House hunting- Clonsilla vs Hollystown

jinish

Hello everyone.
Ya, after much thought we decided to buy a house. Tired of renting.
we both are working at St James's Hospital and plan to settle somewhere within Co Dublin and raise a family. I have a 3-year-old girl now, so good schooling is a priority.
Saw and read many posts about potential first-time buyer houses.
Ideally looking for large 3 bed or 4-bed house within the budget of 400k.
Just wondering would it be wise to buy a second-hand home within Castlefield woods, clonsilla or a brand new home within Hollywood rath, Hollystown?
We liked the Castlefield woods estate and there are two houses for sale now (BER C1 , C2), but Hollywood rath won't be ready until early next year.
Somewhere safe and sound that we could call home, and go for a walk or stroll without much safety concerns, that's what our dream.
Thanks for reading this and thanks for all the valuable comments that might follow!

daymobrew

From a public transport point of view Clonsilla would be best.
There are a number of schools close to both areas.

jinish

daymobrew wrote: »

From a public transport point of view Clonsilla would be best.
There are a number of schools close to both areas.

Thank you. We both will be driving that too early in the morning (before 7).
But what would be a sought after among both of these?

Former Former

If working in James then Clonsilla would be easier for the commute, either driving or by public transport.

Hollystown is lovely but be warned, there is going to be a lot of development there in the next few years. There are already plans to build 200 homes on the golf course.

jinish

Former Former wrote: »

If working in James then Clonsilla would be easier for the commute, either driving or by public transport.

Hollystown is lovely but be warned, there is going to be a lot of development there in the next few years. There are already plans to build 200 homes on the golf course.

Thank you.

Tom__jnr2

jinish wrote: »

Thank you.

Note that hollystown close to N2 that is the last motorway not congested miles before M50 junction.

Also, more houses are a good thing as there is a lot of space and empty land.

In addition to 200 houses there is another development planned for many more.

blanch152

There will never be public transport in Hollystown. Clonsilla will see the electrification of the Maynooth line sometime in the next 40 years. Think about how your children will get to jobs in the future.

Capital appreciation will be better in Clonsilla. It is also a more developed area, better schools, shops, parks, clubs etc.

However, if you want a taste of rural living while still close to Dublin, Hollystown or Ratoath are good options.

Where you want to live comes down to personal taste.

Candypuff123

I live in Hollywoodrath, the 40E is less than a 5 minute walk from my house and brings me to the Luas at Broombridge.

blanch152

Candypuff123 wrote: »

I live in Hollywoodrath, the 40E is less than a 5 minute walk from my house and brings me to the Luas at Broombridge.

Every half an hour that bus, isn't it? How does it compare to the Rail to town? About the same, but Clonsilla also has the 39 and the 39a and the other buses.

jinish

blanch152 wrote: »

There will never be public transport in Hollystown. Clonsilla will see the electrification of the Maynooth line sometime in the next 40 years. Think about how your children will get to jobs in the future.

Capital appreciation will be better in Clonsilla. It is also a more developed area, better schools, shops, parks, clubs etc.

However, if you want a taste of rural living while still close to Dublin, Hollystown or Ratoath are good options.

Where you want to live comes down to personal taste.

Thank you. I liked both of these areas but was more inclined to a new home in Hollystown rather than a second-hand home within Castlefield. As you mentioned it has its own drawbacks.

Weepsie

Clonsilla is the better area to be honest. More densely populated of course, but a lot more going on nearby.

Hollystown for the most part was not there at all not too long ago, doesn't have great public transport as yet and is surrounded by industrial estate. It's also under a busy flight path

If you're not settled on new build, the other Castlefield has some nice houses for sale, more garden space, less on top of each other, and nice and settled.

Just saw it was second hand homes in clonsilla. You can do things to improve the rating. You're closer to Blanchardstown Village too, if having a pub, or coffee shops etc is important.

jinish

Weepsie wrote: »

Clonsilla is the better area to be honest. More densely populated of course, but a lot more going on nearby.

Hollystown for the most part was not there at all not too long ago, doesn't have great public transport as yet and is surrounded by industrial estate. It's also under a busy flight path

If you're not settled on new build, the other Castlefield has some nice houses for sale, more garden space, less on top of each other, and nice and settled.

Just saw it was second hand homes in clonsilla. You can do things to improve the rating. You're closer to Blanchardstown Village too, if having a pub, or coffee shops etc is important.

Thank you. There are two good houses for sale within Castlefield woods. We saw two 4bed semi and it's really good. Built during 97, and asking price between 385- 395k. Whereas in Hollywoodrath, new 4 bed semi went for sale @ 395k in the last launch, and the next launch will be during summer.
My Mrs is inclined to a new build and I am inclined to location. We are gathering as much info as we can to make an informed decision.
Thank you for the input.

Jaster Rogue

We viewed a house in Hollystown last year. The noise from the airplanes taking off is like a bomb exploding. I was standing beside my wife in the garden and we couldn't hear each other speaking. Think even the EA was embarrassed. Would avoid unless you're deaf or used to that kind of sound. Apparently it's every day, 6am-10pm.

jinish

Jaster Rogue wrote: »

We viewed a house in Hollystown last year. The noise from the airplanes taking off is like a bomb exploding. I was standing beside my wife in the garden and we couldn't hear each other speaking. Think even the EA was embarrassed. Would avoid unless you're deaf or used to that kind of sound. Apparently it's every day, 6am-10pm.

I heard that. Couple of our friends got house within Hollywoodrath. They said to me as the time goes we don't usually notice the notice it seems. Having said that their opinion about the estate where the live could be biased.

Hurrache

blanch152 wrote: »

There will never be public transport in Hollystown. Clonsilla will see the electrification of the Maynooth line sometime in the next 40 years. Think about how your children will get to jobs in the future.

40E and the 40D. 40E goes around Hollywoodrath and the top of Hollystown. The 40D is a short walk from Hollywoodrath.

And I imagine in 15 years or so when kids are starting to go to work things may be slight different then.

Weepsie wrote: »

Clonsilla is the better area to be honest. More densely populated of course, but a lot more going on nearby.

Hollystown for the most part was not there at all not too long ago, doesn't have great public transport as yet and is surrounded by industrial estate. It's also under a busy flight path

If you're not settled on new build, the other Castlefield has some nice houses for sale, more garden space, less on top of each other, and nice and settled.

Just saw it was second hand homes in clonsilla. You can do things to improve the rating. You're closer to Blanchardstown Village too, if having a pub, or coffee shops etc is important.

Hollystown is a long established village, the estates the Hollywoodrath end are newer alright but still around 10 years or so with others there longer. It's certainly not surrounded by industrial estates, but I think there's confusion on the thread between Hollywoodrath with Hollystown.

Jaster Rogues comment about the noise of airplanes taking off is an extreme exaggeration though and not to be taken seriously. It's also not every day.

Jaster Rogue

Hurrache wrote: »

Jaster Rogues comment about the noise of airplanes taking off is an extreme exaggeration though and not to be taken seriously. It's also not every day.

How do you make that out?



And what do you mean by not every day, does the airport shutdown at the weekends or something?


Admittedly I have only been in the area on 2 occasions, but I'm not exaggerating what I heard on those days.


A quick search on google reveals the following posts from another forum about the area:

However, my enthuasiasm was very dented by the noise from the planes (more of a deafening rumble, about every 3 minutes for 20-30 seconds).

I know a lot of people said above that you wouldn't notice it after a while, but we thought it was simply deafening. As we talked/walked between holes we couldn't hear each other from 5 feet apart during the wake of take-off planes, it really was that bad.

I have a friend who lives there and when you're sitting in her garden you have to stop talking if there's a plane going overhead because it drowns you out.

Re the planes, some people get used to it, some don't. Anyone living there at the moment will of course say that you get used to it. My husband couldn't stand it and we moved. The noise in Holystown is worse than Tyrellstown.

The plane noises in Tyrrelstown are deafening. I couldn't believe it the first time I stayed there with my girlfriend. It was like a giant vacuum cleaner hovering over the house from 6am onwards. Personally I think the houses in Hollystown are scandalously overpriced. There is a pretention that they are in an affluent area of Dublin. They are not.

I would encourage anyone considering buying there obviously to visit and spend a full day in the area, to make your own mind up.

ongarboy

OP - maybe consider Hansfield as well which is almost an extension of Clonsilla. Lots of new builds going up there although they do seem to get snapped up pretty quickly on launch weekends when the various phases get released. There is an adjacent train station at Hansfield and all the high frequency 39/39A/39X buses as well. It will be part of the future Bus Connect corridor as well. Even though you drive, it's handy to have alternatives as needed (even the Nitelink goes by it) and several primary and secondary schools in the vicinity with Ongar village a stones throw for Dunnes and various other shops/cafes etc.

Zaph

Jaster Rogue wrote: »

And what do you mean by not every day, does the airport shutdown at the weekends or something?

The flight paths change, often due to the prevailing wind which will determine which runway is being used on any given day. I lived under a flight path for landings in Killester years ago and sometimes it really was deafening, so it's definitely a factor to be considered.

MayoSalmon

Location, location, location

Franz Von Peppercorn

I’ve visited people in hollystown and didn’t really notice the planes indoors. Airplanes fly over a lot of Dublin, in different directions depending on the wind.

Hurrache

Jaster Rogue wrote: »

How do you make that out?



And what do you mean by not every day, does the airport shutdown at the weekends or something?

First answer, because it's not true. What you describe is an exaggeration. There's no denying there's aircraft noise, but nothing like bombs going off.

Second answer, approaches to the airport vary.

blanch152

Hurrache wrote: »

40E and the 40D. 40E goes around Hollywoodrath and the top of Hollystown. The 40D is a short walk from Hollywoodrath.

And I imagine in 15 years or so when kids are starting to go to work things may be slight different then.

You cannot compare the public transport options between Hollystown and Clonsilla, the Clonsilla options are far better.

Hurrache

I'm not, and I didn't.

jinish

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Location, location, location

So which one?

jinish

ongarboy wrote: »

OP - maybe consider Hansfield as well which is almost an extension of Clonsilla. Lots of new builds going up there although they do seem to get snapped up pretty quickly on launch weekends when the various phases get released. There is an adjacent train station at Hansfield and all the high frequency 39/39A/39X buses as well. It will be part of the future Bus Connect corridor as well. Even though you drive, it's handy to have alternatives as needed (even the Nitelink goes by it) and several primary and secondary schools in the vicinity with Ongar village a stones throw for Dunnes and various other shops/cafes etc.

Hansfield is one of our shortlisted ones. None of them is available now (the one which we were looking). Also heard that institutional buyers are mass buying now. First-time buyers are elbowed.

Nijmegen

Having lived in both and gone through the same purchase decision, my pros and cons came down to more house for the money vs location. Clonsilla you're within walking distance of more stuff - I now take a taxi down to blanch village for a few pints with the lads vs walking there (and, admittedly, taxi back......)

Hollywoodrath the houses are great. Per square foot more for the money but also newer A3 rated homes, and to be honest after life in older celtic tiger era houses that is a big benefit personally. Planes don't bother me inside at all and even outside to compare it to a bomb going off is hyperbole I would contend. But this is a deeply personal choice.

The area will develop significantly. This will also drive public transport. Already well catered for in schools with more to come.

But definitely it's a trade off between location as it stands today and house you'll get for your money.

Hurrache

In terms of public transport Clonsilla currently wins over, but I'm not quite sure how much faster a bus would be into the city over Hollywoodrath, they've redisgned the 40D route and it's much quicker than it used to be. It's been a while since I bussed it from Clonsilla, I commuted by car when living there. But it is terrible for private traffic pretty much all day, Hollywoodrath has better and quicker access to the motorway and national route network.

Former Former

jinish wrote: »

So which one?

I think what you're seeing in this thread is that people get very defensive about criticism of their own area so it's really not a great way to gather info.

You need to do as much research as you possibly can. With the sort of budget you have, there is always going to be a compromise so you need to figure out what is important to you and what you can live with, and keep in mind you might be here for 20 years or more.

As to which is the "better" area? Well, if you had two identical houses in Clonsilla and Hollystown, the one in Clonsilla would be more expensive.
That's a very crude measure but maybe it answers your question.

PhoenixParker

You're both working in James's. Is that a long term thing or do you anticipate future moves?

Surely there are more easily commutable options to James's then either Clonsilla or Hollystown that are at a similar price point.

Hurrache

James's is pretty close to both areas.

Nijmegen

Former Former wrote: »

As to which is the "better" area? Well, if you had two identical houses in Clonsilla and Hollystown, the one in Clonsilla would be more expensive.
That's a very crude measure but maybe it answers your question.

Correct - You just get more house for your money in Hollystown. When I lived on the Clonsilla road I could walk within 15 minutes to a Tesco/shopping center/blanch village, about six pubs (maybe more!), etc etc etc. In Hollystown you can walk to Tyrrelstown and there's a great Lidl and a Supervalu etc, but you're just not in the same locale at all.

That being said, I got a brand new, perfectly insulated, bright and airy house that's 4 bedrooms and bigger than most of the older built houses by square footage down in Clonsilla, for the price of a much smaller house built to a different standard. Or if I had bought a new build closer to Clonsilla I'd have got 3 rooms instead of 4 for the price and maybe you need to buy a terraced rather than semi-d or a semi-d instead of detached.

That's where you're going to need to trade off.