Canadian family moving to Ireland 2023 - Best town for young outdoorsy family (2+2 small kids)?

Daney

Hi folks,

We are a family from BC, Canada and have an opportunity to move to Ireland in 2023/24 with the potential to make it a permanent home. We have 2 small kids and we are moving because the housing in Ireland is much cheaper than BC. and much of our family is located in Europe.

We have a few ideas on where might be a fit but would love to get some local peoples thoughts on where might work for us.

Our priorities are:

1) Good community spirit with very low crime-rates.

2) The ability to buy a quality, 4-bed, detached house for under 500K euro

3) Excellent primary and secondary schools

4) Infrastructure for kids, park, indoor/outdoor playgrounds etc.

5) Good proximity to Shannon or Dublin airport (under 90mins preferable)

6) A population that is neither too small nor too big (5000-100,000)

Super grateful for your ideas with this, we are very excited at the potential of calling Ireland home!

HBC08

You have a lot of options with that budget.

As long as you are outside of Dublin crime rates are very low by most European standards and would be similar to Canada.

Numbers 1 to 6 are all very achievable in your situation.On your point 6 not sure if it's a typo or not but 5k to 100k would cover the vast majority of towns and cities in ireland.

Deagol

If being within 90mins of Dublin or Shannon airport is criteria then you have a massive choice. Obviously west coast probably you'll get more bang for your buck house wise (I live 30mins from Shannon airport and I paid <€320k for a 3500sqft house in west clare for instance).

Prices in any town over 5000 will be that little bit higher than leaving in a rural village.

The population number you give means you're only ruling out Dublin and Cork cities!

Larger towns with lots of amenities within your 90 mins to Shannon would be Galway, Limerick and Ennis. But between 5-20k population that meets your other criteria there must 10's of towns if not 100+.

I'd recommend you come up with some other criteria you'd like to try and narrow that list down a bit!

Daney

Thankyou very much for the quick replies, youve made us realise that we need to refine the requirements, here is an attempt at that (we've removed the population requirement). Also if you could raise your children anywhere in the country where would it be?

1) Good community spirit with very low crime-rates. No rough areas nearby. Community is well-educated (large percentage with university education).

2) The ability to buy a quality, 4-bed, detached house for under 500K euro. Communities that are beautiful and well maintained by their local councils.

3) Both the town center and fantastic nature within walking distance. Forest, hiking, biking and kayaking are things that we enjoy, but also we enjoy town-life, beers in a lively bar or coffee in a snug somewhere.

4) Excellent primary and secondary schools (schools with state of the art facilities for kids), high percentage of kids going to university/third level education.

5) Excellent Infrastructure for kids, large parks with indoor/outdoor playgrounds, swimming pools, sports clubs etc.

6) Good proximity to Shannon or Dublin airport (under 90mins preferable)

7) A train-station to major towns/cities (driving everywhere gets old fast).

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118716716#Comment_118716716

I don't think there's anywhere in Ireland that will meet those requirements. Like in any country, you're never very far from a "rough area". Even the very good and expensive areas have "rough areas" fairly close.

I've lived in Ireland almost all of my life and can't say I know whether my neighbours went to university or not.

State of the art schools, do you expect to pay or not?

Your infrastructure asks are tough too.

Have you ever been to Ireland? I'd suggest you come and rent/Airbnb for a couple of months before you buy so you can check out some areas properly.

Finty Lemon

Wexford town is a fantastic place to live.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118716777#Comment_118716777

Are you talking about Dublin?

There's no real rough areas within a 100kms of me.

OP,it's pricier than most places in the West but Westport fits your criteria (your airport would be Knock instead of shannon)

Galway would be another although more expensive again and a biggish city by Irish standards.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118716716#Comment_118716716

Ireland is not stratified very much outside the larger urban area. Towns will have a generally representative cross section of the regions population. Don’t believe I have ever heard of someone picking their place to live in Ireland because of the percentage of the population with university education.

Compared to Canada, Ireland is a tiny country, and population fairly dispersed outside of Dublin. The general experience in raising kids will be broadly similar irrespective of where you are. They will go to the local primary school of which there is a mix of good, average and poor, and unless interested in private secondary (high) school will also attend one of a small choice of local schools. Some brilliant, some average and some poor.

TLDR: Wexford, Kilkenny, Westport

Purple Mountain

I think Wicklow town vicinity is lovely.

*East coast- better temperatures usually.

*Under an hour from Dublin Airport/City/3rd level institutions.

*Beautiful town with picturesque beaches on the outskirts (Brittas Bay especially).

*Within half an hour, you can be in the Wicklow Mountains which are simply stunning and perfect for hiking, cycling, lake activities.

*The town has a good vibe about it, very clean, well maintained and artsy.

*Really friendly people, even just going into the shops, the staff are very welcoming.

I'm not from there but did a lockdown mini break last year and absolutely loved it.

I'm definitely going back.

fits

Killarney or Tralee. Great outdoors options and nice towns. Wexford and waterford are nice too.

actually check out Dungarvan Co Waterford I think that would tick most boxes.

BingCrosbee

Mullingar is a lovely town to live in. An hour from Dublin, surrounded by lakes, quiet, great schools and lovely pubs. Canal walks and cycle ways. You won’t get much better.

Daney

Thankyou very much for the responses, it is really very appreciated!

Your responses fill us with confidence as following our own research we were attracted to Kilkenny and Westport initially. I know the requirements here seem 'uber-specific' but since so much of Ireland is great for families we wanted to include specific things like our love for the outdoors (which is not everybody's cup of tea).

We hadnt considered Wexford or Wicklow towns so thankyou for this we will research this a little more. Wicklow does seem like a hikers paradise but it does seem quite a bit more expensive to buy property in, but maybe Im wrong on this? We are visiting in June for a scouting trip and one of the towns we had considered looking at was Ennis, do you feel this is equal to the likes of Westport and Kilkenny?

Thankyou everyone for your help with our hunt.

Just a little thing OP, the weather in Ireland varies greatly.

The East coast is a lot drier then the west. If you choose to live anywhere west, North West, South West, it rains a lot. A lot.

The east of the country is much better for outside activity.

stargazer 68

OP maybe I've missed it but have you got jobs here? Are you going to be looking for work when you get here. That will play a huge part in where to locate to surely.

naughtysmurf

Killaloe, pronounced Killalu, Co Clare would tick a lot of boxes

Daney

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118717218#Comment_118717218

This is a great point. We will be in a position to work remotely which has opened the country to us.

Daney

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118717209#Comment_118717209

This is definitely something we have been looking at. The climate here in BC is also very wet but you are right, hiking in rain vs no rain is a no-brainer....hmmm something to consider for sure!

Amadan Dubh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118716716#Comment_118716716

I think Greystones provides as many of those things as anywhere can. Especially the thriving, friendly, international community with a high standard of living and city culture to go with it in terms of being able to meet different and interesting people, while at the same time having nature on your doorstep. It won, for the second time in the last 15 years, an award for the world's most liveable community

https://greystones.ie/author/greystones/

It also has a fairly well maintained local community publication, with an Instagram page to show you what typically goes on in the town https://instagram.com/greystonesguide?utm_medium=copy_link

It is quite a wealthy town and this is reflected on the house prices which unfortunately would limit you and your €500k budget, especially for a detached house. But how could you say no to that town from looking at this picture form above (no waves for surfing but there is a blue flag sandy beach just out of shot below the photo and kayaking and paddle boarding are very popular in the sea there - to the top of the photo is a cliff walk and hike up Bray head that begins after walking 15 minutes from the centre of the town. Dublin is the other side of that hill and the train goes direct to Dublin city centre from Greystones through that hill);

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118717319#Comment_118717319

Yeah, I'm from the North West originally and have been on the East coast since 93, the difference in the weather is amazing actually for a small country. I thought about going back West myself about 15 years ago and it was the weather that put me off. I couldn't deal with the amount of rain that there is there.

Even if you don't live right beside the coast or mountains, you can be there in 30 mins. And the weather will always be better then the west coast.

Caranica

I would say Ennis has more antisocial issues with residents. Westport and Kilkenny import them in the form of hen and stag parties.

We moved from Dublin to kerry a few years ago.

Middle of the city to the countryside with 5 acres of land and 30 minutes drive to 7 beaches. Numerous mountains and forests and great neighbours.

I'm 7 minutes drive to the main town and under 90 to Shannon. I can almost see it from my house. A hill gets in the way. 3 hours to Dublin

Cork Airport about 2hours away maximum

FreshCoffee

Kerry / West Cork without a doubt. The Kingdom of Kerry especially if you like mountains in your backyard.

Type either into YouTube and have a look at the videos. And be sure to visit the southwest corner of Ireland when you come over. You won't be disappointed.

https://hqkerry.com/about-hqkerry/why-kerry/

NSAman

A few things and places come to mind.

kerry … fantastic beaches out door life, friendly people, who look after one another. Scenery is world class especially on the coast. Shannon 1.5 hours, Farranfore max 40 minutes from anywhere. Great pubs. Educationally same as most schools in ireland, less anti social behaviour outside Killarney and Especially Tralee.

kildare… clane/Newbridge/Naas…more anti social behaviour more shopping options lots for kids to do. Clongowes or Newbridge college and many other state schools. Curragh for walking/ hiking. Dublin airport max 45 minutes, Dublin not too far and available through train also in Naas and Newbridge. House prices higher though.

Hi op, one thing to keep in mind is access to transport. You mention "driving everywhere gets old real fast" so allow me to share what I did.

Wife and I (no kids) got rid of the car when saving for a place. We set one of our main criteria as needing to live without a car forever more so we moved to Athlone, which has a town bus service, is on the main train lines, on the motorway network that we could also easily walk and cycle around. We also still have the option of renting a car or van (GoCar) within 10 mins walk of where we live should we ever find the need arising. We're also within 90 mins of the main airport and have the option of buses close by that go direct to the airport.

Just something to consider aside from the other criteria you mentioned.

greenpilot

Depending on your career choices, Westport. Without a shadow of a doubt. Moved the 30 years ago and I'll never live on the East Coast again. A most wonderful place to raise kids.

greenpilot

One thing you will notice is the fear of everything that most North Americans/ Canadians carry with them, mostly due to gun violence/gun availability, will completely disappear. There are few guns in Ireland ( which is incredible if you consider our history), and our police are not armed. Ireland is one of the safest countries in the world.

A great move, you will be most welcome here. Again, Westport is the place. Such a strong community spirit in the town. The surrounding scenery and countryside is breathtaking. A direct rail link to Dublin and an international airport just 40mins drive away. Local public transport between the major Mayo towns is excellent.

If you ever end up there, give me a shout. I'm well known in Mayo and have plenty of useful connections.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118717733#Comment_118717733

The problem with mayo is understanding the native Inhabitants 😁

flended12

Lots of interesting insights to our lovely little country. Please factor in healthcare costs. Ours are high and the service is unfortunately crap on the whole. In fact everything is high and by and large cost v service delivery of a lot of services is poor compared to other modern countries.

All locations discussed are valid and if you can ease off on the 90min journey from Shannon or Dublin Airports then Westport is a great shout. Have been down a few times on holidays. Great town, plenty of social options. A short drive out towards louisburgh and your on the wild Atlantic way with some amazing beaches and activities.

Downfall? Wind and rain, but hey its Ireland.

Other options within 90mins of Shannon and some already mentioned

West Coast Clare

Athlone

Most of Cork County

Galway (property prices crazy) also an option with the new motorway from Limerick.

Trains are generally good but Dublin airport is not served by one. In saying that all railway lines between Dublin and the rest of the towns already mentioned are served well.

After all of that knowing the country well and taking into all the facts I'd look at Killaloe

(its population is quite small). 40mins from Shannon, 1hr from Atlantic Ocean, on the shores of Lough Derg (outdoors, river shannon, kayaking, mountain bike trails etc), Limerick university/city 20mins and if your willing just under 2hrs to dublin on a clear day.

You will definitely need a car as I dont think its served by a train. Closest train station is 25mins away.

The very best of luck with the search, I'd do a bit more research on the actual cost of living too. Ireland reminds me of a lot like new Zealand when I was there in mid 2000's. Two great countries but left with the feeling of 'squeezing people for every penny".

riclad

Mullingar is a nice quiet town, Good schools, plenty of shops , cafes shopping centres, nice park, look on daft ie Westmeath, Mullingar, houses 200k plus 3bed, make sure it's a non council estate, private estate, less than 45 minutes from Dublin City . Good place to live, safe, low crime rate I lived there for 12 years you don't want to live in a small town like 3000 population. Mullingar is a medium sized town but not a city , good range of schools, and shops cable TV and fast broadband avaidable eg 50 Meg plus or fibre installed see google broadband Mullingar eir or virgin media providers

Nice friendly people, good place to bring up a family

lawred2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118717255#Comment_118717255

Smashing spot

Paul_Hacket

Hi OP, I live in the US but am looking to move back with my American born wife at some point over the next couple of years. My situation is a little different from yours but a few things come to mind from looking at your criteria and from thinking about my wife’s situation and what it will be like for in making the jump over to Ireland.

ireland is a great place to raise kids and the schools are great in my opinion but at the same time understand that virtually everyone in Ireland goes to public schools and given that, a lot of the kids in school will not be on track to go to university. These days most go to some form of third level but a lot won’t and in my opinion that’s one of the things that make the schools great. You meet all kinds of people from all different backgrounds at school in Ireland and that experience gives children a lot of life skills. It’s a different set up to the US and Canada though where a lot of the “good” schools seem to have kids from very homogenous backgrounds.

similarly you’ll have a hard time finding a town where most people are college educated and professional. That’s not a bad thing from my point of view but be aware that there are no Portlands or Vancouvers in Ireland. Dublin would be the closest thing but I wouldn’t recommend it for reasons that would take to long to explain and you’re clearly looking for a smaller city/town and different environment anyway.

i reckon you’ll have a hard time finding somewhere that meets all of your criteria. For instance public transport and trains are fairly shite in Ireland, especially compared to most of the rest of Europe. You’ll end up using a car a lot just for regular day to day stuff unless you’re right in the middle of town in somewhere like Galway or Cork. Even though it’s larger than your criteria Cork might be a good bet for you in terms of social life, access to transport, cultural and sporting amenities etc. but getting a nice detached house there, even in the suburbs might be outside of your price range.

I have to say I’m curious if you’ve spent much time in Ireland? Have you ever done a winter there? Are you aware most of the schools are Catholic and the homes are FREEZING compared to north American standards? I’m not trying to put you off for a second, but the culture is very different to the US and Canada. For instance you mentioned you are looking for somewhere that is close knit. You need have no worries about that - pretty much everywhere in Ireland outside of the big cities is close knit but the flip side of that is that it can be a bit insular. Having kids will definitely help you make connections with other parents etc though.

Again, not trying to put you off for a second, you can have an amazing life in places like Kerry or West Cork, amazing scenery but long wet winters. Somewhere like Wicklow also has amazing scenery nearby and access to Dublin’s amenities but will be pricier and you might get less house than you’re hoping for as it’s basically within the commuter belt these days.

Akrasia

Ennistymon co. Clare. If you're outdoorsy you have the Burren national park, Lahinch beach 5 mins away for surfing, rock climbing, sea fishing etc

The town itself is really vibrant with good community spirit, good schools including a steyner primary school if that's what you're in to

About 50 mins from Shannon Airport, not too far from Galway City, you could get a beautiful place for your 500k budget

Yellow_Fern

There are a lot of comments here about crime, manly they claim that Ireland is especially safe. This is not true. Cities and towns alike would have crime crime rates that are middle of pick compared with Europe if you look at stats. I'm from a rural area. My house had about four break-ins over the years, but the risks are not extremely higher either. So Ireland is neither very dangerous or very safe.

If I was the OP I'd choose Central Europe, or Iberia over Ireland. You have everything, with much better value, and noticeable safer and far better scenery and nature. Ireland is death zone for ecology. The country has the worst ecological integrity index in Europe.

Tefral

Killaloe, Clonlara, Broadford, Ballina Co.Clare would be my vote!

I live in Broadford recently upgraded Primary, new secondary school in Tulla. Great community spirit and you have Lough Derg, Doon lake, River Shannon, 12 o clock hills etc on your doorstep.

Youd get a fine house for less than 500k. Closer you get to Killaloe/Ballina the house prices go up.

Wildly Boaring

OP when you say biking and kayaking.

Like whitewater and downhill or just flat water or sea kayak and road biking with few hills.

I ask cus a lot of good whitewater and downhill biking in some areas of Canada. Some areas here better than others. Like Wicklow and Kerry are hotspots. But some areas be a disaster, like most of the midlands.

But plenty flatwater spots.

Into surf?

When you say 90 mins to Shannon or Dublin. That a deal breaker.

Cus lot of those suggestions like Westport are not in there. Or any west Cork. Wexford be a stretch. Cork city be very tight.

No point being near the wrong airport for you.

I would say somewhere like Dunfanaghy in Co.Donegal. It has a lovely vibe and has lots of people from all over the world living there.

It is a surfy wee town.

Nearby...you have Marble Hill Beach, Tramor, Ards Forest Park, Ards Friary, Glenveagh National Park, Muckish & Errigal mountains to climb.

You could send your children to the Loreto Secondary School in Milford, which consistently has a high percentage of its pupils going to university.

The only criteria it wouldn't meet is that it's quite a distance from the airport. Over 2 hours to Belfast airport.

An hour to Derry airport if you want short distant flights. Derry City is good for shopping too.

Mrs OBumble

OP you are hunting for a unicorn.

Nowhere has everything.

Especially the train connectivity, excellent schooling, high educational achievement mix. Apart from the ecologically minded, most people with high education see sharing a vehicle with strangers as failure.

Many of the places named in this thread have good schools. Few would be excellent.

Also, I don't think you have thought thru the implications of community spirit. In short, you don't become part of it just by moving in. Many places will welcome a foreigner who moves in. But close-knit ones will view you with suspicion and exclude you for a couple of decades.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118722265#Comment_118722265

Westport is an hour from Knock,Knock is on a par with Shannon and a much nicer airport in general.

Claw Hammer

The only place I have seen mentionsed which might meet the criteria is probably athlone. It is on a direct motorway link to both Dublin and Shannon and is also quite near Knock. It is water sports on the Shannon and sits in the middle of open countryside. Houses are available in the price bracket, educationally there are reasonably good schools with a high progression rate to Third Level and a University campus. It is also a town where quite a lot of the people who live there were not born there so there isn't a big "blow-in" culture. For all that, there is crime, some of it quite serious.

houseyhouse

Education in Ireland is generally fairly consistent in quality relative to somewhere like the US ( don’t know as much about Canada). Personally in your position I would restrict myself to places with an Educate Together school nearby - these are multi-denominational schools, whereas most schools here are religious. There are other multi-denominational options too but Educate Together is the most common. You will struggle to get a multi/non denominational secondary school in most areas though.

The other thing to note is that we have a choice of schools here unlike a lot of countries, including Canada I believe. This means that where you live does not dictate what school you child can go to. In practice if you’re in a more rural area there won’t be much choice nearby but I live in Galway city (as an aside: great place to live, would meet most of your criteria but you would struggle to get the house you want for 500k these days) and the children in my estate go to loads of different schools, at least 6 or 7 primary schools among my kids’ friends. This means the schools are not segregated by income in the way they are elsewhere because kids from different areas all go to school together. Personally, I think this is a very good thing.

Also, you can look into crime rates yourself but Ireland is extremely safe. There’s very little violent crime outside the rougher areas of Dublin. However, if you have neighbours anywhere in the country they could potentially be ‘rough’ or not have university education because our government favours a strategy of economically mixed housing development and there is social housing in almost every development in the country.

Finally (!), having lived in the US and visited Canada several times, you need to understand that everything is smaller here, including the houses and the plots. This makes our communities more walkable but living with less space might be an adjustment for you.

yagan

A relative moved his family to Canada for a few years and the kids told me that they found the schools there very unchallenging, almost dumbed down in comparison to what they were used to, and they were all glad to get back before starting the leaving cert cycle. Their local school in ireland is just average.

The only thing I ever heard them saying they miss was a bit of wintersports. Mobile phones charges in Canada were supposedly a shocker in comparison to here. The coast being a day trip will be a novelty for most Canadians. I reckon if work location isn't an issue then most towns in Ireland would suit. Some are better amenities than others, like parks or watersports etc.

Having said that I would suggest this as a base line criteria, any town that has at least both a Lidl and an Aldi and a primary care centre probably is a descent size. Bonus points if it's on a trainline or bus route with airport links.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Check out Kinsale

Cyrus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118717832#Comment_118717832

to be fair if he is coming from BC his version of FREEZING is a hell of a lot colder than ours!!

Cyrus

OP my brother went the other way, lives in Vancouver now. As others have noted the scale of ireland versus what you are used to is vastly different, and most places are within 90 minutes of either Dublin or Shannon. Also Ireland is cheap compared to BC isnt really correct, for example prices in Vancouver are probably a little lower (or around similar at least based on my knowledge) than the expensive parts of Dublin and im sure if you live rurally in Canada it can be cheap too.

You have some good recommendations here, Kilaloe, Westport, even Wexford town isnt a bad shout. Also parts of kerry are amazing (around sneem etc) and Galway around Barna. Places like Greystones and Kinsale would also meet all your requirements bar the 4 bed detached house for 500k.

PGE1970

OP,

You could pick most of Ireland and it would tick a lot of your requirements.

You haven't said what your work requirements are i.e. work from home, work in a specialised area etc.

For example, rural broadband is poor. That might affect your work choices. Also, if you work in, for example, aircraft leasing, your housing locations may be influenced accordingly.

Finally, building the one-off house of your dreams in rural Ireland will be very difficult because of very restrictive planning rules. You will probably end up buying one that ticks your boxes or one to "do up" and expand.

Most of Ireland has already been suggested in the posts above and most are, indeed, lovely places. You need to narrow down your search!!

I'd suggest you pick a spot that comes as close to satisfying your needs and rent for a while to find out what it is like. Whilst both Killaloe and Greystones are both lovely places, they are two very different towns.

PGE1970

In my post above , I mis-read "buy" for "build" a house. Sorry OP!

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118725143#Comment_118725143

Shannon and Dublin airport have lots of transatlantic flights, Knock doesn't. I don't know of any other airport that charges you €10 on top of the airlines charges to board a flight.

phormium

Lots of suggestions obviously but double check all the ones re airports/distance. While for example there are parts of Kerry within 90 mins roughly of Shannon airport somewhere like Sneem is going to take a hell of a lot longer, be quicker go to Cork but it's still 2 hrs to there. Same applies to a lot of counties. Personally I'd like to be near a town big enough that it has a hospital a&e/ambulance base too, just in case!

Daney

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118717345#Comment_118717345

Greystones looks ideal, but looking on Daft.ie the property prices are very high, comparable to B.C even!

Daney

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118717499#Comment_118717499

Hi @SouthWesterly , thankyou for the suggestion. I have been to Kerry before and stayed in Killorglin. I had a blast there, wonderful people and countryside, it might be a bit far from Shannon/Dublin for us but if you we were to buy a holiday home there where in Kerry would you suggest?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118727692#Comment_118727692

I'm living in North kerry. It's less than 90 minutes to Shannon. I can see the Shannon estuary from my house.

Is it a holiday home or a home you are after.

When we moved down the advice from friends was no more than 10 to 15 minutes drive outside of town. We are a 7 minute drive and within a stones throw of 7 blue flag beaches. I can see some of them from my house.