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

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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 8,184 ✭✭✭riclad


    I would not go anywhere West of Longford , simply cos of the weather, eg you'll get long cold wet winters , more rain, not ideal for a young family, don't look at towns under 10k population,. The closer you get to Dublin the milder the weather. The problem with wicklow is limited choice of schools wicklow is a rural area. Homes can be insulated, theres no hurricanes or droughts in Ireland , every country has plus and minus, s I went to CBS school. Christian brothers, unless you count the short religious studys class the curriculum is the same in all schools dictated by the dept of education , id be more concerned about the time spent learning Irish language which no one speaks outside a few rural areas

    you can buy a very nice house large back garden for 200k outside city's look for town like mullingar with cinema 2 shopping centres good range of shops due to lack of supply house prices are rising rents are high if buying in an estate look for a corner house or detached house. Look at house energy rating. Look at 3 or 4 bed house



  • Registered Users Posts: 24 Yoshimi79


    I would not recommend Mullingar or anywhere in the midlands. In all fairness it's a bit of a dump with nothing to do there, especially if cinema and shopping centres are its main attractions



  • Registered Users Posts: 972 ✭✭✭redarmyblues


    Avoid the midlands, its drive through country and the only town I would fancy on the east coast is Wexford though it is a bit tame, the most of the ones close to Dublin are commutery. I am in Sligo and that is too far from Shannon and Dublin, but I will say don't let the talk about rain put you off the west coast. The weather is actually a big selling point for me because of the immense drama it can bring to a walk on the beach, you can bask ( basking might be pushing it, maybe enjoy) sunshine on your stretch of coast and watch other headlands, islands, mountains and even counties appear and disaapear into and out of squalls, mists and storms soundtracked by roaring surf, it really is an exhilarating place to live and is by by far the best for outdoor living. I would be looking at West Cork and South Kerry and the goldilocks town down there for you might be Kenmare which also has a wonderful micro climate. Lots of other choices Skib, Kilarney, Dingle, Tralee (poor eating scene IMO but its a likeable town). On the south coast Kinsale or Waterford city which has a different vibe than those other towns. I have never been in Oranmore and Westport is probably a little too far away, its mostly a traffic jam in the summer and I have stopped going.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    I would strongly recommend against Ennis, especially for a family with small children. Nice town as it is, the air quality here in the winter is absolutely horrible - please check https://aqicn.org/city/ireland/ennis historical data about mid-way down on the page.



  • Registered Users Posts: 179 ✭✭Board.surf


    I moved back to Ireland from the US. PM me. I made many, many mistakes in location. We earn decent money but aren't rich. 2 kids. Same situation really but we aren't exactly awash with cash or family support. So we made silly mistakes.

    Many Irish people have zero context as to how good they have it. So randomly asking people online will likely taint your view. You're also get GAA opinions of the next town over based solely on banter. In my opinion, with your budget there are very few places outside of Dublin that don't meet your criteria. There are hundreds of amazing towns. It's patchwork though and unlike anything you'd be used to. It'll be years before you "get it". Your taste in life is also likely to vary massively from many Irish people. I love Ireland's diversity of thought. Embrace it but also be aware of it. I can see from your post that we value some the same things so my experience might help.


    Please look at the following:

    1. Educate together schools.

    2. University proximity

    3. Playground access.

    4. Number of expats in the area.

    5. Define acceptable weather for yourself (taking into account possible vacations abroad annually). SE is much sunnier than West but I still prefer the west for example.

    6. Get private healthcare. A great plan might be 125 a month. It's just a supplement to the ok public system but with it, you'll be 100%. Search laya healthcare.

    7. Open a transferwise account.

    8. Understand the simply tax system.

    You will love Ireland. But you will love it alot more if you do it right. I have lived in all 4 provinces and spent almost a decade near Chicago. We are stuck in a less than desirable county due to the need for a place in schools and a rash, last second move. Even then, though, we would never move back and the move to Ireland, although bumpy and messy was still a great success. Particularly for our children who I am delighted for, with the life they now lead.


    I literally have maps drawn up with suitable areas as we are house hunting everywhere with an open mind. We travel the country a lot for hiking, and enjoying it all. We still wish to move again to a more suitable county and currently rent (worst thing about Ireland). So I'd be more than happy to share the intricate detail. The country is a patch work quilt. My 2 cents, if you don't have time to PM? Stay by the coast.

    Post edited by Board.surf on


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  • Registered Users Posts: 19,547 ✭✭✭✭Cyrus


    Good post but unless you have a serious problem with religion being thought at school centering your search around educate together is pretty limiting.



  • Registered Users Posts: 13,175 ✭✭✭✭fits


    ” Many Irish people have zero context as to how good they have it.”

    completely agree with this.



  • Posts: 3,656 ✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    why is the air quality so bad in Ennis in Winter? Is it anything to do with Aughinish?



  • Registered Users Posts: 339 ✭✭flended12




  • Registered Users Posts: 13,175 ✭✭✭✭fits


    moneypoint used to be a terrible pollluter. Aughinishnot great either obviously. Sometimes it’s just the topography and microclimate.



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  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    only been here several months so not 100% sure, but looks like a combination of valley geography + denser older housing areas heated primarily by (supposedly illegal) smoky fuels. the smoke just sits here in the evenings, for hours. some of the pollution appears to be additionally blown in from the limerick direction. it's suffocating.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,686 ✭✭✭Deagol


    Drama much? I lived in Ennis for 14 years and hardly noticed a thing. Odd, very still evening there was a little smell of open fires around but since we live in one of the windiest countries, it was hardly a long term thing or an issue. To say it's 'suffocating' is total nonsense imo. But maybe since I was brought up in the countryside and used to smells of silage and slurry etc, I'm less sensitive so such things.


    Anyway, thread has been dragged off topic so I'll stop posting on it.

    Good luck with your move OP, I'm sure you'll find any town you move to will be fine.



  • Registered Users Posts: 179 ✭✭Board.surf


    @Cyrus Most nice towns have an ETNS. They aren't about avoiding religion at all! That's a silly fallacy. It's much easier to integrate when you have kids in a school with both expats and Irish kids. Trust me on that.

    Educate Together are about teaching all religions. Not avoiding every religion but your "own". My kids learn about all religions and respect them. It's rather humbling. If OP is Jewish, Non Catholic Christian or muslim, choosing between a Catholic or protestant school with direct management by a priest for example may not be a comfortable choice.



  • Registered Users Posts: 19,547 ✭✭✭✭Cyrus


    Do you want your kids learning about more than one religion ? Given they are all a load of guff I’d have thought one was more than enough 😁



  • Registered Users Posts: 179 ✭✭Board.surf


    It's a huge part of the world we live in and I think it's important for them to respect everyone elses views and to be aware.

    I may have a similar view to you on the topic. However, I'd hide that from the kids because I'd like them to be better than I am. At the very least, they are aware and that makes them street smart. They have a great view of it and I'm baffled by how well the school handle it.

    Imagine your child visiting country Y at 21 years old. An educated kid is 1) less likely to fall into any kind of extremist ideology and 2) less likely to fall victim to a member of an extremist ideology.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    no idea what you mean by "drama". for information, please check https://aqicn.org/city/ireland/ennis/ - mid-way down the page for historical data. you should know that this is some of the worst average air quality metrics in the entire western europe.



  • Registered Users Posts: 8,176 ✭✭✭ongarite


    Worst days in the historical data are in winter & PM 2.5 particles which are directly related to households having open chimney fires.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    yes, it seems that way. people have also mentioned aughinish and moneypoint, could definitely also be contributors.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]




  • Registered Users Posts: 685 ✭✭✭houseyhouse


    Agree with everything in this comment. I also moved back from the US with my kids in the past few years and we’re all delighted. Often when I tell people we’ve recently moved back, I get comments about how much worse things are here, how it must have been hard etc. etc. Couldn’t be further from the truth! Irish people have no idea how good we’ve got it. When we used to visit from the US, my kids would comment on how much happier everybody here seemed. My kids were only preschool age at that time but they could sense it. That said, I do think a lot of the downsides of the US are less present in Canada.

    100% agree on Educate Together, too. The religion thing is only part of it. They are diverse, inclusive, progressive, child-centred schools. Parents of my kids’ school friends come from all over the world and that is celebrated. I know very few kids at the school who have two Irish parents.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 13 5greytiles


    jaysus why would anyone want to leave a nice remote and well protected place like canada for anywhere in europe right now?



  • Registered Users Posts: 661 ✭✭✭PeaSea


    Kilkenny was my initial thought, a great place in its own right, relatively close to mountains and coast, vibrant arts scene, good transport links.



  • Registered Users Posts: 179 ✭✭Board.surf


    @houseyhouse I swear, you'd nearly think some of the commenters are having a laugh with the anti Ireland sentiment! The internet has entered well into septic territory these days.

    The hardest part about moving back was leaving a place where everyone thinks the world of their home (The US) contrary to basic logic on some topics and returning to an Ireland that beats the other places in many regards, yet it's full of naysayers, hellbent on convincing you that you've made a mistake. It's very toxic and sad.

    It really teaches you to think on your own. I mean, really think on your own and completely ignore the forced image of the US versus the awfully warped view fed to so many people of what we are supposed to feel About Ireland. It's good to know I'm not alone there.



  • Registered Users Posts: 14,930 ✭✭✭✭Fr Tod Umptious


    100% agree on Educate Together, too. The religion thing is only part of it. They are diverse, inclusive, progressive, child-centred schools. Parents of my kids’ school friends come from all over the world and that is celebrated. I know very few kids at the school who have two Irish parents.

    Just on the Educate Together thing.

    Any school can be what you describe above.

    The nominal Catholic school my kids go to is diverse, child centered and they come from all over the world, and have many different faiths.

    Those qualities are not exclusive to Educate Together schools.



  • Registered Users Posts: 685 ✭✭✭houseyhouse


    Of course. There are lots of great schools and I didn’t mean to imply that only ET schools are good that way. Having said that, respect for difference is at the core of ET and is emphasised more than in many (but surely not all) other schools.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,405 ✭✭✭yagan


    I've emigrated a few times, never to Canada but I'm settled back in Ireland at last and it is the truth that most don't know how good we have it here. Generally the loudest cribbers are those who've never lived anywhere else, the type who complain about how much cheaper steak and chips with beer is in Lanzarote without comparing wages.



  • Registered Users Posts: 179 ✭✭Board.surf


    @yagan That's fair enough. But a Catholic school is by name and nature created and managed by the catholic church. A quick google search will show that a priest is chair of the board of management. The catholic church obviously has an interest in catholicism first. Which is fair in itself. However, it's not what many people are looking for.

    Half an hour a day or week of catholic only religious class as well as a visit from the priest for prayer whenever suits him isn't what some people find acceptable. I have friends who had the priest call out to there house asking questions about their marriage status etc. The latter incident (I would hope) is a more extreme case. However, it is reality. The awkward forced communion and confirmation time during school hours. And if someone protests, well they might very well find that in many catholic schools the majority if parents will shun them. "Sure isn't it only a bit of fun and a day out?"

    If a school is fully inclusive and diverse with no agenda, it would obviously not be called a catholic school, be managed by a catholic priest and preach catholic ethos and ideals primarily. But that's just my 2 cents. It would change ethos and be happy to do so. It would be important for OP to know about it rather than have it coated over while it's awkwardly still there.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,363 ✭✭✭Hamachi


    Has the OP stated that he has an issue with catholic schools and is explicitly seeking out an ET school?

    The OP seems reasonably well informed about Ireland. I’m sure that he is aware that a large % of the population are at least culturally / nominally catholic and has no issue with that. Similarly, he may well have no issue sending his kids to a catholic-ethos school, assuming the quality of the education is high caliber.

    Frankly, the constant anti-Catholicism bashing so prevalent on this site is tiresome. Posters weave their agenda into every thread, regardless of how tenuous the link. For all we know, the OP and his family may be catholic and welcome a degree of religious instruction..



  • Registered Users Posts: 685 ✭✭✭houseyhouse


    Most Canadians are not Catholic. Anyway, ET schools have plenty of Catholics. They’re also generally more diverse and specifically celebrate diversity, which makes them a good fit for non-Irish families.

    School choice has more than a ‘tenuous’ link to this thread, given that OP specifically mentioned schools in his first post. If you are Catholic yourself (just a guess) it may not bother you that most schools here are Catholic. Good for you. As a non-Catholic, who had to attend Catholic schools, I can tell you that it’s often an isolating and difficult experience. I am endlessly grateful that is something my own children won’t experience.



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