Moving to Ireland...

OHCAC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122548522#Comment_122548522

I've never been to the North so I admit what I think may be totally wrong, but it still seems like there's too many issues up there. I'm Irish, my wife is English, get the impression that we wouldn't exactly be a great fit up there no matter where we moved.

OHCAC

Thanks, I'll look into it. I work on the railways so somewhere with a good railway network would give me the opportunity to get a job in that field.

OHCAC

Thanks, I've read that the network is due to be expanded and improved massively all over the country, but government projects are always due to massively delays and I'm not aware of when they think it'll even begin yet, whether they've drawn up plans, approved funding yet etc so I expect it if it does go ahead it might not be for some time.

patmahe

Have a look at Roscommon, but closer to the Westmeath side, I'm between Roscommon Town and Athlone, its a nice area with 2 significant sized towns within a 20-25 minute drive. Roscommon is a useful sized town but still small enough to get things done pretty quickly, Athlone is a bigger town but more prone to issues like traffic, it has useful motorway links to Dublin and Galway.

As others have said I think you'll be living quite rurally for your budget if you want as much space as you are talking about. You could probably get a nice house in Roscommon town for your budget on a good sized site but not a few acres and still be within walking distance of things like pubs, shops etc…

Roscommon does have a train station but I wouldn't call it a good rail network, Athlone is quite a central hub for trains crossing the country, Ireland's rail network is quite minimal outside of Dublin, certainly compared to the UK. Good luck with the move.