What's it like living and commuting from Lusk or Rush

conleth

Hey there,

My wife and I have just got back to Dublin after spending 4 years in Australia and we're looking to buy a house in and around Skerries/Rush/Lusk for up to 310k ish.

There doesn't seem to be much out in Skerries at the moment although that was our first choice as there seems to be a bit of life to Skerries and many of the commuter trains seem to run non-stop to Skerries.

There seems to be a few more houses for sale in Rush and Lusk, especially Lusk but we don't know much about these areas. Rush seems a bit far from the train station and Lusk whilst within walking distance of the train station just seems a bit dead!

So any thoughts on living and commuting from Rush or Lusk? What time would you need to get to the train station to get a parking space and what times are the trains not jammed to the roof?

Any help very much appreciated.

Cheers,
Con

podgeen

I'll be able to tell you next week, I'm moving to lusk at the weekend

Bluetonic

There was a thread about this a while back, try searching at the weekend when I think the search facility it active.

Anyhow, the train station car park is packed from 7.30 onwards.

While I don't generally use the trains and come from more northern reaches than Rush or Lusk, I did have the pleasure of being on the train the last two mornings. The train that leaves R&L at 07:26 is not too bad you'll generally get a good standing spot on this as it won't have stopped at Skerries. The train that leaves at 07:46 is pretty rough and your unlikely to get a good standing spot, more of a squeeze. The next few trains are progressively worse. I can't comment on the return leg.

Lusk has pretty much no facilities in the town, a few pubs which I can't comment on and a few mini market type shops. It has a GAA club and soccer club.

Rush would have more in the way of shops and the likes, more pubs and a bigger centra/super spar. Rush is a quite long and thin town.... from top to bottom is quite a long walk. Once again it has a GAA club and soccer club.

The land in and around is used mainly for medium scale market gardening. Always plenty of tractors to be seen. Rush and Lusk would have an above average per head population of non nationals, a lot who work in the market gardening buisness.

Both towns (village in the case of Lusk) are close enough to Swords/Balbriggan/Skerries for the wider range of facilities.

If you can stretch your budget you should opt for Skerries. As you say the 17.10 and 17.20 trains from Dublin, their first stop is Skerries (circa 25 minutes). Trains on the way in are pretty much the same as above with the exception of replace the 07.26 with a 07.11 which hasn't stopped at Balbriggan. Skerries is obviously larger, has more facilities, better transport and good access to the M1 via Balbirggan/Balrothery. While its bigger, it also has problems you'd associate with bigger towns.

Actually Balrothery might be an option for you. On the hills between Balbriggan and Skerries. Use Balbriggan for trains. Also have Bus Eireann direct route to the city and circa 50 mins to city centre by car (leaving at 7am). 10 Minutes to Swords via M1, 15 minutes to Airport.

AndyWarhol

Bluetonic wrote:

There was a thread about this a while back, try searching at the weekend when I think the search facility it active.

Anyhow, the train station car park is packed from 7.30 onwards.

While I don't generally use the trains and come from more northern reaches than Rush or Lusk, I did have the pleasure of being on the train the last two mornings. The train that leaves R&L at 07:26 is not too bad you'll generally get a good standing spot on this as it won't have stopped at Skerries. The train that leaves at 07:46 is pretty rough and your unlikely to get a good standing spot, more of a squeeze. The next few trains are progressively worse. I can't comment on the return leg.

Lusk has pretty much no facilities in the town, a few pubs which I can't comment on and a few mini market type shops. It has a GAA club and soccer club.

Rush would have more in the way of shops and the likes, more pubs and a bigger centra/super spar. Rush is a quite long and thin town.... from top to bottom is quite a long walk. Once again it has a GAA club and soccer club.

Both towns (village in the case of Lusk) are close enough to Swords/Balbriggan/Skerries for the wider range of facilities.

If you can stretch your budget you should opt for Skerries. As you say the 17.10 and 17.20 trains from Dublin, their first stop is Skerries (circa 25 minutes). Trains on the way in are pretty much the same as above with the exception of replace the 07.26 with a 07.11 which hasn't stopped at Balbriggan. Skerries is obviously larger, has more facilities, better transport and good access to the M1 via Balbirggan/Balrothery. While its bigger, it also has problems you'd associate with bigger towns.

Actually Balrothery might be an option for you. On the hills between Balbriggan and Skerries. Use Balbriggan for trains. Also have Bus Eireann direct route to the city and circa 50 mins to city centre by car (leaving at 7am). 10 Minutes to Swords via M1, 15 minutes to Airport.

Sounds like a bit of a hole to me. Those poor celtic cubs... Can't even get to work in the mornings...

dochasach

conleth wrote:

... Skerries and many of the commuter trains seem to run non-stop to Skerries.
...So any thoughts on living and commuting from Rush or Lusk?

Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but one morning in 2003 I happened to be walking alongside Malahide estuary and I saw a well dressed man paddling a canoe from Donabate. He told me this was his morning commute, and pulled his canoe up on the beach, unlocked a bicycle and continued his journey. I imagine he saved at least 100,000 euro by buying a house there as compared to Malahide and by paddling the .5 kilometer he saved about 10k of cycling!

Back on topic, Skerries is a good bet, I think it has more rush hour trains than Malahide even though Malahide is much closer in and has the dart. Look at www.dart.ie for current information. If you lived outside of Ireland for a while you'll be amazed at how much the E.U. subsidised transportation infrastructure has improved and at how poorly and inefficiently it is utilised. Bertie just announced a plan extending dart service from Gorey to Skerries. If it's as poorly organised as the current dart service I think Guinness should log it under "biggest boondoggle in history."

conleth

Thanks for the comments and advice.

Skerries would deffinitely be our first choice, but indications so far are that we won't be able to buy a house for less than 317500 - trying to avoid stamp duty.

Paddling eh? Must give that some thought...

Cheers,
Con

Simone

Hello
There is a small village beside Skerries with very reasonably priced houses, much better than Skerries. Houses are all designed with skylights/dormer windows. There are good pubs and restaurants and a separate direct train service to Connolly and Pearse. Other facilities in the village include a new kayak club and a marine discovery centre.:p

Victor

Simone wrote:

There is a small village beside Skerries with very reasonably priced houses, much better than Skerries.

Whats it called?