Looking to buy in Maynooth - Question

cavemeister

The time has come for me to finally be a grown up and I'm celebrating by taking out a ridiculous mortgage that I'll still be paying off when I'm about 70!!

Anyway, after much scouting, me and my better half have both agreed that Maynooth would be a great place to settle. Gorgeous main street, historic castles, great amenities and close to Dublin.

However, I'm not from the area and know little of the where to and where not to buy.

2 Questions.
1. Recommendations for estates to look at and estates to avoid (for whatever reason)
2. What are peoples thoughts on Meadowbrook, Moyglare and Newtown.

Any feedback would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

IrishAlice

Hi cavemeister, congrats on your decisions such an exciting time! 

We bought in Maynooth 3 years ago and absolutely love it. 

The better estates in my view would be Rockfield, Parklands, Silken Vale of the older estates. I don't know much about the new build estates. 
The above 3 would be quite pricey to buy and often times require quite a bit of modernisation which is a downside but the neighbourhoods are lovely and the houses are a good size. 

We bought in Brookfield which is across from Meadowbrook and the houses are more or less the same layout. Positives are that the house is a nice size with a big garden and it was reasonably priced as it needed work. Downside I would say is the number of rented houses in the estate. We are lucky as there aren't many students so it's quiet but a lot of the houses are in desperate need of some TLC! 

There are quite a lot of students in Meadowbrook and Moyglare, not too sure about Newtown. 

My advice would be to view any house your interested and take a walk around the estate - see how well the houses are looked after and if you can take another drive back later at night on a Wednesday or Thursday and see what the noise levels are like as the student usually go out on these nights

Best of luck!

Rathkenny

It would depend on which estate in Moyglare you were looking at. Moyglare Abbey has very few students. The vast majority of houses are owner occupied and is a well kept and quiet estate. There may be more students in Moyglare Village and possibly Moyglare Hall but I know a fair few families in Moyglare Hall that are very happy there.

Newtown Court is a very nice and quiet estate with a lot of families.

Best of luck with your search. Maynooth is a great town.

lordgoat

Bought about a month ago but been living here for 15 years or so.

Loads of lovely estates to live in it'll come down to personal preference. I never wanted to live the Moyglare side of town. Just a personal choice. But lovely houses there and well established estates but you generally have to drive through the town. This is something you will want to mostly avoid.

Best advice. Look on daft, talk to estate agents. Again personal opinion means there is 1 of which I would never use or recommend. Left our house keys into a shop to collect...

What are you priorities for buying? New build? Close to school? Big garden? Commute? Answer this and you'll have a fairly good idea of where you don't want to live in the town.

Oh and best of luck!

Moonbeam

Park Lands and Rockfield are both lovely, Silken Vale is nice.
Maynooth Park is a nice older estate.

Davexirl

Morning everyone, what is Straffon Wood like? It looks to be right on the outskirts beside the M4, say there might be constant noise coming from the motorway because of its location.

Staplor

I went to look at one, and left after seeing the sitting room, it was very small.

Fire1985

cavemeister wrote: »

The time has come for me to finally be a grown up and I'm celebrating by taking out a ridiculous mortgage that I'll still be paying off when I'm about 70!!

Anyway, after much scouting, me and my better half have both agreed that Maynooth would be a great place to settle. Gorgeous main street, historic castles, great amenities and close to Dublin.

However, I'm not from the area and know little of the where to and where not to buy.

2 Questions.
1. Recommendations for estates to look at and estates to avoid (for whatever reason)
2. What are peoples thoughts on Meadowbrook, Moyglare and Newtown.

Any feedback would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi,

Im from maynooth so heres my advice, best estates are castlepark, parsons hall, moyglare abbey, parklands, rockfield... Bare in mind the housing in maynooth is generally old so the houses are cold.. Obviously if you buy a new house thats solved... Carton wood, & moyglare hall have new builds at the moment so worth a look. i personally wouldnt buy up in beaufield , meadowbrook, college green area because its where most of the students are staying... Nice houses and nice people up there but the students would be a problem for me. Especially if you plan a family soon.... Great location though...Old greenfield is a council estate , the only council estate in maynooth. has a rough element and wouldnt advise there either. Im sure a drive around the town would help you. the traffis from moyglare through the town is a pain sometimes. school out times etc.... but the is a back road around the town that brings you outby tesco ...

L1011

There is another council estate in Maynooth... (O'Neill Park)

gonko

I'd rethink the whole Maynooth thing. It's a student town really with a big tesco and a train station. Couple of bars and a main street.
Houses are way overpriced for what you get too.

I'd also comment, I do frequent maynooth for the sports world store and the odd bit of shopping in tesco. I found the people extremely rude. My kids would smile at the locals, only to be snubbed...and the amount of times I've nearly been ran over with my kids at the pedestrian crossing is shocking and in tesco, again ped crossing, people would prioritise their shopping trip over allowing you cross the road. I've only met one 'nice' person down there, unfortunately.

Not a bad place on the whole, but you couldn't give me a house there.

jethrothe2nd

gonko wrote: »

I'd rethink the whole Maynooth thing. It's a student town really with a big tesco and a train station. Couple of bars and a main street.
Houses are way overpriced for what you get too.

I'd also comment, I do frequent maynooth for the sports world store and the odd bit of shopping in tesco. I found the people extremely rude. My kids would smile at the locals, only to be snubbed...and the amount of times I've nearly been ran over with my kids at the pedestrian crossing is shocking and in tesco, again ped crossing, people would prioritise their shopping trip over allowing you cross the road. I've only met one 'nice' person down there, unfortunately.

Not a bad place on the whole, but you couldn't give me a house there.

Interesting assessment and have to say pretty far away from my experience. There is a lot more than just a big Tesco and a train station. A good number of quality restaurants, a choice of places to do your shopping, a library, a gym etc etc. Not sure how you are separating/defining locals, but again I can't say I have experienced anything at the level you seem to have. I'd agree about the house prices but is that not generally the case outside of Maynooth as well?

yellow hen

gonko wrote: »

I found the people extremely rude. My kids would smile at the locals, only to be snubbed...and the amount of times I've nearly been ran over with my kids at the pedestrian crossing is shocking and in tesco, again ped crossing, people would prioritise their shopping trip over allowing you cross the road. I've only met one 'nice' person down there, unfortunately.

That has to be up there with one of the most ridiculous comments I've ever read here. And to be very honest, it reads as either very ignorant or bitter. Or perhaps a bit of both.

Fire1985

yellow hen wrote: »

That has to be up there with one of the most ridiculous comments I've ever read here. And to be very honest, it reads as either very ignorant or bitter. Or perhaps a bit of both.

I agree. Ridiculous.

Fire1985

gonko wrote: »

I'd rethink the whole Maynooth thing. It's a student town really with a big tesco and a train station. Couple of bars and a main street.
Houses are way overpriced for what you get too.

I'd also comment, I do frequent maynooth for the sports world store and the odd bit of shopping in tesco. I found the people extremely rude. My kids would smile at the locals, only to be snubbed...and the amount of times I've nearly been ran over with my kids at the pedestrian crossing is shocking and in tesco, again ped crossing, people would prioritise their shopping trip over allowing you cross the road. I've only met one 'nice' person down there, unfortunately.

Not a bad place on the whole, but you couldn't give me a house there.

The only thing I agree with is the house prices but north kildare in general is very expensive now. In fact houses are very expensive everywhere close to Dublin. Look at the new estate in Kilcock. Similar prices to maynooth & Kilcock isn’t great.

Maynooth has so much to offer I don’t know where to start. We’ve brilliant public transport, Dublin bus, bus eireann & train. Excellent schools and it’s the only town in Ireland to have a college ,. The college students give the place a great busy athmosphere if that’s what you’re into . We’ve good restaurants, cafes and decent shops. we’ve got Dunne’s stores , Tesco, boots , sports direct , super valu , Aldi , Lidl , subway , elverys, great pubs , plenty of takeaways, within walking distance of carton golf course which is beautiful for walks. Glen royal hotel which has a great gym and pool. Numerous other gyms too.

Soccer club, gaa , rugby , tennis , etc.

Maynooth has lovely people in it but as with ALL towns, cities & villages across Ireland there’s people who aren’t nice.

Great town !!

L1011

Carton Park/Tesco gets lots of customers from outside the town so assuming they're from Maynooth is rather a leap.

yellow hen

L1011 wrote: »

Carton Park/Tesco gets lots of customers from outside the town so assuming they're from Maynooth is rather a leap.

I think it's beside the point to be honest. It's a juvenile sweeping comment with no merit and certainly of no help to the OP.

lordgoat

LOL - someone didn't smile at your little brats? awwww you've plenty to be complaining about.

AttentionBebe

gonko wrote: »

I'd rethink the whole Maynooth thing. It's a student town really with a big tesco and a train station. Couple of bars and a main street.
Houses are way overpriced for what you get too.

I'd also comment, I do frequent maynooth for the sports world store and the odd bit of shopping in tesco. I found the people extremely rude. My kids would smile at the locals, only to be snubbed...and the amount of times I've nearly been ran over with my kids at the pedestrian crossing is shocking and in tesco, again ped crossing, people would prioritise their shopping trip over allowing you cross the road. I've only met one 'nice' person down there, unfortunately.

Not a bad place on the whole, but you couldn't give me a house there.

So...you don't actually live there then? :rolleyes: I've been here 12 years OP. It's a great little town. I've been in the Newtown area for most of that time and it's lovely and quiet, but still near the town and train station.

gonko

I see the Maynooth locals are out in force defending their area and house prices.

OP you even note one person referred to my 3 year old and 1 year old as little brats. This is the Maynooth way from my experience, and we see it again on this thread. Hostile and defensive, rude and bitter......generally not a happy bunch. If you see someone from there actually look happy or smile......take a photo. It'll be rarer than big foot.

I know the area very well, I've been in and out of there over the past 12-15 years.
Personally, I'd rather live in a tent. It's a shame, I'm sure there are nice folk there, I just haven't met them yet. I live in hope though.

L1011

There's only one example of bitterness on here.

If you dislike the town that much I'd suggest you stop going there

gonko

L1011 wrote: »

There's only one example of bitterness on here.

If you dislike the town that much I'd suggest you stop going there

So if I don't share the same opinion as the locals, leave....?

Im not bitter at all by the way. I just gave an opinion based on my (extensive) experience with the place.
OP can take it or leave it. Far be it for me to tell someone where to live, but I will offer an opinion provided I have some knowledge or experience on the topic.

Seth Brundle

gonko wrote: »

So if I don't share the same opinion as the locals, leave....?

Im not bitter at all by the way. I just gave an opinion based on my (extensive) experience with the place.
OP can take it or leave it. Far be it for me to tell someone where to live, but I will offer an opinion provided I have some knowledge or experience on the topic.

Your extensive experience differs from everyone else's extensive experience yet you still want to get your point across.
My advice to you would be to stay away from Maynooth. Everyone else would be better off!

lordgoat

gonko wrote: »

I see the Maynooth locals are out in force defending their area and house prices.

OP you even note one person referred to my 3 year old and 1 year old as little brats. This is the Maynooth way from my experience, and we see it again on this thread. Hostile and defensive, rude and bitter......generally not a happy bunch. If you see someone from there actually look happy or smile......take a photo. It'll be rarer than big foot.

Guessing the apples don't far fall from the tree tbh.

I wholeheartedly recommend you keep your extensive (LOL) of the town to tesco and sports world.

Actually judging you on this, i'd guess someone is bitter about not being able to afford Maynooth house prices...

By the way how else did you expect to be treated when your original post was so dick-ish?

ghostdancer

L1011 wrote: »

There is another council estate in Maynooth... (O'Neill Park)

it was at the start, but I think most (all?) houses have been bought back from the council?
I know several families that have been in there since it was built, and one of the post-primary teachers was (is?) a long-time resident.

ghostdancer

jethrothe2nd wrote: »

Interesting assessment and have to say pretty far away from my experience. There is a lot more than just a big Tesco and a train station. A good number of quality restaurants, a choice of places to do your shopping, a library, a gym etc etc.

agreed, Maynooth has far more amenities and features than almost any other comparable town in Ireland.
for its size, it's punching far above it weight.

most towns of ~15k people will have far less shops/facilities, and of a much lower quality IMO, and that's before the transport links, which are better than plenty of areas in Dublin itself.

AttentionBebe

gonko wrote: »

So if I don't share the same opinion as the locals, leave....?

Im not bitter at all by the way. I just gave an opinion based on my (extensive) experience with the place.
OP can take it or leave it. Far be it for me to tell someone where to live, but I will offer an opinion provided I have some knowledge or experience on the topic.

Does your extensive experience include actually living there? If you think that every single person you meet from an area is horrible, did you ever consider that the problem might actually be you? :rolleyes:

gonko

I'll stay out of this thread OP. You can deduce from my treatment on here and the smart arsed type replies, what the locals are like.

Happy house hunting.

Fire1985

gonko wrote: »

I'll stay out of this thread OP. You can deduce from my treatment on here and the smart arsed type replies, what the locals are like.

Happy house hunting.

Go on any forum and say ridiculous things about an area & I guarantee you’ll get the same replies. I’d say anyone who read your original reply regarding people not smiling at your kids thought you were pathetic. God love ye

yellow hen

gonko wrote: »

I'll stay out of this thread OP. You can deduce from my treatment on here and the smart arsed type replies, what the locals are like.

Happy house hunting.

From your treatment on here??? Please. Stop.

cavemeister

Thanks for all the feedback folks. I'm delighted to say that I have gone sale agreed on a lovely house in Maynooth. Looking forward to spending the next part of my life in this gorgeous town!!!

yellow hen

cavemeister wrote: »

Thanks for all the feedback folks. I'm delighted to say that I have gone sale agreed on a lovely house in Maynooth. Looking forward to spending the next part of my life in this gorgeous town!!!

Congratulations op. I don't think you'll regret it as a place to live. Hope the sale goes quickly and smoothly for you.

gonko

Fire1985 wrote: »

Go on any forum and say ridiculous things about an area & I guarantee you’ll get the same replies. I’d say anyone who read your original reply regarding people not smiling at your kids thought you were pathetic. God love ye

They are not rediculous. Its just a different breed of person I guess in different areas. Any other area I go to, the kids get a smile or nod. I acknowledge others, I don't get ran off the road at pedestrian crossings...... It's just about being friendly. Perhaps it's maynooth locals all out of shape that their student town is reaching overcapacity and the little roads in and out are a nightmare, making everyone angry down there.

Maynooth as a place is not too bad as such. Typical student town, decent anemities etc, good bars etc.
But look, I have to say, the people (and based on this thread) are not the most pleasant. Someone even made reference to my ability to buy in Maynooth....again, getting personal with me insinuating I must be less well off and somehow the maynooth resident is richer and wealthier, a sick pig attitude to have.....again, typical of my experience with the place. I made clear you could not give me a house there for free. Although buying there would have me on a snidge cheaper mortgage.
Note....i am sure there are nice people there as I say, but in my experience it is heaving with rude, ignorant people.

Wishing OP all the best in the new home. Well done.

lordgoat

ah a last word haver as well.... enjoy the shopping, watch out for the pedestrian crossings and maybe keep the kiddies at home in case no one smiles at them.

jethrothe2nd

cavemeister wrote: »

Thanks for all the feedback folks.  I'm delighted to say that I have gone sale agreed on a lovely house in Maynooth.  Looking forward to spending the next part of my life in this gorgeous town!!!

Congratulations. I hope you enjoy living in Maynooth. It's a great place to live.

gonko

lordgoat wrote: »

ah a last word haver as well.... enjoy the shopping, watch out for the pedestrian crossings and maybe keep the kiddies at home in case no one smiles at them.

That's quite rude and saracstic of you.
Your stereotypical Maynooth resident basically.
Are you a Maynooth local. If I was a betting man I'd say yes.

It would also validate what I've said in this thread all along LOL.
So go on tell us, are you a Maynooth resident????

Staplor

Eh, seriously why is everyone giving in and responding to trolling?

gonko

It isn't trolling. It's just full of poor ****ty people. Even today leaving the new sports shop, this disgusting piece of vermin pushed past my 3 year old as she was following her mother.

It's not a nice place and there are lots more houses going up there, perhaps to rent out to more students.

yellow hen

gonko wrote: »

It isn't trolling. It's just full of poor ****ty people. Even today leaving the new sports shop, this disgusting piece of vermin pushed past my 3 year old as she was following her mother.

You're absolutely correct of course. Someone brushed past my son rather gruffly on the way into Arnotts yesterday. I will therefore never return. Place is full of ruffians.

RisingDamp

gonko wrote: »

It isn't trolling. It's just full of poor ****ty people. Even today leaving the new sports shop, this disgusting piece of vermin pushed past my 3 year old as she was following her mother.

It's not a nice place and there are lots more houses going up there, perhaps to rent out to more students.

Why do you keep going back?!

citylad74

What’s that Hayfield estate like? It looks very nice but a little out of town perhaps. It’s a little pricey now also. Carton Grove looks nice also. Seems to be quite a delay after the first phase though.

Looking at buying a nice family home in Maynooth over the next 12 months hopefully so appreciate any recommendations. Would prefer a relatively newer house if possible.

mirrorwall14

I don’t agree with many of the negatives above having lived in the area now for nearly 15 years. The amenities are great, town is lovely. However the one thing I will flag is the traffic. Depending on where you live in the town, and what your activities are you potentially will spend a horrendous amount of time in traffic at all times of the day but particularly for extended periods around rush hour and school openings/closures. There are more traffic lights in maynooth than I have ever seen in a town!

I will also agree in relation to the beaufield area estates in particular. They are largely very cold, in need of upgrading and many coming on the market are ex student rentals in need of a fair amount of TLC so buyer beware in terms of cost to do those works.

We ended up buying elsewhere primarily due to the traffic and the premium on poor condition second hand homes but I still go to/pass through maynooth three or four times a week

Goose76

My partner and I are vaguely considering Maynooth for our first home. We are familiar with the area and know it has a lot going for it.

Our main concern (apart from being further out from Dublin than ideal) is the students. Particularly, my partner made a point that we could buy a lovely house and everything could seem perfect but we could then have a massive turnover of student neighbours each academic year with no stability in terms of who we are living beside year on year.

Of course its not students as a whole we are concerned with but the likelihood of loud weekday parties on a regular basis is extremely off-putting. I am a very light sleeper and could not cope with this.

My questions are:
- Which estates are least likely to have large numbers of undergrad students
- Would estate agents typically be reliable / honest in terms of telling you the demographic of the estate you are looking at.

L1011

The estates with the most students would be College Green, Kingsbry, Cluain Aoibhinn, Beaufield. Estate agents will lie through their teeth

The % of students in housing estates is falling year on year as the houses just get too expensive and the college builds more of its own units.

Cakes and Ale

There's a huge increase in the number of students commuting too, which has also led to a reduction in the numbers renting houses in estates. I haven't found the students a few doors down from me that noisy - certainly there's no parties every week, and most of the time you'd never notice them. In fact the summer can be a lot noisier when houses rented by workers have evening barbecues. The estates mentioned though might be different (there's more owner-occupied in my estate).

The traffic is a much bigger concern to be honest. Dreading when the new secondary school will open and when I will have to be potentially doing trips to it!

L1011

The new schools impact on traffic could be very negative. Plenty of places are borderline for walking distance to the existing site and will be too far for the new. Not everyone will cycle - I did for years with similar traffic to now but the numbers were low and zero for girls.

Seth Brundle

The new school out the Moyglare Rd?
Will that actually ever get finished?

Orion

L1011 wrote: »

The new schools impact on traffic could be very negative. Plenty of places are borderline for walking distance to the existing site and will be too far for the new. Not everyone will cycle - I did for years with similar traffic to now but the numbers were low and zero for girls.

Add in the new estate planned for opposite the existing site and traffic will be chaotic up the Moyglare Road.

Orion

Seth Brundle wrote: »

The new school out the Moyglare Rd?
Will that actually ever get finished?

Good question. Building is scheduled to restart in April/May with a completion date of end 2019. Whether that actually happens or not is anybody's guess of course. There have been too many false starts already.

evil_seed

#it's still slowly getting built. Every now and then when passing by I notice an extra bit built

matsy1

We also had our heart set on maynooth. Has everything on paper, and educated students wouldn't put me off, that would actually be a good environment for my own kids to live in, IMO.

We changed our mind. We viewed many suitable houses, big gardens, leafy estates with green areas, close to sports and playgrounds. But the traffic is absolutely terrible, even on a Sunday, literally it's like rush hour Dublin city traffic, not an exaggeration. We couldn't believe it and couldn't imagine having to deal with it daily. Leixlip and celbridge maybe doesn't tick all the boxes but by far are easily accessible outside of peak times at least. I wouldnt rule out maynooth forever and would keep an eye on a possible solution from the council to fix it. The locals need to put pressure on the TDS.

Seth Brundle

matsy1 wrote: »

I wouldnt rule out maynooth forever and would keep an eye on a possible solution from the council to fix it. The locals need to put pressure on the TDS.

This isn't the thread for it but TDs should not be contacted regarding traffic management. It's a county councillor's role.