Most miserable and grim towns and villages in Ireland

shaveAbullock · 21-04-2020 01:35AM

smelly sock wrote: »

Ye it is. Please stop talking ****e.

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_cities,_boroughs_and_towns_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland

It's not there

Of course villages are not in this list.

wakka12 · 21-04-2020 01:35AM

Whats so bad about Tipp town? Ive never been, but on google maps it just looks equally depressing to most other midlands towns. What makes Tipp's awfulness stand out?

maninasia · 21-04-2020 01:37AM

tastyt wrote: »

Think I remember this being asked before. I remember someone saying it’s because England was so rich that they spent a lot of money on buildings and architecture in these little villages. You even see on those property shows how clean and quaint some of these villages are with proper old buildings and areas for people to meet.

We on the other hand were piss poor and a lot of our towns villages are terribly planned

Definitely something to that. Their villages tend to look nicer overall.

Part of it though is the massive population density of in England with multiple big, cities so some people always looking for a 'nicer' place to commute from...Retire to.

Ireland doesn't even have one big city in the South, Midlands or West.

Marlow · 21-04-2020 01:46AM

This thread is pointless. Why ?

What you see as a sh!t town/village depends on what background you come from, how you grew up (city boy or country gal), what your preferences are and what age group you are in now.

Bundoran has been mentioned. I don't think many people actually live there. It has it's up's: the surf, the funfair, the Sea Sessions festival etc., but it is not a place to live permantly.

Just driving through a village and deciding based on that, if it is a kip or not, does not count. You won't know about the gems then. Or how vibrant the local pub is.

As for drairy ... any place that just houses commuters mainly living in semis and flats will do.

/M

Better Than Christ · 21-04-2020 01:50AM

Deleted User wrote: »

Starting to think you haven't been to Bray before. Genuinely. There's of course a few neglected areas but they're out of the way and don't cause any hassle you'd expect in a town of it's size. You need to get off the main street and drive around the whole place and you'll start to realise the diversity.

Do you think Ballybrack and Killiney are the same place? What about Whitechurch and Rathfarnham? Clontarf and Raheny? Bray is about the size of many South Dublin suburbs lumped into one. You need to give it a break and appreciate how in most parts, it's now a very desirable place to live with Dart access to the city and surrounded by mountains and sea etc. What do you think of Shankill main street??

The 'few neglected areas' aren't 'out of the way' - they're literally the town centre. The rest of the town is, for the most part, unremarkable. Even Fassaroe, which you snobbishly mentioned earlier, is a relatively quiet and mature area nowadays. Same with Wolfe Tone, Oldcourt, etc. The centre of the town is the problem. I'm sure you have your reasons for liking the place, but it's objectively a terrible kip. The only thing in its favour is that it's well served by public transport, thus making it easy to get the hell out of.

kowloon · 21-04-2020 02:04AM

Happy4all wrote: »

It's so long since I've been outside, I've forgotten what everywhere looks like.

They moved all the towns while we were sleeping, the virus is a hoax, wake up sheeple!

Alanhooly · 21-04-2020 02:12AM

Infernal Racket wrote:

There are many towns and villages in Ireland which just seem to have got left behind in the 40s or 50s. For me, the following towns are the worst I've seen. Granard, Co Longford, stuck in a time warp it can't escape from. Rathdowney in Laois is not far behind. Third I'd go for Castlerea in Roscommon, they still have a travelling cinema which visits once in a while. What are your experiences of towns that time forgot??

Rathdowney in Co. Laois seems a very strange place to start. It wouldn't even fall into the top 5 worst town/villages in Co. Laois, nevermind Ireland.

Rathkeale gets my vote

Dufflecoat Fanny · 21-04-2020 02:15AM

Alanhooly wrote: »

Rathdowney in Co. Laois seems a very strange place to start. It wouldn't even fall into the top 5 worst town/villages in Co. Laois, nevermind Ireland.

Rathkeale gets my vote

Rathdowney used to be a lovely town. what happened?

YFlyer · 21-04-2020 02:15AM

Tipp town mentioned yet?

Dufflecoat Fanny · 21-04-2020 02:18AM

Your Face wrote: »

Eyrecourt in Galway.
Not at all a kip but a weird oppressive feel to the place.

A lot of civil war ghosts in that town

Alanhooly · 21-04-2020 02:33AM

Dufflecoat Fanny wrote:

Rathdowney used to be a lovely town. what happened?

The loss of industry mainly. It is still a nice town imo but like so many, the lack of industry hurts. The pub scene which used to be very big in the town has also fallen off a cliff sadly

21-04-2020 02:42AM

Better Than Christ wrote: »

The 'few neglected areas' aren't 'out of the way' - they're literally the town centre. The rest of the town is, for the most part, unremarkable. Even Fassaroe, which you snobbishly mentioned earlier, is a relatively quiet and mature area nowadays. Same with Wolfe Tone, Oldcourt, etc. The centre of the town is the problem. I'm sure you have your reasons for liking the place, but it's objectively a terrible kip. The only thing in its favour is that it's well served by public transport, thus making it easy to get the hell out of.

Starting to think you just can't afford to live there...or else your ex girlfriend was from Bray/Greystones and dumped you.
Re: Fassaroe, Oldcourt etc, I agree with you but they're the more disadvantaged parts of Bray. Sorry if I offend but that's the truth. The main street is "diverse" as we've already discussed but like any town, you need to embrace it. A lot of empty shops that need to be sorted though, no different to any other town post recession. You're over exaggerating.

Do you think Ballybrack and Killiney are the same place? What about Whitechurch and Rathfarnham? Clontarf and Raheny? Bray is about the size of many South Dublin suburbs lumped into one. You need to give it a break and appreciate how in most parts, it's now a very desirable place to live with Dart access to the city and surrounded by mountains and sea etc. What do you think of Shankill main street??

freshpopcorn · 21-04-2020 02:44AM

wakka12 wrote: »

Whats so bad about Tipp town? Ive never been, but on google maps it just looks equally depressing to most other midlands towns. What makes Tipp's awfulness stand out?

I live not a million miles away from it.
It's not a nice town from my experience and I wouldn't be to fussy. I've strolled around Naas, Newbridge, Portlaoise, Tralee, killarney, Clonmel, Thurles, Waterford, Fermoy, Youghal and other towns or varies sizes and I understand that small places won't have big shops, high street names, etc but Tipp town wasn't a nice place in my experience. The Dunnes out the Limerick Road is nice tough.

The hosing estates also have a bad rap there. I know a good people who did driving tests there and getting stones and fireworks thrown at your car happened a bit.
I know people who live in nearby villages and they go to other towns to do there weekly shop simply because they don't like the place. They'd only go there for Dunnes.
Tipp has being in decline with a good while and it hadn't much to do with Tesco and Dunnes opening on the out skirts.

maestroamado · 21-04-2020 08:40AM

Dufflecoat Fanny wrote: »

A lot of civil war ghosts in that town

Why is that?
That's 100 years ago.

I have noticed that from what i have noticed over the years most of the towns along the Shannon were OK.
I always put it down to the fact that there a constant flow of new people from the boats.
I am going back 20 years and we may have progressed downward since then..

smelly sock · 21-04-2020 09:16AM

shaveAbullock wrote: »

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_cities,_boroughs_and_towns_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland

It's not there

Of course villages are not in this list.

Have you a factual source?

whisky_galore · 21-04-2020 09:41AM

Chinasea wrote: »

If they just planted some trees it would make a huge difference. That's why most of them look so bleak and desolate.

Streets would be full of leaves every autumn and if I had a car outside, I wouldn't want tree sap messing it up. Most streets here are too small for planting trees, trees get big you know. Brings a whole new set of problems with overhead wires and liability if the thing falls down.

Del.Monte · 21-04-2020 09:58AM

dh1985 wrote: »

Are.your sure that's not rooskey you are talking about with the meat factory
Dromod is the village two mile down the road. Pretty nice village with a harbour on the shannon and well landscaped green areas

Quite sure, I lived near it in Dromod and I will never be able eradicate the sounds and smell of the place from my memory.

JohnnyFlash · 21-04-2020 10:03AM

maestroamado wrote: »

Why is that?
That's 100 years ago.

I have noticed that from what i have noticed over the years most of the towns along the Shannon were OK.
I always put it down to the fact that there a constant flow of new people from the boats.
I am going back 20 years and we may have progressed downward since then..

Being beside the Shannon hasn’t stopped the decline in most of them. Portumna is one example. It’s beside the Shannon, has a lovely forest park with castle, the harbour, a great golf course, plenty of fishing and horse riding in the area. Yet it doesn’t even have a hotel since the last one burned down in slightly suspicious circumstances. It’s hard to stop the rot after it gets into a place.

skooterblue2 · 21-04-2020 10:05AM

Happy4all wrote: »

It's so long since I've been outside, I've forgotten what everywhere looks like.

People have gone feral, same as before only more so.

Thelonious Monk · 21-04-2020 10:14AM

wakka12 wrote: »

Thats surprising about NZ, I dont know anything about the place, what would be an example of a ****ty town in NZ that is somewhat representative and not just the worst example

Timaru, a town about the size of Kilkenny and I couldn't find anywhere to have a drink on a Tuesday night

skooterblue2 · 21-04-2020 10:19AM

wakka12 wrote: »

Whats so bad about Tipp town? Ive never been, but on google maps it just looks equally depressing to most other midlands towns. What makes Tipp's awfulness stand out?

The problem with Tipperary is a historic one according to my long deceased Aunts husband. Tipperary was supposed to get an Regional Technical College circa the mid 1970's. This was being lined up by buying the Clonmel Dog Track where the Dog Track would move out to a green field site. There was money in it for everyone. The new site would be bigger and more facilities and parking. The old site would be bought by a Dublin solicitor acting in vested interests. Now the Board of Clonmel Greyhound course was all on board (brown paper envelopes for all the boys) but it had to be ratified by the members. My relative spoke up at the meeting "That solicitor is working on behalf of Charlie Haughey". Of course nobody wanted to have anything to do with that deal. The whole thing collapsed along with the RTC plans. Now there is a new IT in Tipperary town but it is well behind all the others in stature.

I am not saying this story is true but it was told to me. We all know education raises a place. Would Tipperary look like a different place if they had gotten that RTC earlier and Lowry had that Regional Airport and international Cassino? Probably. If we had all day to discuss "if's" and "and's" and they were pots and pans there would be no jobs for Tinkers.

I think Tipperary is a very wealthy agricultural area but it never got the same lift as other places.

21-04-2020 10:19AM

whisky_galore wrote: »

Streets would be full of leaves every autumn and if I had a car outside, I wouldn't want tree sap messing it up. Most streets here are too small for planting trees, trees get big you know. Brings a whole new set of problems with overhead wires and liability if the thing falls down.

Balderdash. This type of laziness is why our towns don't have a few trees and hence tend to appear bleak and barren and unfinished.

Never have I ever heard of tree sap messing up a car?? Yes there is a little bit of work clipping the big ones and picking up leaves, but that surely is the point of paying taxes. Maybe take the money out of some of those useless quangos instead.

Thelonious Monk · 21-04-2020 10:38AM

Deleted User wrote: »

Balderdash. This type of laziness is why our towns don't have a few trees and hence tend to appear bleak and barren and unfinished.

Never have I ever heard of tree sap messing up a car?? Yes there is a little bit of work clipping the big ones and picking up leaves, but that surely is the point of paying taxes. Maybe take the money out of some of those useless quangos instead.

You're wasting your time, cars take priority over everything in Irish towns, that's the way most people want it

Mad_maxx · 21-04-2020 10:40AM

wakka12 wrote: »

Thats surprising about NZ, I dont know anything about the place, what would be an example of a ****ty town in NZ that is somewhat representative and not just the worst example

i lived and worked in new zealand over twenty years ago , it has countless villages which are completely and utterly devoid of character but despite that they tend to be fairly clean

towns and villages in new zealand sometimes look like those crappy little towns you see on american tv , way out west or down south , nothing more than functional , diners where there is absolutely no attention to decor whatsoever , a concrete floor would not be unheard of in some eating establishments in remote parts of new zealand , you would not have seen that thirty years ago in ireland , was watching NO country for old men the other night and the dive establishments that featured reminded me of new zealand , central heating is viewed as " flash " in new zealand , old school presbyterian , dourness is a huge influence in kiwi thought

the UK has beautiful rural towns and villages , it has real sh1thole cities and urban areas but the rural areas even in less affluent parts of wales or scotland tend to be really charming

Mad_maxx · 21-04-2020 10:43AM

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Being beside the Shannon hasn’t stopped the decline in most of them. Portumna is one example. It’s beside the Shannon, has a lovely forest park with castle, the harbour, a great golf course, plenty of fishing and horse riding in the area. Yet it doesn’t even have a hotel since the last one burned down in slightly suspicious circumstances. It’s hard to stop the rot after it gets into a place.

woodford out the road from portumna hasnt changed in decades , awful kip , it has plenty of fishing and unspoiled scenery

some towns and villages take no advantage of what they have

Seamai · 21-04-2020 10:50AM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Balderdash. This type of laziness is why our towns don't have a few trees and hence tend to appear bleak and barren and unfinished.

Never have I ever heard of tree sap messing up a car?? Yes there is a little bit of work clipping the big ones and picking up leaves, but that surely is the point of paying taxes. Maybe take the money out of some of those useless quangos instead.

I've not heard of tree sap being an issue here with cars, maybe all rain keeps it in check however it is an issue in some places like for example Barcelona where the plane trees growing on streets can drip a black sticky sap which if not cleaned off a car, can over time damage the paintwork. So the lesson would be to pick trees that don't cause this problem.
That being said, I'm in favour of much more trees being planted in our towns and cities, they help soften the look of the harshest urban landscape while also improving air quality. I read an article by a Dublin architect a few years ago who said that if he had his way he'd have most of the trees growing on Dublin's streets cut down as they obscured the architecture and vistas. I wouldn't agree with his viewpoint at all.

Thelonious Monk · 21-04-2020 10:56AM

The idea we shouldn't have trees in towns because someone's car might get a bit sticky is just ridiculous

I see sheep · 21-04-2020 11:03AM

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Being beside the Shannon hasn’t stopped the decline in most of them. Portumna is one example. It’s beside the Shannon, has a lovely forest park with castle, the harbour, a great golf course, plenty of fishing and horse riding in the area. Yet it doesn’t even have a hotel since the last one burned down in slightly suspicious circumstances. It’s hard to stop the rot after it gets into a place.

Who needs a hotel when you have Joe Canning?

Yeah seriously though it's a real pity it wasn't rebuilt, and I guess no chance now.

Hulk Hands · 21-04-2020 11:15AM

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

Athenry is a one horse town and the same horse is lame and a bout of colic going.
90 percent of the shops and pubs are gone out of it and Galway’s own dr evil has a stranglehold on what’s left.
It’s an awful pity cos it was a cracking town but it’s gone back something terrible

You can read that for any rural town in Ireland though. Nobody shops in a rural town anymore, and few socialise, especially when you're that close to a city. There's a bit of a centre there, it's slightly picturesque, and most importantly it has decent schools and sporting setup's, which is all you can really ask of a small rural town these days. Prices are consistently higher there anyway than other towns round the half hour mark from the city, Moycullen, Tuam, Headford etc. I know the bar's not set particularly high there. It's a pity Kinvarra's not 15 mins closer to the city tbh. Not sure PJ's doing that well there recently actually, even with the crises

21-04-2020 11:16AM

I have to say, looking at Tipperary Town on Google Street View, there is huge potential there. Well proportioned streets and buildings, if very rundown. Lack of horrendous Celtic Tiger carbuncles spoiling streetscapes.
No trees, a shame, but at least the hanging baskets are absent too. Seems the issues many on the thread note relate to the whole rundown atmosphere of the place; the selection of retail outlets looks fairly uninspiring.

Most miserable and grim towns and villages in Ireland

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