Moving to Stamullen, Co. Meath

Dommy1801

My partner and I want to buy a house, and we found one in Stamullen. Neither of us are familiar with the area. What are the shops like? Traffic in peak hours in the village? I found an older thread about poor internet and phone coverage. Has this improved in recent years? Is there any more developments planned in the upcoming years? Is there many properties rented? Antisocial behaviour or crime? We would want it to be a good place to bring up children too, dont have any now but we want kids in the future. Any info would be much appreciated.

Sleepy

Lived there for about 6 months about 11 years ago and TBH, while it was "grand", I found it a fairly boring place to live. Not a lot to do in the locality so you end up driving everywhere, the local pub wasn't up to much, I remember the chipper as being good.

As for anti-social behaviour, it was quiet when we lived there but a lot of the estates were still very new so most of the small kids that moved into those homes are probably now entering their teens so I'd definitely be taking a drive around on a Friday / Saturday night to get a feel for the place before buying there.

sweetie

I've a friend living there with a young family and he loves it. Seems to be a good sense of community and they are happy with the school.
He likes the pub too.

lastusername

A very rural area so first question would be are you looking to live in a town or city, or would you like the rural life!

Dommy1801

lastusername wrote: »

A very rural area so first question would be are you looking to live in a town or city, or would you like the rural life!

We don't really mind the rural life. Are you from the area?

Dommy1801

Sleepy wrote: »

Lived there for about 6 months about 11 years ago and TBH, while it was "grand", I found it a fairly boring place to live. Not a lot to do in the locality so you end up driving everywhere, the local pub wasn't up to much, I remember the chipper as being good.

As for anti-social behaviour, it was quiet when we lived there but a lot of the estates were still very new so most of the small kids that moved into those homes are probably now entering their teens so I'd definitely be taking a drive around on a Friday / Saturday night to get a feel for the place before buying there.

Thanks Sleepy. We don't really go out that much so I don't think that would be an issue. I did find some articles about teenagers causing a bit of trouble but that was almost 10 years ago. Nothing really on google about any troubles, but I figured that may be due to the size of the town. Very little information online.

What were the people like when you lived there.

lastusername

Dommy1801 wrote: »

We don't really mind the rural life. Are you from the area?

Nope, I'm from a bit further north but know it's pretty rural. I'd imagine it's a nice quiet area and you're not too far from various towns. Would be a good bet to pop around and just chat to some residents and local people in the pub / shop(s), etc.

Wabbit Ears

I live there, great little village. Loads of sports clubs, Very light traffic, easy access to the bigger towns of Drogheda and Balbriggan. Easy access to the train station and the beach.

Lovely community with an active facebook community group. The pub is grand if that's your thing, not the greatest in the world, but its ok.

What are your interests/hobbies, Ill happily answer any Q's

Sleepy

I'm not sure I'd call it "rural" as most of the houses are laid out in large estates surrounding the village centre rather the more typically rural one-off houses running along the road to the village centre (a pub, a chippy and a centra when we lived there, not sure if there's more now?). Never really got to know any of the neighbours other than the lunatic we had directly next door, but couldn't hold that against the place as you find his ilk everywhere. I can't imagine how we'd have gotten to know many of them though as there's not really much to draw you out of the house in the area (no nice walks or the like) and our kids were much younger at the time so we wouldn't have been involved with local GAA clubs or anything like that.

It always felt more like a place you slept whilst doing your actual "living" somewhere else to me. From what sweetie says above that may have changed or perhaps I just wasn't there long enough or at the right time of my life to become part of the community? We never experienced any hassle there so I certainly wouldn't call it a bad area, just one that wasn't for us. It's funny though: where we live now (Portrane) wouldn't have much more in the way of local shops or anything (in fact, it probably has less than Stamullen) but with the beaches on our doorstep and the grounds of St Ita's on our doorstep and Donabate village and Swords only a short spin / bus ride away it doesn't feel as isolated or impersonal... We'd know all of our direct neighbours and plenty more beyond that now. Though again, it could be stage of life etc. We're older now, our kids are older and involved with local clubs etc, we're homeowners rather than transient tenants etc. etc. etc.

Dommy1801

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

I live there, great little village. Loads of sports clubs, Very light traffic, easy access to the bigger towns of Drogheda and Balbriggan. Easy access to the train station and the beach.

Lovely community with an active facebook community group. The pub is grand if that's your thing, not the greatest in the world, but its ok.

What are your interests/hobbies, Ill happily answer any Q's

Thanks Wabbit Ears

Are the locals ok with foreigners?

I read some threads from years ago about poor broadband coverage. The broadband would be a big thing for me as I would need a good connection for work, and even better connection for gaming.

I do enjoy walks in green areas, and my partner loves the gym. We're not too fussy about the pub, but we do like to go for a drink and/or dinner the odd time.

Is there any more planning for housing estates? This house is at the edge of Forge Hill estate, with the field right behind it.

Dommy1801

Sleepy wrote: »

I'm not sure I'd call it "rural" as most of the houses are laid out in large estates surrounding the village centre rather the more typically rural one-off houses running along the road to the village centre (a pub, a chippy and a centra when we lived there, not sure if there's more now?). Never really got to know any of the neighbours other than the lunatic we had directly next door, but couldn't hold that against the place as you find his ilk everywhere. I can't imagine how we'd have gotten to know many of them though as there's not really much to draw you out of the house in the area (no nice walks or the like) and our kids were much younger at the time so we wouldn't have been involved with local GAA clubs or anything like that.

It always felt more like a place you slept whilst doing your actual "living" somewhere else to me. From what sweetie says above that may have changed or perhaps I just wasn't there long enough or at the right time of my life to become part of the community? We never experienced any hassle there so I certainly wouldn't call it a bad area, just one that wasn't for us. It's funny though: where we live now (Portrane) wouldn't have much more in the way of local shops or anything (in fact, it probably has less than Stamullen) but with the beaches on our doorstep and the grounds of St Ita's on our doorstep and Donabate village and Swords only a short spin / bus ride away it doesn't feel as isolated or impersonal... We'd know all of our direct neighbours and plenty more beyond that now. Though again, it could be stage of life etc. We're older now, our kids are older and involved with local clubs etc, we're homeowners rather than transient tenants etc. etc. etc.

I was in Portrane once or twice. It seemed more rural than Stamullen. It is lovely there for walks, but I would not want to live there. It seems more like a remote holiday place to me (even though it is very close to Donabate).
I prefer parks to beaches.

I am guessing Portrane has more regular bus routes which is an advantage.

Unfortunately, we are priced out of Dublin areas. We were looking at buying in Rush, considering my parents live there, but we cant get a 3 bed house (that is pyrite free) in our price range

Sleepy

Yeah, Portrane would be more rural imo although, unless things have changed, it's better serviced with buses and has the train in Donabate. I'm more of a beach guy too, although parks-wise, we're well located for Newbridge in Donabate and the grounds of St Itas are lovely for walking the dog / kids in etc. The "holiday place" would definitely have been true in the past, and with the caravan park, still is to an extent. We were priced out of most respectable parts of Dublin as well but managed to find a fixer upper here for reasonable money 3 years ago.

It sounds like Stamullen might be more your place though! We were in Grange Walk at the time and I don't remember having any problems with broadband at the time though I don't think Virgin's cable based broadband was available. The results on Switcher.ie seem to back this up: https://switcher.ie/broadband/compare/broadband-packages/?region=meath&place=stamullen We've the same broadband providers in our area and on presumably similar lines we have no real problems with streaming Netflix while the eldest is gaming on his PS4 and the youngest is on Youtube on her tablet so I'd think you should be fine in that regards.

Wabbit Ears

Sleepy wrote: »

I'm not sure I'd call it "rural" as most of the houses are laid out in large estates surrounding the village centre rather the more typically rural one-off houses running along the road to the village centre (a pub, a chippy and a centra when we lived there, not sure if there's more now?). Never really got to know any of the neighbours other than the lunatic we had directly next door, but couldn't hold that against the place as you find his ilk everywhere. I can't imagine how we'd have gotten to know many of them though as there's not really much to draw you out of the house in the area (no nice walks or the like) and our kids were much younger at the time so we wouldn't have been involved with local GAA clubs or anything like that.

It always felt more like a place you slept whilst doing your actual "living" somewhere else to me. From what sweetie says above that may have changed or perhaps I just wasn't there long enough or at the right time of my life to become part of the community? We never experienced any hassle there so I certainly wouldn't call it a bad area, just one that wasn't for us. It's funny though: where we live now (Portrane) wouldn't have much more in the way of local shops or anything (in fact, it probably has less than Stamullen) but with the beaches on our doorstep and the grounds of St Ita's on our doorstep and Donabate village and Swords only a short spin / bus ride away it doesn't feel as isolated or impersonal... We'd know all of our direct neighbours and plenty more beyond that now. Though again, it could be stage of life etc. We're older now, our kids are older and involved with local clubs etc, we're homeowners rather than transient tenants etc. etc. etc.

I felt that at first when I moved in but the village has really grown into a community since then

Wabbit Ears

Are the locals ok with foreigners? Im married to one so yea really though, its as mixed as any north east coast town.

I read some threads from years ago about poor broadband coverage. The broadband would be a big thing for me as I would need a good connection for work, and even better connection for gaming. It has all the usual over the telephone wire providers, Sky, Eir, Vodafone plus some wireless options and some areas have Virgin, but not the full speed virgin. I work from home regularly, Game, netlix etc without issue.

I do enjoy walks in green areas, and my partner loves the gym. We're not too fussy about the pub, but we do like to go for a drink and/or dinner the odd time.: Atomic fitness is the local Gym, the guys there are fantastic. Theres the beach and gormanston college for walks., you can also walk in the countryside as many roads out just go rural right away There's also an active running club, you'll see people running and walking at all hours.

Is there any more planning for housing estates? This house is at the edge of Forge Hill estate, with the field right behind it.

There isn't planning on the field no. The area between citynorth and the village is being built now https://glenveagh.ie/developments/silver-banks/ . a small development is beside the grange estate, stamullen Place https://stanleyestateagents.ie/stamullen-place-gormanston-road-stamullen-co-meath/ and finally the field beside the motorway is due to be developed in the near future.

Viviana

Hey guys,

Do you have any information related to the new homes (Silver Banks)? Is this area ok for a family?
Since it's not far from Balbriggan, are this 2 areas different or really similar?
Many thanks!

Wabbit Ears

I was really impressed with the design for silverbanks with a good deal of greenspace and plans for a playground. Its a short walk to the shops, pub etc and the village is great for raising a family. I bought as an investment originally and now would never move while the kids are still young. So much stuff for them to do on our doorstep, so close to their school.

Stamullen is not Balbriggan. No comparison.

Pipmae

https://glenveagh.ie/developments/silver-banks/

gandalfio

Sorry to bump an old thread.

Has anyone any comments on the quality of local montessoris, primary and secondary schools?

Someone mentioned there's nowhere to go for nice walks without driving out of the town, is this true? We're looking at the Sliver Banks area.

Any feedback on the morning and evening commutes on the M1 as far as Swords and back? Google maps says 20 mins with no traffic...

Thanks