Ennis or Tralee; Which One Would You Live In?

markymark

I've been thinking of moving over to the west coast. Maybe Ennis or Tralee.

I just wondered if anyone here lives in either of these towns and if you wanted to share any local gossip about either town.

Such as, do local people generally think of either as being a "good" town to live in. Or is either town locally thought of as "going to the dogs".

Does the hospital in either town have a reasonable reputation locally?

What about crime? Is it around "normal" levels for towns their size?

I've been to both of them to check them out, and both seem fine to me. Just wondered if anyone had any comments about them!

Thanks for any comments/advice!!

Panda

Only ever really passed thru ennis, no reason to stop really....

however tralee is a cool town, a bitt touristy tho, but theres stuff to do there,
they've got a waterpark thingy called aquadome,
and theres that festival called the rose of tralee....

and no i dont have any important infromation to answer you with.

po0k

Ennis apparently have this new humdinger of a technologee called Dee Ess Ell.
It's soooo sloe to the bleedin edge of IT wizadry that they had it for the past 6 years.
And it hardly works.

Ennis is a hole.
Clare's a hole for that matter.

Kerry is *less* of a hole.

Move to Galway tbh.
Or Mayo/Roscommon.

daveg

Tralee... without a doubt... I have some friends from the city and it's a cool place. Nice weather (nicer than Galway :rolleyes: ) and lots to do.

But it wouldn't beat Galway though - but imo it would beat Ennis.

Scruff

Originally posted by SyxPak
Ennis apparently have this new humdinger of a technologee called Dee Ess Ell.
It's soooo sloe to the bleedin edge of IT wizadry that they had it for the past 6 years.
And it hardly works.

You'll find its like that all over the country

Ennis is a hole.

Used to think the same myself when (From ennis myself though moved to dublin a few years ago) but dont think so any more. Go back there quite a bit and enjoy it.

Clare's a hole for that matter.

Have to disagree with ye on that. u must be a tip **** or something similar.:)
Clares a great place, especially in the summer.

Kerry is *less* of a hole.

Wouldn't call it a hole either, used spent all my holidays down there outside Tralee gowing up. like Tralee but always thought there was an inordinate amount or nackers about the placae

Move to Galway tbh.

yeah, nice spot

Or Mayo/Roscommon.

Ahhh... i see, you must be from these two bleak and desolate counties that have absolutely nothing to offer at all (including dee Ess Ell) and are just jealous of Clare and Kerry's fame and reputation as excellent tourist destinations with unparalleled scenery and plenty of things to actually do.
Girlfiend is from Mayo and the only nice place i've seen is around Lough Mask. As for Roscommon, the only thing going for Roscommon is the road out of it.

markymark

Thankx for all replies!

___________________________________
Originally posted by Scruff:
"always thought there was an inordinate amount or nackers about the place".
_________________________________


Do you mean Tralee? - (or Kerry?)

If I wanted to live in a cosmopolitan / relaxed place, then of course Galway is *the* place (but it's so damned expensive).

Would you say Tralee was second on the "cool" list after Galway? If not, where would be?

daveg

Originally posted by markymark
Thankx for all replies!

___________________________________
Originally posted by Scruff:
"always thought there was an inordinate amount or nackers about the place".
_________________________________


Do you mean Tralee? - (or Kerry?)

If I wanted to live in a cosmopolitan / relaxed place, then of course Galway is *the* place (but it's so damned expensive).

Would you say Tralee was second on the "cool" list after Galway? If not, where would be?

Why would you feel Galway was so expensive ? You must mean accomodation wise ? It doesn't have to be. Shop around.. try outside of Galway (if you have a car).

Other than that I am fond of Tralee so I would give it the thumbs up.

markymark

Yeah, I mean buying a house.

I had a look at a few auctioneers websites, and the houses all seem to be around Eur 250,000 (quarter million)

Any suggestions, concerning this and if it's possible to buy anything cheaper than this? (in/near Galway)

Kairo

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GET ME OF THIS HELLHOLE OF A COUNTY

Thorbar

I grew up in Ennis, from my own personal experience I'd perfer to live in Ennis because well I grew up there :E but on the subject of knackers both towns are pretty much full of em as are most towns in Ireland but other then that I think Ennis is a lovely spot. Also its within an hours drive to Galway and half an hour to Limerick so if you're short of things to do at the weekend you can always hop on a bus or drive down to one of the cities. Anyway maybe you should take a trip down to the west and visit a few of these spots and decide yourself and not just rely on what people post on the boards.

daveg

Originally posted by markymark
Yeah, I mean buying a house.

I had a look at a few auctioneers websites, and the houses all seem to be around Eur 250,000 (quarter million)

Any suggestions, concerning this and if it's possible to buy anything cheaper than this? (in/near Galway)

For the love of god don't buy one of those crappy 3 bed semi's for €250,000. Buy a site outside of Galway and build a house. We did it all in about 1 1/2 years from finding/buying site right through to P.P. and the building of our house through a conractor. We now have a 4 bedroom detached house on a 1/2 acre (11 miles from Galway) for just over half the price of a 3 bed semi in galway.

markymark

Thanks daveg!
___________________________________
QUOTE:
We now have a 4 bedroom detached house on a 1/2 acre (11 miles from Galway) for just over half the price of a 3 bed semi in galway.
___________________________________

Gawh!; that sounds good!

You know, that's something I hadn't really thought about before.

Once someone has bought a site I wonder how much it would cost in total to build a three or four bed bungalow? (3-bed would be fine for me)

I suppose I would be looking for a plot of land with outline planning on it - rather than buy a plot of land with no planning, and hope to get permission? What d'you think?

daveg

I suppose I would be looking for a plot of land with outline planning on it - rather than buy a plot of land with no planning, and hope to get permission? What d'you think?

Jesus don't buy a site with no planning. Outline or full PP is fine. Only thing is they are getting sticky (Galway Co Council) on planning permission if you are not from the area or something like that. But I think it's only for sites close to Galway city - check this out though.

You would probably build a simple 3/4 bedroom bungalow for about €90K at a guess. My advice would be get a contractor to do it for you. If you build yourself (direct labour) it will take you 10 years.

My GF uncle is a contractor in town. He did a fab job on our house and I would highly recommend him (he tends to build 1/2 houses in the country for clients as well). If you want I can pass on his name/number.

markymark

Sure, d'you want to email (or p/m) his name to me?

Does the contractor deal with all the purchasing of materials/hiring tradesmen/insurance for tradesmen whilst working on site - all that type of thing?

And you would select your own architect; - is that the way it works?

I wonder how I would go about choosing an architect; I'm not sure what I would be looking for.......

Number6

Neither, their holes.

Move to galway:D

markymark

Someone was telling me that Tralee has the same sort of "problems" as Limerick.

Is this true?

Surely it can't be as bad as Limerick, and I'm sure it would even be a quieter place than, say, Cork.

What d'ya think?

daveg

Originally posted by markymark
Sure, d'you want to email (or p/m) his name to me?

Does the contractor deal with all the purchasing of materials/hiring tradesmen/insurance for tradesmen whilst working on site - all that type of thing?

And you would select your own architect; - is that the way it works?

I wonder how I would go about choosing an architect; I'm not sure what I would be looking for.......

Contractor was John Kearney of Kearney contracts, Merchants Road, Galway. Basically you buy your own site, draw up your own plans with architect (my GF brother is an architect (he did our plans) PM me if you want his name/number) and then put in your plans/with your architect to the co. council.

The contractor would have tradesman that he would use on an ongiong basis saving you waiting months for say a tiler or electrician. He will give you an allowance for your kitchen/bathroom/tiles/fireplace ect so all you will have to is choose what you want. He will look after everything else including purchasing of materials/hiring tradesmen/insurance for tradesmen whilst working on site.

If you need more info let me know.

markymark

Thanks for the name daveg.

I'll do a little research into this; as I mentioned it's not something I had really thought about before.

Not sure where to start really........

Might have a look at a few auctioneers websites again, and see what prices they are selling sites for (with planning!)

I think maybe it might be better to go for a site with outline instead of full (?)....... I think, if it's full planning then the type of house has already been decided......though maybe this isn't necessarily a bad thing.......not sure.....

When you saw a site that you liked, did you have to get any sort of survey done before you went ahead and actually bought it?

You know, if you buy a house you would have it surveyed first; do you get any sort of "site-survey" done before you actually bought the site?

You said the contractor deals with everything including the insurance; so that's good to know.

So, just find site (with planning); - go to an architect and get plans drawn; - leave plans in with the planning dept in county council; - then, if approved, go to a contractor and get a quote.

Ok!, doesn't sound *too* bad. Not sure what sort of house I would even want built, to be honest........

daveg

Might have a look at a few auctioneers websites again, and see what prices they are selling sites for (with planning!)

TBH the best way we found was to drive around - if you see a site for sale you like it will have an auctioneers sign on it.. then give em a ring.

I think maybe it might be better to go for a site with outline instead of full (?)....... I think, if it's full planning then the type of house has already been decided......though maybe this isn't necessarily a bad thing.......not sure.....

Go for either. It doesn't matter. If it has FPP then you just put in a "retention" planning permission.

When you saw a site that you liked, did you have to get any sort of survey done before you went ahead and actually bought it?

Yes. Very simple though. You just get your architect to do a "slump test". I think thats it. Afaik it tests the water retention of the site so your house doesn't get swamped.

You know, if you buy a house you would have it surveyed first; do you get any sort of "site-survey" done before you actually bought the site?

As above.

So, just find site (with planning); - go to an architect and get plans drawn; - leave plans in with the planning dept in county council; - then, if approved, go to a contractor and get a quote.

Thats it in essence. As you can imagine there is more to it.. eg you should meet with the Co Council planning officer over your application and have a chat about your plans. We did this and "heeded" his recommendations (change pitch of the roof/colour of front pillers) to ensure a "good result".

Ok!, doesn't sound *too* bad. Not sure what sort of house I would even want built, to be honest........

You can get some good books with plans in them. Check out houses when you drive around. See what you like/don't like.

Heed this warning though I spoke to my GF's brother @ the weekend (architect) and he told me that if you buy a site within a 11 mile radius of Eyre square you could be fúcked as new planning permission requirements are coming into force. Even the Co Council don't know how strict they will be. They are trying to deter poeple from building houses within the 11 mile zone.

markymark

Thanks for all the info Dave. Appreciated.

I'll have a look for some house books. And I'll do some research into sites and "slump tests".

I wonder would any restrictions which you mentioned only apply to land which has not yet had any planning granted on it?

If someone buys a site which already has full or outline planning on it, then maybe any restrictions might not apply.

Maybe by "restrictions", I wonder does he mean they will refuse far more applications to have planning permission granted (within the radius)?

Or would any restrictions apply even to sites which have already had full or outline permission granted?

Typedef

Did I mention I am moving to Tralee... well an area near to Tralee?

Funny, because 14 days ago, I could barely have placed Kerry on a map... let alone told you 'where' exactly Tralee was.

I think if I had a choice of places to live in the 'West' I'd choose Galway or Kinsale.

Since I'm from a really built up urbanised area of Dublin... this might be a bit of a culture shock.

Yes Yes : Typedef is going to be a PHP/PgSQL developer and general FreeBSD/Linux BOFH in the sticks.
Still they're paying 40% more then I earn right now as a VB/SQL code monkey.

woo... technology.

claire2003

If you're thinking of movin' Tralee way, what about Killarney or Castleisland or even Listowel.

They're supposed to be pretty cool places.

Maybe someone else knows these places better than me, and can give some opinions/info about these towns.

jabberwock

HouseHunters on RTE the last night done a special on Tralee and they were sayin its pretty cheap compared to galway and dublin. There's alot of new houses going up and alot of land still allocated to new developments.
They did Galway city a week or two ago and will be doing Galway county soon I think. The prices they quoted for Galway city houses were scary. They were also on about the upcoming changes that the GCC are bringing in with respect to new housing (I think daveg has said something about that somewhere on boards already).

I think if I had a choice of places to live in the 'West' I'd choose Galway or Kinsale.

Would you call Kinsale the West?!?!

daveg

Originally posted by markymark
Thanks for all the info Dave. Appreciated.

I'll have a look for some house books. And I'll do some research into sites and "slump tests".

I wonder would any restrictions which you mentioned only apply to land which has not yet had any planning granted on it?

If someone buys a site which already has full or outline planning on it, then maybe any restrictions might not apply.

Maybe by "restrictions", I wonder does he mean they will refuse far more applications to have planning permission granted (within the radius)?

Or would any restrictions apply even to sites which have already had full or outline permission granted?

My understanding is that any new or current applications for planning permission (within the 11 mile radius) will have the restrictions on it.

markymark

daveg,

checked a few websites yesterday about self-build.

I discovered that there are wooden-frame houses which are then finished as usual with block or brick.

Apparently they are much quicker to build and therefore cheaper to build. And I think they're easier to keep warm.

When you were looking into self-build, did you hear anything about timber-frame houses? They seem to be just as good as any other house (just quicker to build); I wondered if you had heard anything negative about them?

Maybe I'd need to start a new thread about this.......

jabberwock

I think its actually possible to put a wooden house up in 6 weeks. ready for interior work.

Typedef

Originally posted by jabberwock
Would you call Kinsale the West?!?!

For me... anything outside of North Dublin is basically a foriegn country, it's all pretty much a shade of grey after that.

simon_partridge

I'd go to Kenmare - there's an independent hostel run by a friendly 'big' woman who bursts in on you when you're in the shower to inform you that you have to put a coin in the slot to get hot water (which you had probably already worked out).

That in itself is sufficient reason to move to the place!

markymark

QUOTE:
"I think its actually possible to put a wooden house up in 6 weeks. ready for interior work."

jabberwock, is that *including* the exterior brick/block/stone work?

jabberwock

wouldn't bet my own house on it but I'd be 60-70% sure I heard it somewhere.
do some googleing on scandinavian timber housing(or something like that). should reap some rewards. they can definity get put up extremely quick.