What's your favourite city in Ireland and why?

zetalambda wrote: »

There's no real cities in Ireland but my favourite town would be Dublin. It's so stress-free and quiet when you're used to the hustle and bustle of a city.

True. Always found Limerick to be the most hospitable but Cork is my personal favorite.

topper75 wrote: »

All your praise for Derry is valid certainly. I'm quite fond of it.

How many people (possibly including yourself OP) will post here with opinions despite not knowing all the cities?

How many people in the county thread had actually visited all 32?

How many people have eaten all the food ? How can you have a favourite food if you haven't tried all of it... :rolleyes:



For me it's a toss up between Derry and Galway. Galway might just about edge it on the basis of having better nightlife but the people in Derry are superb.


Wouldn't be mad about Dublin other than there's always something on and something to do there. Don't like Waterford and don't even have a reason for not liking it... just don't like it !! Belfast does absolutely nothing for me. Been there about 4 or 5 times and there always seems to be a bit of an undertone there that I haven't experienced elsewhere in the north. Seems very bleak and dreary as well.

An earlier post hit the nail on the head regarding Limerick and Cork (where I'm from / live ) Neither seem to reach their potential for some reason. I'm not sure if it's poor planning or poor City Councils but there just seems to be something missing.

DickSwiveller Returns wrote: »

That reminds me of a funny story I hear a while ago. Kilkenny City (now extinct) were playing Limerick City in a soccer match in Kilkenny and Kilkenny were leading 2-0. The Kilkenny fans started chanting "Kikenny city 1 Limerick city 0" to which the Limerick fans responded "Kilkenny Town 2 Limerick city 0".

Haha all the Kilkenny lads go nuts when you call it a town,even though it is really only the size of a town

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Limerick surprised me

Going by press reports down through the years I had my knife ready as the train pulled into the station ready for battle

But no great city very friendly people and not too touristy

Forget about the fake news media. Dublin a lot worse.

Well if we're including Kilkenny as a city, my vote goes to Westport (higher population and everything). Beautiful surroundings with good pubs and restaurants

As for actual cities, Galway is brilliant. Lived there for years and had so much craic, there's always a bit of life about the place

ArnoldJRimmer wrote: »

Well if we're including Kilkenny as a city, my vote goes to Westport (higher population and everything). Beautiful surroundings with good pubs and restaurants

As for actual cities, Galway is brilliant. Lived there for years and had so much craic, there's always a bit of life about the place

6,000 people live in Westport and it's a square with a few streets leading in and around it with a river. Yes it's nice but there's really not a lot to it bar a few decent pubs and restaurants in the town. I couldn't imagine living there long term - pretty boring and isolated especially in the winter.

Hard to beat Kilkenny. Great pubs, excellent restaurants, well organised festivals, the castle and it's grounds. It's easy to get about and always a nice atmosphere. Very safe to stroll around day or night. Never gets too busy with traffic etc.

Stephen15 wrote: »

To some extent Dublin tries to copy London I would agree with that.

I have to say many of the chain stores in Limerick particularly feel they are second rate stores to their Dublin counterparts e.g. the Dunnes Stores in Limerick is a dump and the Brown Thomas feels very down market compared to Dublin.

I took a short break to Cork a few years ago for example and couldn't find much to do there that I couldn't do in Dublin apart from the English Market and a few other things Limerick was even worse and I found there was a very poor selection of half decent looking cafes restaurants. Limerick is a lot worse than Cork and it felt very run down.

There are 4 Dunnes stores in Limerick, two of which are Dunnes A stores, ie the widest stock ranges. If you found it hard to find stuff to do in Cork or Limerick then that is more of a reflection yourself than the cities in my opinion.

I am a blow in to Limerick and love living there. If I had a choice of a weekend away in Dublin or Cork it would be Cork hands down. Dublin seems to be full of pretentiousness and looks more East than west for it's culture. North Dublin less so to be fair but I think Dubs can be a different breed with a different mindset to the rest of the population.

Probably Kilkenny. Compact, historical (ok everywhere is but you know what I mean), good night life, and mainly because it's too small to be a real city so has none of the down sides of sprawling cities with huge populations.

Other than that I'd say Belfast. Only crossed the border for the first time in my 30's and I enjoyed the different vibe up there. Really vibrant, good shopping, nice places to eat and everything looking squeaky clean.

Limerick is experiencing a revival with lots of new office block's, shops and restaurants being built and opened. It has always been a bit saltier than other Irish cities but if you embrace that aspect it makes for an entertaining and welcoming place. My brother lives in the Dublin region and loves coming to visit and socialise in Limerick as he reckons it is so friendly. A previous poster nailed it, a small city full of country people.

zetalambda wrote: »

There's only 2 types of people that think Dublin is a big city:

A. Dublin people

B. Farmers from rural Ireland up to the big schmoke for some shopping with their hang sangwidges and a flask of tae.

Literally the rest of the world sees it for what it is...a big town. Nothing more nothing less. Take it or leave it but don't fool yourself into thinking its anything else.

Dont know many towns with over a million people in them
Its not a big city by 21st C standard, sure. but that doesnt mean its a town