Best place to live to commute into Galway

Goldrick lass

Myself my husband and little girl are relocating back to Ireland in the new year. We both have jobs in Galway based at the hospital with myself needing to occasionally get to the university. We are not familiar with Galway and was wondering if anyone could recommend the best area or place to live. We are open to living in the city or commuting in.

Many thanks

dok_golf

Craughwell. 3 buses every hour in/out of Galway. 5 miles from Galway/Dublin and Limerick/Tuam motorways. 12 trains a day going up and down between Galway and Limerick ( 6 each way). 5 miles from Galway/Dublin train. Great schools. Plenty of sports inc 4th biggest Athletics Club in the country ( new 400m tartan running track next year). Floodlit astro turf. My wife works in the hospital. She goes from door to door in 25 min.

Whereisgalway

Salthill

Redo91

Oranmore is another good option. Lots of amenities in the town itself and with regular buses and trains into Galway it's handy for commuting. Also very near the motorway for going to Dublin/Limerick.

Mr_A

The closer you live to work, the handier your commute will be obviously, personally I would be inclined to live in the city if possible. Galway Transport Info provides a maps of bus routes if you are travelling within the City: http://www.galwaytransport.info/2008/12/summary-map-galw-ay-city-services.html you might find this useful.

biko

Live on the same side of the river as you work on

Mrs OBumble

biko wrote: »

Live on the same side of the river as you work on

This + lots.

So I would not be recommending Craughwell or Oranmore - unless it's actually Merlin Park hospital that you're based in. (That said, there is a hospital shuttle bus, so you can park in the Merlin campus and have a bus-driver do the city driving and parking for you.)


Places on the same side as the main UHG campus include:

Walk to work:
Shantalla
Newcastle
Dangan
The Claddagh
The inner city (seriously, if you've no kids and don't mind a bit of street noise it's great - technically on the other side of the river but not such an issue on foot).
"The West" (area around Henry St / Dominic St - between Shantalla and the Claddagh)


Bus, bicycle or drive:
Knocknacarra
Taylors Hill / Kingston
Rahoon
Westside

Further out, Less frequent buses - probably need to drive:
Bushypark
Moycullen
Oughterard
Tonabroocky (hhmmm spelling may be off - definitely no buses)


Bicycle or drive due to no or few buses:
Salthill
Barna
Furbo (need to be able to speak Irish to live here I think)
Spiddal



There are no "no go" areas in Galway. There are some with higher proportions of student housing (some of Newcastle), social housing or people on low incomes, and some of these may be harder to live in if you're an outsider. You should be able to spot these areas easily enough on Google maps (small houses etc)


fyi, the university is literally across the road from the main hospital campus.

shenanagans

biko wrote: »

Live on the same side of the river as you work on

This is good advice. Work and live on same side of the river. Take into account schools, parks, amenities etc. But for work life balance avoid the traffic chaos and live near work.

The major problem in Galway is the traffic, which is caused by people living and working on the opposite side of the city, major traffic crossing the bridges every morning/evening.

45mhrc7evo1d3n

dok_golf wrote: »

Craughwell. 3 buses every hour in/out of Galway. 5 miles from Galway/Dublin and Limerick/Tuam motorways. 12 trains a day going up and down between Galway and Limerick ( 6 each way). 5 miles from Galway/Dublin train. My wife works in the hospital. She goes from door to door in 25 min.

Door to door from Craughwell to UHG in 25 minutes? If accurate, that is amazing and highly inspirational to all would-be commuters.Would you mind giving some more details on the route taken to achieve these times please?

I'm assuming there is an element of driving involved from your home to the bus stop/train station. I looked up the train timetables and journeys generally take 34 minutes. I don't know how long the bus takes but surely it's got to take a bare minimum of 30 minutes given the lack of bus lanes? Lastly, there's the walk from the bus or train station to UHG. Hence my curiosity in regard to the 25 minute journey time.

Even if your wife works in Merlin Park, the driving/walking time at either end of the bus journey must be considerable.

JillyQ

Whereisgalway wrote: »

Salthill

+ 1 for salthill

Nettle Soup

biko wrote: »

Live on the same side of the river as you work on

Listen to this person.

Going the other side of the river is madness.

Loads of great options near and far....Salthill, Newcastle, Knockers, Barna, Moycullen, Oughterard.

dok_golf

Lance Itchy Turkey wrote: »

Door to door from Craughwell to UHG in 25 minutes? If accurate, that is amazing and highly inspirational to all would-be commuters.Would you mind giving some more details on the route taken to achieve these times please?

I'm assuming there is an element of driving involved from your home to the bus stop/train station. I looked up the train timetables and journeys generally take 34 minutes. I don't know how long the bus takes but surely it's got to take a bare minimum of 30 minutes given the lack of bus lanes? Lastly, there's the walk from the bus or train station to UHG. Hence my curiosity in regard to the 25 minute journey time.

Even if your wife works in Merlin Park, the driving/walking time at either end of the bus journey must be considerable.

No problem. 100% accurate. She drives and leaves at 6.30am. simples. hope this puts your worried mind to rest

45mhrc7evo1d3n

dok_golf wrote: »

No problem. 100% accurate. She drives and leaves at 6.30am. simples. hope this puts your worried mind to rest

I never said I was worried, just curious . So Craughwell is a commuters dream if you drive to work at 6:30am. Not sure how useful your advice is to the OP. How long does it take your wife to get home?

sgthighway

Redo91 wrote: »

Oranmore is another good option. Lots of amenities in the town Village itself and with regular buses and trains into Galway it's handy for commuting. Also very near the motorway for going to Dublin/Limerick.

Corrected your post :-)

joeKel73

Lower Salthill

Redo91

sgthighway wrote: »

Corrected your post :-)

Meant to say village alright! Although in saying that I don't think the word does it justice as there is much more to do there than many larger towns in Galway.

dinneenp

A lot of information missing-
renting at first I presume?
What's budget?
Do you want a house or apartment?
Do you want to live in town or suburbs?

what_traffic

shenanagans wrote: »

This is good advice. Work and live on same side of the river. Take into account schools, parks, amenities etc. But for work life balance avoid the traffic chaos and live near work.

The major problem in Galway is the traffic, which is caused by people living and working on the opposite side of the city, major traffic crossing the bridges every morning/evening.

I would echo this advice of living and working on the same side of the City, however the assertion that Galway Citys CAR traffic is caused by people commuting within the City no longer stands. The stats do not back it up OP.
The problem of Galway Citys CAR traffic is the vast amount of rural Galway car commuting.

More than 450,000 car journeys into Galway City each week
http://connachttribune.ie/450000-car-journeys-galway-city-week/

Webbs

If your working at hospital then the shuttle bus is an option for you from Merlin to UCHG goes every 20-30min and lets the bus take the strain.

You can then have the option of somewhere like Oranmore to live with all its positives amenities, schools shops etc

motley

Athenry is an option too. You would be in at the hospital not far off the same time it takes to commute from Knocknacarra. Has own bus service and direct train connection.

ggg16

Depends on your start time for work. If it's between 8 and 9 live close by. If not I'd say Oranmore or Athenry are options. Don't go too far out for your daughter's sake (and your own) as you'll spend forever stuck in the car going to activities. Shantalla and Salthill good options. I'd avoid Knocknacarra based on traffic and lack of amenities. What age is your daughter?

Goldrick lass

ggg16 wrote: »

Depends on your start time for work. If it's between 8 and 9 live close by. If not I'd say Oranmore or Athenry are options. Don't go too far out for your daughter's sake (and your own) as you'll spend forever stuck in the car going to activities. Shantalla and Salthill good options. I'd avoid Knocknacarra based on traffic and lack of amenities. What age is your daughter?

Start time will be 7/7.30am. And my little girl has just turned one.

GalwayGrrrrrl

If you are both starting work at that time you need to start looking at childcare options ASAP (unless you are working opppsite hours). Most crèches around UHG open at 8am so you’d need to start looking for a childminder/nanny.
I work at Uhg and Nuig and live on main road towards moycullen. Road is busy in morning but manageable. A lot of my colleagues live in moycullen (Maigh Cullen) and it’s a lovely place to live, community spirit etc. if you don’t want to live in the city itself.
As someone else said, you can walk between Nuig and Uhg, they are next to each other.

1perriwinkle

Hi,
I think the critical question is whether or not you and your husband will work 'regular' hours (e.g. Mon - Fri/9-5). If so then commuting from out of town is a great option. I'd highly recommend Athenry - on the train line and the service is fantastic, lovely schools, welcoming community etc. I'm from the city originally and we love living there. I work in the city and get the train in and out each day. I have several friends who work both in the hospital and the uni who also commute by train with no problems.
If you will be doing shift work then living on the same side of the river, as people have said, is your best bet. But don't go out as far a Moycullen or Barna unless you want to sit in traffic/get highly stressed about being late for a school/crèche pick up when it rains/there's gridlock!
And speaking from experience, when you are moving to a new city with no family/friends to help out (initially) then your #1 priority is helping your child settle in. Finding a friendly school/crèche where you will meet other parents is half the battle!
Good luck with the move, Galway city/county is a great place to live!