Relocating to Kerry from Dublin

Clara B

Hi all,
Infrequent poster in need of some advice from those who have walked this path before me.
Myself, my husband and our 3 kids (4/7/15) are seriously considering relocating to Kerry from Dublin (Sneem/Castlecove area-ring of Kerry ).
We have always loved Kerry and are happily in the situation where we can buy with no mortgage and keep our current home as a rental (or fallback if everything doesn’t work out😱).
We want to be close to the sea and in the countryside-but within 40mins of a town (for school and therapy for our autistic son).
I work in Northern Ireland and will have to leave on a Tuesday morning and return on a Thursday night. It will be tough-but a small sacrifice on my part to live somewhere we all love and somewhere that adds so much to our quality of life. My husband will be studying and therefore at home on the days I am away.
I would greatly appreciate any advice/recommendations/pitfalls to avoid to help us with our research .
Obviously-with restrictions we are unable to visit our desired locations at the minute. We hope to be able to do so during the summer.
As we have kids -particularly a child with extra needs-we need to be absolutely positive this is the right move and all our children’s needs will be met.
I am excited at the prospect-but very overwhelmed and nervous as it’s a huge decision.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks
C

outland1985

Good luck with whatever decision you make. A couple of pitfalls to mention, traveling from kerry to the North, that would be minimum 5 hour drive without stops each way. Id imagine that would be a difficult and taxing to do. I used to do drives like that and you'd be wiped the day after. Also if your doing that after a day's work take precautions to stay alert especially on rural roads. Think that commute even once a week would be tough.

Secondly and I've seen this happen but again may not effect you, is that a move like that can be tough on the kids especially the 15 year old, will they miss friends, activities ect... Can be hard to make new friends and they miss the convenience of walking to friends/Town /cinema. I presume you have no family there for extra support/child minding

In rural Ireland you spend 20/30 mins driving everywhere, shops for milk, dropping kids to school ect... Prepare to spend a couple of hours in a car a day dropping/ferrying kids around.

The plus side as you mentioned are to be mortgage free and to have lovely scenery and walks

If restrictions are lifted for the summer you could rent for a few months while the kids are off school and trial it.

wench

Clara B wrote: »

My husband will be studying and therefore at home on the days I am away.

What would be the plan once he finishes studying? Will he be job hunting, and if so, would there be local employment opportunities for him there?

Skipduke

Not really sure if this works long term. The drive from south Kerry to the north is stressful. You’ll spend most of the journey getting out of Kerry 😂 also the area you’ve chosen is quite remote. Are your kids prepared to be in the middle of nowhere ? Think the nearest school for kids with special needs is 30/40 mins drive. Shops ? Theyres small grocery stores everywhere but if you fancy a new pair of shoes it’s going to be Killarney or Tralee. Think you should do the journey from Kerry to the north a few times before you bother house hunting

keane2097

Why not rent a house for a couple of months and try it out? That commute will break you

Fr Tod Umptious

Hi OP

You are going to be pretty remote down there in Castle Cove.

Along the ring of Kerry between Sneem and Waterville (21 miles, 40+ mins drive) there is just a single shop/petrol station and there is not much more in Waterville or Sneem.

From Castle Cove the next decent towns with the likes of an Aldi, Lidl, SuperValue etc are Kenmare (25 miles) to the east and Cahirsiveen (30miles) to the west.

Both are the best part of an hours drive, on poor roads.
These are the towns with secondary schools also so the kids will be making that trip by bus.

Killarney which is a bigger town is over an hour away over bad roads and Tralee with a proper hospital etc is almost 2 hours drive away.
Cork, obviously a big city, is over 2hrs away but that will be reduced in a few years once the Macroom bypass is finished.

As for driving to NI, the border is realistically 6 hours away without a stop, and that's just the border, where in NI are you going to ?
And that is assuming no traffic close to Dublin, plus the getting out of Kerry part of that trip is poor roads

The reality is OP it's very remote, too remote I would say.

As another poster asked what will you husband do for work. In the post COVID world working from home is an option, but if it's not there is nothing by way of employment close by.
For broadband down there the best you can hope for is over the air fixed wireless or patchy 3G/4G

Kerry has lots of options for places near beaches etc less remote than Castle Cove.

Take for example Glenbeigh
A village in it's own right, close to the beach and mountains
It's 10 mins from Killorglin which has Aldi, Supervalu, two secondary schools and one of the biggest financial services companies in the country Fexco, not to mention places to eat etc.
It's 45mins to Tralee, and 35 to Killarney.

Or Fenit/Barrow area only 10min from Tralee.
Or Camp/Aunascal which is halfway between Tralee and Dingle with some great beaches and outdoor areas.

I'd very very cautious about going to a place as remote as Castlecove/Sneem.

outland1985

OP I agree with all that's been said here so far. If you are permanently going to be working in the North but still want rural/coastal life would you consider donegal, that would probably be only a 2/2.5hr journey but has scenery and beaches on a par with kerry.
In saying that you will still have similar issues with employment/schools/internet and amenities if you are in a remote locaction

JamesM

The commute, the weather and the distance from everything , except the beach, would be the points I would consider. I travel to the Castlecove area a few times a year. I'm retired now and travel at times when there is little traffic. Keeping, just about, to the speed limit, it takes close to 4.5 hours from Dublin. It used to take about 7 hours 40 years ago. You could add another hour or two getting up North, depending on the M50, traffic, and time of day. As someone said, getting in and out of Kerry during the tourist season can be very slow.
In Winter, and even Summer, when the rest of the Country is clear, the mist can close in for days and be very depressing. As the children get older, they will need to travel farther to the senior schools. Major shopping will mean longer journeys. Local shops will be a lot more expensive than Dublin.
Having said all that, we seldom travel abroad and there is nowhere I would rather be for the Summer months that I spend there.
EDIT: I see Father Tod has made all my points and more, much better than I did. Fenit would be my second favourite place in Kerry

cnocbui

I wouldn't comtemplate that unless I could fly via Shannon or had a private helicopter.

It might be more practical to look for some rural alternative thats only minutes from a motorway, such as near Lough Derg.

kerryjack

Very negative on here, go for it and give it a try for a year or two, look at it as an adventure for the kids could be life changing.

Dial Hard

kerryjack wrote: »

Very negative on here, go for it and give it a try for a year or two, look at it as an adventure for the kids could be life changing.

People aren't being negative, they're being realistic.

Skipduke

Dial Hard wrote: »

People aren't being negative, they're being realistic.

think OP would be ok if she can work from home or find another job. otherwise, living there is grand. a little bit more driving than she would be used for milk and bread but I guess that's the whole point- to escape from the busier lifestyle.

HeidiHeidi

I'd agree with the posters who advise renting for a period to see how the actual reality of living in that part of the world matches with your idea of it.


I have to say, the commute (even once each way weekly) from the far end of Kerry to NI (you don't say where in NI) would be an absolute nightmare and dealbreaker for me though.

Yakult

Skipduke wrote: »

Not really sure if this works long term. The drive from south Kerry to the north is stressful. You’ll spend most of the journey getting out of Kerry.

+1

Everything else is fine and wouldn't bother me regarding the move, but this would be an issue to really think about.
Thats a tough and long drive and to me, for such a short work spell, I just don't think it's worth the commute of 11-12 hour round trip.
It could also prove quiet dangerous. Would you be working on the Thursday and commuting down that night?

Other than that, it's a beautiful area, lovely people and communities. I couldn't recommend it any more but that commute.

Best of luck in what ever you choose!

Fr Tod Umptious

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

I'd agree with the posters who advise renting for a period to see how the actual reality of living in that part of the world matches with your idea of it.


I have to say, the commute (even once each way weekly) from the far end of Kerry to NI (you don't say where in NI) would be an absolute nightmare and dealbreaker for me though.

It would not be possible to be in NI Tuesday to Thursday during normal business hours from south Kerry without either
a) Leaving at 3am Tuesday morning and getting back in the early hours Friday morning.
Or
b) Leaving sometime Monday afternoon/early evening and getting back Friday morning/afternoon.

That's going to kill you OP

Buddy Bubs

540kms sneem to belfast (not sure what part of NI you work in but doesn't really matter its going to be that ballpark or more).

5 hrs 51 according to Google maps

I'm going to make an assumption here that you are paying for your own car

1100 kms a week is going to be the guts of 90 to 100 euro a week on fuel alone. 5000 a year
You'll go through 2 sets of tyres so another 1000
You'll need to service car twice so guts of another 600 euro
Your car will have 200k kms on it after 4 years even if you buy new rendering it close to fully depreciated after 4 years. Let's say a 30k car, 20k or more depreciation after 4 years so 5k a year. Plus the associated costs of replacing parts on a car as they wear out with that mileage.
Already your commute us costing you 12000-14000 a year.
That's before you consider You'll be driving a lot around the locality on top of that.
You may be mortgage free, but your commute will be a mortgage like cost and keep you away from family for half the week.
As another poster said, to be in work for Tuesday You'll be leaving at 3 a.m. and when you leave on Thursday you won't be back for 6 hours after you finish.

All in all, utter madness. I don't think there's many people would be able to pull this off for more than a couple of months.

Skipduke

Buddy Bubs wrote: »

540kms sneem to belfast (not sure what part of NI you work in but doesn't really matter its going to be that ballpark or more).

5 hrs 51 according to Google maps

I'm going to make an assumption here that you are paying for your own car

1100 kms a week is going to be the guts of 90 to 100 euro a week on fuel alone. 5000 a year
You'll go through 2 sets of tyres so another 1000
You'll need to service car twice so guts of another 600 euro
Your car will have 200k kms on it after 4 years even if you buy new rendering it close to fully depreciated after 4 years. Let's say a 30k car, 20k or more depreciation after 4 years so 5k a year. Plus the associated costs of replacing parts on a car as they wear out with that mileage.
Already your commute us costing you 12000-14000 a year.
That's before you consider You'll be driving a lot around the locality on top of that.
You may be mortgage free, but your commute will be a mortgage like cost and keep you away from family for half the week.
As another poster said, to be in work for Tuesday You'll be leaving at 3 a.m. and when you leave on Thursday you won't be back for 6 hours after you finish.

All in all, utter madness. I don't think there's many people would be able to pull this off for more than a couple of months.

forgot to mention the new set of brake pads from buzzing around those country roads and up to NI on the motorways. drove from that area in Kerry to belfast myself last summer. takes up most of the day.

maybe OP is an MEP and can claim expenses lol

cnocbui

I once sat next to someone on a flight from London to Shannon on a Friday evening. He was returning home at the end of his working week. Wife and kids lived locally while he worked in London and commuted at the start and end of each week.

If it were possible to fly, it would be feasible.

HeidiHeidi

cnocbui wrote: »

I once sat next to someone on a flight from London to Shannon on a Friday evening. He was returning home at the end of his working week. Wife and kids lived locally while he worked in London and commuted at the start and end of each week.

If it were possible to fly, it would be feasible.

I had meant to say that!



If you were within reach of Derry or Belfast airports and could fly, it would still be a complete PITA (in my opinion), but might just be doable depending on your tolerance for that kind of thing. At least you wouldn't be so much at the mercy of roads/roadworks/traffic/falling asleep and winding up in a ditch (or worse). And it would have to be cheaper!

Five Eighth

OP have you commuted previously (long-distance, rural roads)? The commute you're proposing is madness. Also dangerous. Imagine doing it during the winter months? Might have some chance if you could fly from Farranfore. What about looking for work closer to Kerry?

dobman88

As someone who is from Kerry, currently living in Meath for at least another few years, I fully understand your excitement at the prospect of a move. The poster, Tod, above has made some excellent points which I think you should really read carefully.

It sounds like you might be in a position to buy a house to use as a holiday home in south Kerry instead of moving there permanently.

You'd get all the benefits of a rural location whenever you wanted while also keeping the 15 year old happy around mates and have access to top quality services for your other child by continuing to live in Dublin. Also, that commute from Kerry to NI would be an absolute killer and you'd be away from home more often than you're there because of time on the road and unsustainable imo.

And, if/when you decide to make the move, you will have a connection to the area by having a holiday home and visiting regularly and you could also hire or ask someone local to mind it when you're there to build a rapport.

Not sure if that's something of interest to you but might be worth looking at it. Best of luck, whatever route you take.

Stihl waters

Life wont be worth living doing that drive twice a week

beertons

Fly if you can. Or get work down there. That return trip by car every week can only be done for so long.

ChippingSodbury

South Kerry is a fabulous place but it's miles (and miles and miles) from NI. One of my neighbours has a 2nd home in Kenmare and it's a 5 hour drive from Sligo to Kenmare and Sneem is even further. If you're going to continue to work in NI, why not consider Sligo or Donegal?
https://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/tormore-glencar-north-sligo-sligo/4448304
I don't live a million miles away from there. It's stunningly beautiful around Glencar valley (that's the side of Benbulben in the photos). It's 15 mins from Rosses Point beach, same from Stredagh, 15 mins from Sligo town, about 40 mins from Enniskillen.

lbj666

If your gra for there is just developed from your time on holidays and over Christmas be careful, that part of the world as gorgeous as it is can feel a very different place over winter and that drive will be feel even longer especially during long winter nights.

Not to intrude on savings and earnings when you say morgage free even for prices there it suggests very modest living not a grand designs like palace with Swedish glazing looking out to the sea.

It sounds like you really value your career/job or perhaps salary reasons that you would consider doing such a drive. If you are very well compensated and hence sought after surely there are alternative opportunities closerby while maybe not as well reimbursed or inline with career asspirations you'd save money from all the commuting and have a better quality of life balance.

Cerveza

Go to the Healy Rae’s for a permit.

Fr Tod Umptious

beertons wrote: »

Fly if you can. Or get work down there. That return trip by car every week can only be done for so long.

There used to be flights from Cork to Belfast but I don't think they are there anymore.
Cork airport is about 2hrs drive from the OPs chosen location.
There are flights from Kerry (Farranfore) to Dublin every morning and back down in the evening.
That is about an hour and a half drive from the OPs chosen location.

Purple Mountain

OP, is there any chance you're romanticizing the thought of living in Kerry full time?
I live in rural Ireland and in the summer time, the views of the mountains and rivers along with the green rolling hills, it is truly magical. Peaceful and beautiful.
Then winter hits. There's moss and algae growing everywhere that looks awful and needs tending to.
The weather plays havoc with driving, one fall of snow and you could be cut off from civilisation. Icy, slippy roads can be treacherous but essential to navigate as the nearest shop is usually five miles away.
The romantic view of rural Ireland doesn't be long evaporating.

Bicyclette

I have an adult son with autism. He was a child once and we engaged with various services up to when he was 18.

My suggestion, for what it is is worth, is to find out what the services in the various parts of Kerry are like. As you are probably aware, they can be hit and miss, and there can be long waiting lists.

We were incredibly lucky to be looked after by Blackberry in Limerick. We had really positive experiences. However not everyone was as lucky. I can honestly say that Blackberry made a significant contribution to turning our son into the wonderful young man he is today.

There are beaches in many locations, but good quality autism services can be difficult to find and access. If your child is unhappy and not doing well, then it will impact on the rest of the family. Particularly if your husband is under stress from his studies and you are putting yourself under a lot of pressure because of work and travelling to and from Northern Ireland.

heretothere

As pretty much everyone has said, that commute would be crazy! You'd be looking at loosing most of Monday as you'd have to sleep before your long drive, then half of Friday because you'd be wrecked after the drive. That is assuming you don't have to work from home on those days.

I live less than 1.5 hour from Dublin (without traffic) but it's a world away! My college friend from rural Donegal used to stay with me during weekends couldn't believe we were so close to Dublin but felt so rural. Plenty of places way closer that will have the rural feeling you are looking for.