Best and worst towns in Co. Galway

Dr_serious2

I see a similar thread has been done about other counties so I started one here.

The nicest town in Galway is probably Oranmore. There is quite a bit of competition for the worst too. Probably go for Ballinasloe, although there would be a few honourable mentions!

What town is the jewel in our crown and what town is not?

Tilikum17

Dr_serious2 wrote: »

I see a similar thread has been done about other counties so I started one here.

The nicest town in Galway is probably Oranmore. There is quite a bit of competition for the worst too. Probably go for Ballinasloe, although there would be a few honourable mentions!

What town is the jewel in our crown and what town is not?

Oranmore is a village.

Dr_serious2

Tilikum17 wrote: »

Oranmore is a village.

It's one of galway's biggest settlements now. Great input though, thanks

fifijk

best town is lovely loughrea.
As for worst, oh it's got to be Tuam. It's a kip.

gaillimh

I like Barna & Moycullen also.
Very small towns granted but they’re nice.
Kinvara also.

LFC Murphy

Thought these kind of threads were banned Mods..

Autochange

LFC Murphy wrote: »

Thought these kind of threads were banned Mods..

Dont be such a snowflake!

bagels

fifijk wrote: »

best town is lovely loughrea.
As for worst, oh it's got to be Tuam. It's a kip.

Tuam has an excellent swimming pool/leisure/fitness centre located in the town park, which itself is a beautiful place of tranquility with a paved pathway on the perimeter and a decent childrens playground. There are 5 primary schools and 4 secondary schools in the town and two cathedrals for the two main religions. Very active drama club, athletics club, swimming club, gymnastics club, hurling club, football club, soccer club, rugby club, etc cater for children. Many excellent local musicians provide music lessons for children and there's also a childrens church choir. There's a popular adults musical society, drama club and choir and there's regular shows in the local theatre. The nearest cinema complex is in Oranmore, about 25 mins by motorway. A Greenway from Athenry to Tuam and onwards through Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim up to Donegal/Derry is in the pipeline and should materialise within a couple of years. There are two 'independent' supermarkets and a Lidl shop, and also Aldi have acquired planning permission to build a store here. A brand new fire station is under construction and the new primary care facility (with x-ray and scan services) is about to officially open, and there's an ambulance base situated next door. The taxi services locally are excellent. Parking in the town centre is plentiful and very cheap too. I could go on and on singing the praises of Tuam but that's enough for now.

Mars Bar

the only thing lacking in Tuam is some sort of entertainment centre/plaza. A cinema and a bowling alley would transform the town. There's nothing else for doing if you're not involved in a club of some sort!

randomname2005

Mars Bar wrote: »

the only thing lacking in Tuam is some sort of entertainment centre/plaza. A cinema and a bowling alley would transform the town. There's nothing else for doing if you're not involved in a club of some sort!

You could say the same about a lot of places, Athenry, Barna, and I think Moycullen have no entertainment centre/plaza.

But that will all change in Athenry once the data centre is built. Oh, wait

Mars Bar

randomname2005 wrote: »

You could say the same about a lot of places, Athenry, Barna, and I think Moycullen have no entertainment centre/plaza.

But that will all change in Athenry once the data centre is built. Oh, wait

If athenry had a cinema or entertainment centre I'd go. 20 mins max on the motorway! Tuam ir athenry would be fine. There is nothing catering for the North of the county.
Barna is close to Galway. Moycullen would probably justify one at the rate it is growing!

Woodbrook80

I'll be biased love loughrea dont really hate any
Ballinasloe problem so many jobs etc have been lost due to places closing etc

Having driven around a lot of the county this last year, here's a quick pro/con for the few places I remember

Oranmore
Pro - Close to the city, lots of amenities, Renvyle Park, lots of safe walking, picturesque along the coast
Con - Utterly clogged with traffic due to illegal parking almost any time of the day or night, train station is a farcical distance away with no safe route for walkers or cycles

Athenry
Pro - Motorway access to all points of the compass, decent amount of amenities, good local groups actively campaigning for improvements
Con - deadly dangerous railway bridges with many single lane bridges with zero visibility make it lethal to travel in its environs especially if you are a pedestrian or a cyclist, Joyces are the only show in town for groceries and so the weekly shop is expensive

Tuam
Pro - It's a decent sized town with a heck of a lot of amenities, now has a bypass (thank F)
Con - knackers and scumbags galore bring Tuam a poor reputation that has been hard earned and well maintained over the years

Loughrea
Pro - right on the lake, lots of amenities, good selection of shops
Con - its right online the verge of being "too far from Galway to be convenient"

Ballinasloe
Pro - good sized town with a lot of amenities and a good selection of shops, own hospital. Has the horse fair
Con - don't ask me what it is in particular, there's just something I don't like about Ballinasloe

Glenamaddy
Pro - Ummm
Con - It's a really depressing place

Kinvara
Pro - the quintessential postcard Irish village, similar to Westport but on a much smaller scale, has some great festivals (cuckoo trad Festival and the boats one???), has a castle where you can get out on the roof (the view is class!)
Con - the road to it, pretty isolated

Gort
Pro - has lots of sexy Brazilians due to a meat factory that brought over a load, decent sized town, Coole Park nearby
Con - had really hoped that once the motorway opened (the section from years ago, not the new part) that it would have led to a transformation of the town, instead it hasn't moved on at all with about the only improvement being a few potholes filled in

Portumna
Pro - if you enjoy being out on the water, this is the place for you, lots of marine related activities, good sized village, fantastic forest Park and a class castle
Con - not a heck of a lot around, have to drive to Loughrea or Gort for most things

Nettle Soup

I really dislike Oranmore. It has no character whatsoever and always seems to be clogged with traffic. Parking is terrible too.

It's easy to diss Tuam but it actually has great character and there's always a lot going on in Tuam. I think it's well laid out too especially with the bypass.

Ballinasloe always gets me down.

atheercrg2015

Hi all, my family planning to buy a place in Country Meadows, Tuam, Co. Galway and I was wondering if any of you can give me some advise related to the social life , security,is it good area for living , I picked this area as I found it cheap and within family budget , we are living in Dublin and we have no idea about Tuam ,,,thanks a lot

Mars Bar

atheercrg2015 wrote: »

Hi all, my family planning to buy a place in Country Meadows, Tuam, Co. Galway and I was wondering if any of you can give me some advise related to the social life , security,is it good area for living , I picked this area as I found it cheap and within family budget , we are living in Dublin and we have no idea about Tuam ,,,thanks a lot

Honestly, you should take a trip down. It's cheaper for a reason.

bagels

atheercrg2015 wrote: »

Hi all, my family planning to buy a place in Country Meadows, Tuam, Co. Galway and I was wondering if any of you can give me some advise related to the social life , security,is it good area for living , I picked this area as I found it cheap and within family budget , we are living in Dublin and we have no idea about Tuam ,,,thanks a lot

PM sent

atheercrg2015

folks any of you living in Ballinasloe , how is the area , is it good for living especially in Esker Hills,,,,,,,,,,,,,thanks

badker

absolutely ridiculous thread

badker

badker wrote: »

absolutely ridiculous thread

Care to expand on that?

atheercrg2015

hi guys any idea about Lowville, Ahascragh, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, what do you think of the area in relation to social life, safety and security , access to Galway city centre and Athlone ,,,thanks a lot

Graces7

Oughterard is lovely