disdain for the Waterford line, it has huge potential for more passengers but they couldn't be bothered. There's 4 (by Irish standards) large towns on it.
There's no Kilkenny to Waterford morning service (pre 09.00 am) or any attempt made to market that potential (or to/from Carlow either).

I wouldn't be surprised if IR were making more money out of the Waterford line than out of the other lines with more frequent trains. The few trains that travel on the line are nearly always full if not overcrowded. The trains themselves are poorly maintained in terms of cleanliness. Passengers on this line pay more in relative terms to travel than those on other lines.

EmoCourt

road_high wrote: »

I don't get IR disdain for the Waterford line, it has huge potential for more passengers but they couldn't be bothered. There's 4 (by Irish standards) large towns on it.
There's no Kilkenny to Waterford morning service (pre 09.00 am) or any attempt made to market that potential (or to/from Carlow either).

The Waterford line is single track. Trains travelling in opposite directions must wait at the station for the other train to pass by. I don't think there's that much potential.

Mink

Emme wrote: »

Just because there's a link to an article about it doesn't mean it's all right. It's actually a health hazard for the stations that don't have toilets. It's a pity the cost saving didn't get passed onto those travelling from those train stations.

You're dead right, however, I was only pointing out that they were not closed because of junkies.

BlowInYank

Thanks so much for this conversation. I'm coming to Dublin for a research PhD and have close friends in Carlow. This has helped solidify my plan to live near them in Carlow and commute the couple of days a week I need to be in Dublin.

griffin100

Resurrecting this thread to ask those who travel daily from Carlow to City Ctr. how long it typically takes. I may have the option of moving job to city ctr soon (St Stephens Green area) but am worried about how long the commute from Tullow area will take. I already commute to Dublin Southside but come via the N11 and it's manageable as I can avoid the N7 and don't have to come into the city ctr. How long do you spend typically getting from Carlow to Dublin City Ctr and how early do you have to leave to beat the N7 traffic!!

BattleCorp

griffin100 wrote: »

Resurrecting this thread to ask those who travel daily from Carlow to City Ctr. how long it typically takes. I may have the option of moving job to city ctr soon (St Stephens Green area) but am worried about how long the commute from Tullow area will take. I already commute to Dublin Southside but come via the N11 and it's manageable as I can avoid the N7 and don't have to come into the city ctr. How long do you spend typically getting from Carlow to Dublin City Ctr and how early do you have to leave to beat the N7 traffic!!

There's the world of difference in going from Tullow to Dublin Southside to going into the city centre. You could easily be adding more than an hour each way to your journey. It all depends on what time you are working at. If you are working normal office hours, then it's rush hour all the way.

How do you get from Tullow to the N11? Surely the most direct routes to Dublin from there are either the M7 or the N81?

iwillhtfu

Carlow - city centre is a nightmare of a trip you'd be better of taking the train and picking up one of those folding bikes to carry with you on the train.

I haven't done it in a long time but when I did it was 60 mins to the red cow and 45 into town. If you have a choice in the matter I'd pass it's a soul sapping commute and presumably worse from Tullow.

Also factor in parking etc. If you're determined to drive I'd be looking at a mororbike

One_Of_Shanks

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Carlow - city centre is a nightmare of a trip you'd be better of taking the train and picking up one of those folding bikes to carry with you on the train.

I haven't done it in a long time but when I did it was 60 mins to the red cow and 45 into town. If you have a choice in the matter I'd pass it's a soul sapping commute and presumably worse from Tullow.

Also factor in parking etc. If you're determined to drive I'd be looking at a mororbike

Agreed. Plus when these roadworks start in August they're due to last 3 years or something along those lines (on the N7/M7) which will turn an already crazy commute into a completely impossible one.

Driving from Carlow to south Dublin is a tough commute that is becoming worse with time as the roads keep getting busier, never mind city centre and then throw in the roadworks.

Don't do it.

griffin100

Thanks to all for taking the time to reply. It sounds like driving is not an option which is what I expected. Some form of park and ride might do, especially if I can get some flexibility on hours. Maybe Red Cow P&R and Luas or drive to Sallins and take the train. Either way it's going to be a long commute. I wouldn't consider it under normal circumstances but the money is too good to say no to outright. Thanks again all.

iwillhtfu

griffin100 wrote: »

Thanks to all for taking the time to reply. It sounds like driving is not an option which is what I expected. Some form of park and ride might do, especially if I can get some flexibility on hours. Maybe Red Cow P&R and Luas or drive to Sallins and take the train. Either way it's going to be a long commute. I wouldn't consider it under normal circumstances but the money is too good to say no to outright. Thanks again all.

It would want to be extremely good if they threw another 10k at me in here I still wouldn't do it long term.

The trains are excellent though and if you can lave a change of clothes etc in work train/bike is definitely something I'd do.

brianblaze

We lived just outside Tullow and my wife would commute to Dublin 2 day a week. To South County Dublin it was 2 hours at least there and 2 hours at least back.

I don't recommend it at all. You'll go mad sitting in traffic 10 hours a week.

That being said on the motorbike it took me about an hour to get from Tullow to just outside the airport. Not going mad speeds either

iwillhtfu

With an easterly blowing the way it was today I flew home on the push bike