Rathdrum/Rathnew to Sandyford commute

adocholiday

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right forum. My wife and I are looking at buying a house in the Rathdrum/Rathnew area of Wicklow but we are unsure of the commuting situation. We both work in the general Sandyford area and can drive to work, and I'm mostly concerned about the general traffic en route.

Looking at Google maps, it gives an indication that it can be anything from 50 minutes to 2 hours on a typical day, which tells me nothing at all really. I've heard some anecdotal evidence from people who say that their commutes from similar areas take 45 minutes to an hour generally, but I don't know how reliable that is.

Is there anyone doing a similar commute? How do you find it? The last thing I want to do is spend a few hundred grand on a house and despise living there because of commuting

Also it'd be worth hearing people's experiences of the train from Rathdrum because I work in town too. Google tells me that it's about a 90 minute journey to Connolly which would be acceptable if accurate and somewhat regular.

dogmatix

I live in Glenealy (midway between rathdrum and rathnew) and commute to Dundrum daily so it is roughly the same commuting distance. Glenealy to Dundrum is about 40 minutes oustide of the rush hour.

Heading into Dublin -
Best be on the N11 no later then 6:45am - and 6:30 would be best. Otherwise wait until 8:15am as the N11 starts to ease up at that point. Worst congestion points are Kilcoole exit to Bray south.

Coming home -
Coming home is worse - ideally you should aim to be on the M50 by 3:45pm to be sure of avoiding long tailbacks all the way to Bray north. Certainly no later then 4:15. Traffic is usually fairly free moving by 7pm. Worst congestion points are Carrickmines to Bray south.

When the schools are out it is a much easier and less taxing drive.

A good alternative is to take the kilternan-enniskerry-roundwood road. It's over an hour but you are constantly moving, and on a sunny day it is a beautiful drive.

adocholiday

Thanks a lot @dogmatix that's very helpful. See the problem for me in particular is that my workplace is not exactly flexible when it comes to working hours. 9.00-5.30 is for every employee. And another consideration has to be for kids. We don't have any now but if some were to arrive in future then things like school drop off and pick up etc. all has to be considered and all of which fall into the rush hour slots.

I really don't fancy spending 3-4 hours per day in the car so we may have to seriously reconsider our choice of locations.

Cerco

There maybe a public transport option that might work for you.
E.g. The 133 bus from Rathnew plus Luas .
The Transport for Ireland app will give times i& interested.

CelticCub

Not to sound rude but when we considered moving we took a day off work, got up at silly o'clock and drove to where we were thinking of moving to and did the commute back to Dublin (leaving the village we were thinking of moving to at 0730)....that will give you a better judge of if it is something you can do or not than any comments or advise here.

My commute is just under an hour each way but no regrets.

adocholiday

CelticCub wrote: »

Not to sound rude but when we considered moving we took a day off work, got up at silly o'clock and drove to where we were thinking of moving to and did the commute back to Dublin (leaving the village we were thinking of moving to at 0730)....that will give you a better judge of if it is something you can do or not than any comments or advise here.

My commute is just under an hour each way but no regrets.

That's exactly what we're planning to do next Monday! Well we're going to stay in a B&B in the area on Sunday night and commute in Monday morning.

We have our eye on a house in the area but if it doesn't work out then we're going to rent in the area for a short term while we house hunt to give us a proper sense of living in the area. Thank you for the good advice.

Bandito909

adocholiday wrote: »

That's exactly what we're planning to do next Monday! Well we're going to stay in a B&B in the area on Sunday night and commute in Monday morning.

We have our eye on a house in the area but if it doesn't work out then we're going to rent in the area for a short term while we house hunt to give us a proper sense of living in the area. Thank you for the good advice.

Would a motorcycle be out of the question?

adocholiday

Bandito909 wrote: »

Would a motorcycle be out of the question?

No not at all, and it's something I always said I'd consider for a longer commute. I've never driven one so I won't commit just yet :P but it's definitely something I'd consider.

Bandito909

adocholiday wrote: »

No not at all, and it's something I always said I'd consider for a longer commute. I've never driven one so I won't commit just yet :P but it's definitely something I'd consider.

That's great, at least you're not dead set against it. I really don't know how people can sit in that rush hour traffic.

For that sort of commute a motorcycle would be ideal. The initial out lay may be a bit daunting, as in training, licence, bike, insurance, gear etc. But it's a small price to pay for the extra free time it gives you.

listermint

adocholiday wrote: »

No not at all, and it's something I always said I'd consider for a longer commute. I've never driven one so I won't commit just yet :P but it's definitely something I'd consider.

I drive woodenbridge to tallaght on motorbike 45-50 minutes all weather all commuting hours.

My commute has a shorter time than any folks in the suburbs getting a luas or bus to a city centre job.

Door to door

How Strange

Rathdrum is about 10 miles away from Rathnew and further off the M11.  I think commuting to/from Rathdrum would be easier in peak traffic as you go cross country into Roundwood and through Enniskerry out into Sandyford and I'd reckon its 1 hour, perhaps 1hr 20 at the worst each way.
At the times you're planning to commute, the M11 will be a car park.