How rural is too rural?

gaming_needs90

Hi all,

In a bit of a pickle with searching for houses, namely location. We are renting in Limerickright now and looking for houses around Shannon. We are currently renting in Limerick.

Currently looking at two properties, one is around 6km from the town and the other 12km. My partner works in the town and has no problem commuting. They grew up rurally so its really nothing to them and wants land for gardening etc. My thing has always been living in or near a town for services etc. I grew up in a town and have never not lived in a town/city. The drive is 14min vs 9min according to google. Both properties are basically in fields with the odd person nearby. The thing with the further property is that it is much nicer and comes with an acre of land for similar money.

I just don't know if that 14 min in and out to Shannon would drive me mad. I work from home so really the only reason to go in would be to the gym or just to do something (Cinema, shops etc). It would also mean being a bit further away from the motorway to go to Galway to visit family/friends. Realistically we are talking about another ten minutes on the journey perhaps.

My partner thinks its just me being afraid of change and I suppose they are right. I just don't want to have cabin fever a year down the line 🤣 I know nobody can actually solve this for me but any experiences would be great. I am just driving myself (And my partner) absolutely insane with indecision and going back and forth.

Thanks

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058332604/how-rural-is-too-rural

If theres no street lights or mains sewage then forget about it.

gaming_needs90

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121651922#Comment_121651922

Oh no, there are neither for either! I don't know if those are things that would really bother me though.

Odelay

The difference is negligible in real terms. rural dweller here, the further out within reason the better in my opinion.

Padre_Pio

Where's the nearest shop? Say you need milk on a Saturday morning. Is it a 40 minute round trip to get it?

Personally I've done both and I prefer to live rural, but if you need to drive 15 mins to get anywhere then it can be annoying. It forces you('re partner) to plan so you're never stuck for anything.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121651922#Comment_121651922

Weird ..... what a really weird thing to get worked up about. Why in the jaysus would you need street lights outside your rural home on 1 acre of land... also sewerage mains... wtf? I've got a septic tank it's perfect it came with the house and does its own thing always.

Uncle Pierre

When I saw the question "how rural is too rural?", I thought you'd be talking about a place in the absolute back of beyond. But far from it.

To me, 12km is not far at all from the town, and if the property there really is that much nicer and comes with all that ground, well then it's an absolute no-brainer to me anyway.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121651925#Comment_121651925

14 minutes is absolutely nothing frankly. You wouldn't get into Dublin City from the suburbs in 14 minutes.

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121651922#Comment_121651922

And some people claim that it's "culchies" who are insular and sheltered..... 😁😂

suvigirl

If all your journeys from both will be by car, doesn't make much difference.

If you were planning on walking to town it might be different

elperello

I think the way you bolded much tells a lot.

Sense of place is important, if that house is calling to you it's maybe the one.

Both are rural so the advantages and disadvantages are the same for both.

The five minute difference in the commute shouldn't be a problem.

Good luck with your choice.

gaming_needs90

Thanks all for your quick responses!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121651930#Comment_121651930

I forgot to say that for the further one there is actually a village around 6km away in a totally different direction, but that would be the closest.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121651943#Comment_121651943

Yes, that is absolutely true. To be honest I think its just a sort of irrational 'feeling' about being potentially isolated but in reality I would be a short drive away to Shannon and then abiously the hour and a bit to family. I suppose if I even lived in the center of Shannon, it would still be an hour away so in real terms its nothing. I don't mind driving at all either. I probably am being a bit silly but I suppose not too unexpected seeing as I have never lived rurally.

Baseball72

my preference would be for the property that is nearest to shop/pharmacy/schools (if applicable)/bus service/train.

As a townie, who moved to a rural area (for 10 years +), I found the transition difficult even though I was commuting to Dublin most days.

I am back in the suburbs now, near to all of the above and am fortunate I can, if needs, walk to the local town, get a bus, train, luas. If you are from a town, growing old in a rural setting needs to taken into account.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121652063#Comment_121652063

I would go for the further one then. 6km is a 5 mins drive.

Honestly, the worst thing about living rurally is the cost of a taxi after a night on the beer. Other than that, it's just the small bit of extra time needed to get to places. The benefits are usually nicer, larger, cheaper houses and less neighbours.

gossamerfabric

depends on the quality of the road. 10km on good roads is preferable to 5km on poor roads.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121652063#Comment_121652063

I'm from Dublin, we bought rural. You couldn't get me to move back. Never lived rural before we bought.

farmerval

A couple of things, the nearest town, is that Shannon? I live in a rural area, the nearest town is about 12 minutes and after that 25-30. There is a local village 5 minutes away for small stuff bread and the likes.

If kids are likely in your future where is the nearest school, primary and secondary? Where would kids activities likely be?

Is the nearest town (if not Shannon) decent sized, go for lunch, dinner, a few pints? The nearest town to me is a kip. Only go there to shop at Aldi, to get a takeaway is a pain 25 minutes each way, no deliveries out here.

As I am getting older being so far out is a royal nuisance. Seriously thinking of retiring to town. Amongst other things there's nothing on out in the country.

iniscealtra

Depends what you want. Life is more than a house. Do you know people in the area ? How will you get to know people in the area ? You will need to get involved in village life. If you plan on having kids it will make it easier. You will have to drive to the pub or pay for taxis if they are available. Do you want to be able to walk to the shop ?

Ezeoul

Surprised no one has questioned you yet on possibly needing to run two cars to live so far outside town or to tell you you should be planning to live within cycling distance of wherever you need to go!

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121652088#Comment_121652088

Or even the inability to get a taxi

zell12

If it involves a ferry, then bit too rural.

Furze99

15 mins to town is easy to manage, that's just hinterland. Not exactly the back of beyond.

John_Rambo

The nicer house is a nicer house! You may as well be hung for a lamb as for a sheep, according to your post both houses seem to have you somewhat isolated & car dependent. 

Reading between the lines I’m guessing you’re not going to have kids or get involved in the community?

RichardAnd

I'm reminded of a documentary I watched a while ago about a horse rancher in the USA and just how rural it can get over there. This guy was living on a 400 acre ranch that was 30 mins drive from the nearest road, and another 40 minutes to the nearest town once there. There was no one nearby, and he had to keep his own well and power generator. Just imagine being in that situation and hearing a knock on the door at 3am. No wonder they have the guns!

You mentioned that you're looking around Shannon. I know that area quite well, and without meaning to insult anyone, I find it to be one of the bleakest parts of the country. Are you sure you want to live down there in the middle of nowhere? The change from living in a city or even a town is profound. From personal experience, not everyone is wired for rural living. If you need anything, you need to get in the car. A lot of townies see rural houses on lovely summer days and think that it would be idyllic, but as someone who lived in a fairly rural house back in the day, winters can be long.

Baseball72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121653281#Comment_121653281

If you are from a town, and thinking of relocating to rural Ireland, go visit the area on a November evening (ideally on a late afternoon with lashing ran and winds!) and consider how it would feel like - no street lights, is there a neighbour / shop etc withing hi-viz walking distance etc. Collecting kids from school, coping with power outages during a storm, septic tank issues etc - I've been there in my younger years and it was challenging......

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121653535#Comment_121653535

You living outside ? 😁😁

I'm sitting in a warm comfortable upgraded 200 + sq meter bungalow looking out at the sea from our living room. Granted we're 5 minutes drive to closest town and 5 min other way to the kids school. We've a septic it does its job as it should.

Lived in Dublin, it took 40 minutes by luas to get to town, the large shopping centre was 5 minutes drive or 25 minutes walk. 20 minutes walk to pub.

Much of a muchness. Traffic in Dublin is mental people idolise city living too. With traffic applied it can be chaos dropping kids or travelling to work. 🤷‍♀️

brokenbad

Rural - 10-15 mins by car on a main or secondary road to the nearest town/village and accessible to the local shop/pub/post office/school, etc within a 5km radius.

Too Rural - Somewhere in the middle of nowhere miles down a narrow boreen with grass in the middle and with no neighbours for miles and at least 30mins by car away from civilisation.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121653621#Comment_121653621

That's fair ! And accurate

RichardAnd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121653535#Comment_121653535

Good advice. Also consider how things would be in the event of a snow storm.

1percent

I'd be relatively familiar with the area, as said Shannon can be a bit bleak, but 15 min from Shannon means your in either Limerick or Ennis or any of the lovey village in the area, be it New Market, tulla, sixmilebridge, bunratty, crattloe, kilmurry, all nice spots that I would want to live in or near any day over Shannon town centre. All have a shop/pub/school and 5 to 10 min from a junction to the motorway network.

You are still only 15 to 20 min from limerick, you will be 15min to Shannon, there will be no traffic, the locals will all be well educated and hard workers commuting to limerick Shannon ennis and galway or even further. At the weekends they will be out cutting the grass and taking the kids to training. The area your talking about isn't bally-go-backwards, it's suburbia on an acre plot with cows.

Once you get used to the quite you will love it.

miamee

To come at this from the perspective of working from home, we made a similar move from Dublin to Sligo a couple of years ago. I am the remote worker and when we were looking at houses, I think I had an idealised view of a house out on it's own, big garden etc. but as we looked at houses for sale I realised that I needed to be nearer to a village or town, being able to walk to a shop or somewhere for lunch occasionally to get out of the house was important to me, more than I had realised. We ended up living on the outskirts of a small but busy village with a local shop and 2 pubs all within walking distance. There is nowhere to go for lunch but I drive elsewhere for that once a fortnight if even that. The biggest town (Sligo) is a similar distance about 12kms away so it doesn't feel like we are very rural while still being rural in comparison to the suburb we came from in Dublin. There is very little difference in a 9 min drive versus a 14 min drive when it's rural and you know there will be no traffic.

Just have a think about what it will be like to work from home all day every day in either of those houses, you will spend more time doing that than driving to the motorway or the town.