Athlone thread

rje66

Valley Court would have a good bit of rented accommodation.

Blanco100

Just following up again on this folks. Does anyone have any info on the Gaelschoil in Lissywollen in town? Does it have a good rep?

Traditionally Irish schools are harder to get into, is it same case here?

Saint_Mel

Blanco100 wrote: »

Just following up again on this folks. Does anyone have any info on the Gaelschoil in Lissywollen in town? Does it have a good rep?

Traditionally Irish schools are harder to get into, is it same case here?

I know of someone who moved to Athlone and when they had kids, the Gaelschoil was the only place they could get a place in as they didn't have any family history in any of the other schools

Zubeneschamali

Saint_Mel wrote: »

I know of someone who moved to Athlone and when they had kids, the Gaelschoil was the only place they could get a place in as they didn't have any family history in any of the other schools

Baloney.

Blanco100

Saint_Mel wrote: »

I know of someone who moved to Athlone and when they had kids, the Gaelschoil was the only place they could get a place in as they didn't have any family history in any of the other schools

Says they have 32 places a year. I know in some other parts of the country it's impossible to get your child into a gaelschoil but would the parents have to be fluent speakers for instance?

EDit

Blanco100 wrote: »

Says they have 32 places a year. I know in some other parts of the country it's impossible to get your child into a gaelschoil but would the parents have to be fluent speakers for instance?

Its a long time ago (2008) but we got our eldest child into that school and neither myself nor my wife speak Irish (I’m foreign, so I had zero Irish language; my wife just had remnants of school-level basics). I should also note that we are not religious either and our son was not christened/baptised. IIRC, that caused a little issue with the school, but didn’t ultimately stop enrolment.

Its was (and I believe still is) a great school BTW. Our youngest child left 2 years ago, but we have friends who still have kids there and we haven’t heard anything about it going downhill

Blanco100

EDit wrote: »

Its a long time ago (2008) but we got our eldest child into that school and neither myself nor my wife speak Irish (I’m foreign, so I had zero Irish language; my wife just had remnants of school-level basics). I should also note that we are not religious either and our son was not christened/baptised. IIRC, that caused a little issue with the school, but didn’t ultimately stop enrolment.

Its was (and I believe still is) a great school BTW. Our youngest child left 2 years ago, but we have friends who still have kids there and we haven’t heard anything about it going downhill

Thanks for this. And can I ask, how is his Irish? Was helping with homework etc.. problematic

EDit

Blanco100 wrote: »

Thanks for this. And can I ask, how is his Irish? Was helping with homework etc.. problematic

Honestly, we were relatively lucky in that respect as (unlike me as a child) my kids were pretty competent at languages. There were definitely occasions in the earlier years where we found it difficult to help with spelling tests and the like (as we couldn’t pronounce some of the words) but I wouldn’t say it held them back hugely. Both kids are flying through secondary Irish now.

Some friends of ours who also had kids in that school and limited Irish themselves, did struggle at first as their kids were not so good at languages. However, by all accounts their kids are doing OK with secondary Irish as well.

One thing the Gaelscoil used to do (no idea if they still do) is basic Irish lessons for parents. That at least provided an option to get some Irish yourself if you felt your child would benefit from your help

Hope this helps

rg_lv

Can anyone give me insight into how the area around retreat road is like to live in?
Lot of schools in that area
Traffic, people, bringing up children etc?

Blanco100

EDit wrote: »

Honestly, we were relatively lucky in that respect as (unlike me as a child) my kids were pretty competent at languages. There were definitely occasions in the earlier years where we found it difficult to help with spelling tests and the like (as we couldn’t pronounce some of the words) but I wouldn’t say it held them back hugely. Both kids are flying through secondary Irish now.

Some friends of ours who also had kids in that school and limited Irish themselves, did struggle at first as their kids were not so good at languages. However, by all accounts their kids are doing OK with secondary Irish as well.

One thing the Gaelscoil used to do (no idea if they still do) is basic Irish lessons for parents. That at least provided an option to get some Irish yourself if you felt your child would benefit from your help

Hope this helps

Would the kids be fluent speakers upon leaving for secondary?

Claw Hammer

rg_lv wrote: »

Can anyone give me insight into how the area around retreat road is like to live in?
Lot of schools in that area
Traffic, people, bringing up children etc?

It used to be a good area, but then a lot of people like teachers and army officers moved into it.

rg_lv

rg_lv wrote: »

Can anyone give me insight into how the area around retreat road is like to live in?
Lot of schools in that area
Traffic, people, bringing up children etc?

I can only comment on the school run traffic, avoid driving in the area during these times.

TimHorton

rg_lv wrote: »

Can anyone give me insight into how the area around retreat road is like to live in?
Lot of schools in that area
Traffic, people, bringing up children etc?

Its 10 mins walk from the town centre, Schools 5 mins walk, Not seeing any negatives.

Would be seen as a "nicer" place to live, Was known in the past as "Retreat Elite"

mr_edge_to_you

Claw Hammer wrote: »

It used to be a good area, but then a lot of people like teachers and army officers moved into it.

This is one of the most bizarre comments I have ever seen on Boards.

EDit

Blanco100 wrote: »

Would the kids be fluent speakers upon leaving for secondary?

If they have an aptitude for languages, they would be, yes.

Blanco100

Anyone know a place to buy a greenhouse in Athlone?

TomOnBoard

Blanco100 wrote: »

Anyone know a place to buy a greenhouse in Athlone?

Is it a glasshouse or a polytunnel you're after?

Blanco100

TomOnBoard wrote: »

Is it a glasshouse or a polytunnel you're after?

A decent polytunnel would do the trick

TomOnBoard

Blanco100 wrote: »

A decent polytunnel would do the trick

Take a look at Polydome in Crinkle.

Not cheap, great quality though..

munsterman2008

Whilst Launderettes are deemed an 'essential service' it seems a number of them in Athlone are closed at present (the ones I called). Can someone suggest one that is open right now?

TomOnBoard

munsterman2008 wrote: »

Whilst Launderettes are deemed an 'essential service' it seems a number of them in Athlone are closed at present (the ones I called). Can someone suggest one that is open right now?

The machines behind Mulligans on the Roscommon Road are open.

Blanco100

Good few burglaries in last week or so, number of houses hit in Barrymore area, worryingly some were occupied at the time.

Cops looking for specific 08 black audi, was last seen driving around Woodville estate in town, when approached it sped off in direction of Dublin

munsterman2008

TomOnBoard wrote: »

The machines behind Mulligans on the Roscommon Road are open.

Thanks. I'd prefer to pay so that I have to do nothing though.. :rolleyes:

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

There are also machines beside the Supervalu in Monksland.

witnessmenow

rg_lv wrote: »

Hi All
We are a family of 4 with two small children. We both work in Ballinasloe but was thinking of buying in Athlone and commuting.
We were looking at Bonavalley as there are a few houses in that area.
Any advice is this will be a good area to bring up children with regards to schools etc?

Any reason you wouldn't consider the Ballinasloe area? Your euro would go a lot further in Ballinasloe than Athlone in term of the house you'd get.

I'm from Athlone, moved to Ballydangan area for 7 or 8 years and found ourselves using Ballinasloe more and more while there, ended up sending our daughter to the play school attached to the Gaelscoil, and were really impressed with that playschool and the school. We then ended up buying a house just outside Ballinasloe last year and it was much cheaper than anything similar we would have been able to get in the Athlone area.

EDIT: One thing I would say, I can't imagine Ballinasloe is a great investment house wise in terms of it raising in value, not a big concern for us as we aren't planning on moving again.

TimHorton

witnessmenow wrote: »

Any reason you wouldn't consider the Ballinasloe area? Your euro would go a lot further in Ballinasloe than Athlone in term of the house you'd get.

I'm from Athlone, moved to Ballydangan area for 7 or 8 years and found ourselves using Ballinasloe more and more while there, ended up sending our daughter to the play school attached to the Gaelscoil, and were really impressed with that playschool and the school. We then ended up buying a house just outside Ballinasloe last year and it was much cheaper than anything similar we would have been able to get in the Athlone area.

EDIT: One thing I would say, I can't imagine Ballinasloe is a great investment house wise in terms of it raising in value, not a big concern for us as we aren't planning on moving again.

Just take a walk around both towns and see the difference, I work in Athlone with a guy who lives on the far side of Ballinasloe and he ALWAYS eats out /socialises in Athlone, He says there is not even 1 average restaurant in Ballinasloe. Even when his family visit from down the Country they will take the hit on a Taxi home from Athlone as Ballinaloe has nothing to offer.

witnessmenow

TimHorton wrote: »

Just take a walk around both towns and see the difference, I work in Athlone with a guy who lives on the far side of Ballinasloe and he ALWAYS eats out /socialises in Athlone, He says there is not even 1 average restaurant in Ballinasloe. Even when his family visit from down the Country they will take the hit on a Taxi home from Athlone as Ballinaloe has nothing to offer.

That's probably fair, we don't drink so going to Athlone once in a blue moon to go for a meal (remember going for them?!) or meeting people for a night out would be no hassle at all, definitely weighed against doing the trip the other way 5 days a week. We didn't go out much even before this and already lived a 10 or 15 minute drive from Athlone before the move though.

An Italian opened around a year ago (not the best timing!), my wife ate there before Christmas and she said it was pretty good. Kariba is nice for lunch. There is a couple of decent take-aways too. Not a crazy amount of options, but there is some options.

It's pretty small town so it obviously wouldn't have the same options as Athlone, but we have found it has everything we need in a typical week (Tesco, Lidl and Aldi) but every few weeks we might have to go into Athlone for something specific.

I guess it depends on life stages too, like if I was single I probably wouldn't want to live here, not sure I'd live back in Athlone either though.

Claw Hammer

There is one place you should never buy a house in Athlone. The Far Side.

Smegging hell

TimHorton wrote: »

Just take a walk around both towns and see the difference, I work in Athlone with a guy who lives on the far side of Ballinasloe and he ALWAYS eats out /socialises in Athlone, He says there is not even 1 average restaurant in Ballinasloe. Even when his family visit from down the Country they will take the hit on a Taxi home from Athlone as Ballinaloe has nothing to offer.

He mustn't get out much, Kariba's, Venezia, Fusion are all good restaurant in Ballinasloe. That said unlike Athlone it doesn't have a Lebanese restaurant, alas.

Mearings

Claw Hammer wrote: »

There is one place you should never buy a house in Athlone. The Far Side.

And do not forget that the Left Bank is on the right bank.