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.

herbalplants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121653564#Comment_121653564

Lovely, did you move to Wexford?

The traffic is mental now in Dublin everywhere.

Deep Thought

14 Mins.. takes me 2 hours sometimes I Dublin just to go 23km.

MacDanger

From the OP, the decision isn't rural vs (sub)urban; both are rural and it's 6km vs 12km away from the nearest big town - IMO, you won't even notice that extra 6km, go for whichever house/area you prefer

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121654067#Comment_121654067

South wicklow probably throw a stone and hit wexford though 🤣

dennyk

Practically speaking, there's no real difference between 6km and 12km; either would be too far to reasonably walk to run your errands on a regular basis, so you'll be driving regardless, and the difference is completely negligible. Once you're in the car anyway, an extra five minutes or so of driving is nothing.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121654598#Comment_121654598

Maybe, but one of these is a cheap taxi and possibly food ordering too. One isn't..

ednwireland

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

This i live 1.8 miles from town (unfortunately uphill) taxi price puts you off going out. 10-15 euro each way. Still love where I live though

Biggest problem is actually no broadband and poor mobile signal. Wasn't an issue when we bought in 1997

MrRigsby

It can take 14 minutes to get through some sets of traffic lights in Dublin so I don’t see that as a big commute time . I live in a large house which I built in the countryside. The neighbours could be playing the drums and I wouldn’t hear them . I wouldn’t move back to the city for anything. Life is so much nicer in rural Ireland

cnocbui

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

I have neither, nor water, these past 20 years and genuinely pity those who do.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121654624#Comment_121654624

My taxi in Dublin cost me 26 euro 2 weeks ago each way. My taxi here is 11 each way.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121654760#Comment_121654760

But that's where you lived in Dublin. I haven't got a taxi in six years in Dublin, it's all walk, bus & DART.

Not sure why you're taking this opportunity to bemoan your decision on where you lived in Dublin, the op is asking about rural v more rural, not rural v urban.

oceanman

Rule of thumb....always be within walking distance of a shop, pub and post office. a day will come when you and your partner may not be able to drive.

SuperBowserWorld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121654827#Comment_121654827

Was about to say.

A real downside to rural is if you or your dependants or helpers can't or won't drive for health, financial, ... reasons.

Also, even safe walking and exercise space can be totally car dependent in rural areas

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121654827#Comment_121654827

Or walking distance to a bus stop to those things. Some areas of cities don't even have those amenities within 15mins walking distance. Personally I could never contemplate living outside an urban transport grid but the OP's choice is between 2 rural houses so not knowing exactly where they are I would say both sound much the same.

suvigirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121654827#Comment_121654827

If someone gets to the stage that they can't drive, they probably won't be able to do much walking either!

Clareman

6km from Shannon has a lot of villages in every direction, I doubt you'll be too far from anywhere.

Personally, having grown up out the country I would HATE to move back, I know Ennis isn't exactly a sprawling metropolis but being able to go for a walk without being in fear of your life (assuming there isn't a footpath near your house), being able to pop to the shop/butcher/pharmacy/pub whenever I want without having to use the car. BUT different strokes for different folks, friends of mine who grew up in Ennis couldn't wait to move out the country and would hate to live in town.

My suggestion, try it on a rental basis, if you don't like it you just have to see out your lease, if you love it then you can try to extend your lease or move somewhere else.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121654936#Comment_121654936

Definitely not true.

Normally it's vision problems or the person has lost either the physical or cognitive ability to react to situations involving high speed metal boxes but are well able to to operate at walking pace.

Living rurally can increase the care burden on your children later in life.

SuperBowserWorld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121654936#Comment_121654936

There are many reasons people don't or can't drive but are still fully functioning and working full time jobs.

Gru

A big decision to make but things to consider when you are buying as it may not be as easy as you think to sell up and buy elsewhere, a few thoughts i had reading this thread if they are in anyway helpful to you.

• While the acre of land is a bonus, which one of you will be cutting the grass? it might seem trivial, but when you are cleaning a bigger house, and cutting an acre of grass/around tree's etc the novelty of the ride on lawnmower wears thin.
• Can you walk/bus/taxi anywhere nearby? as said once you get into the car the rest of the journey time barely matters, what is important is what way are the roads, do they get treacherous in icy weather? (inclines?, too rural to be gritted? etc), What is your back up? what if one of you breaks a leg and an arm (it happens more than you'd think) and ends up in a wheelchair? or can't drive for whatever reasons? would you be fine to live where the house is? Do you have support/contacts?
• Phone/broadband reception, so many people i know have bought recently and this seems to be an afterthought until they need it and they come looking for what they can get. Even in Cities/towns internet can be poor so what's it like in both locations. good mobile signal is hard to beat as you can personal hotspot if you need to. but poor mobile signal will have you forever with missing calls as they are going straight to voicemails and not being able to do simple things online on your phone. Check Siro/Eir fibre rollouts to see which if any each house has or if it is coming very soon. but nothing worse than moving in and finding your house has no internet or very very bad internet (has happened more than one friend)
• are either houses on mains water or well water, when was the last time either was maintained properly (you'd be surprised at how many people are on well water that hasn't been touched since they bore the well) ditto for waste water, these are things that impact rural which city or town people take for granted. if you can talk to neighbours about power outages, how long do they typically last etc, some areas are slower to come back on board than others and if you plan to work from home this will be relevant.
• If children are part of future plans how will they fit into each location, can they walk/cycle/bus to school/friends houses nearby or not. you'd be surprised how many rural kids feel a burden on mom and dad for lifts. it's a lot easier when they can walk/cycle/bus around with friends. (also for social reasons) Are you ok with playing taxi/school run person for years? bonus is though they tend to learn to drive sooner than their peers out of necessity.
• Old age, you might be young and think its so far away but it catches up quick, and being rural and elderly is very tough, if you are considering moving back to town in old age will you find it easy to give up the homestead you lived your life in? it might seem an odd thing for me to type, but sentimental types are better buying their "forever home suitable for all stages of life" from the off if they can, rather than having to up sticks and move later in life or worse stay in an unsuitable home because it's too hard to leave (which so so many people do)

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121654827#Comment_121654827

Good point -

OP, do you see this being your "forever home"?