Need your help, moved back from Australia, live in Kinsale or Beaumont in Cork City?

You can’t go wrong with the 5 contiguous Bs: Blackrock, Ballintemple, Beaumont, Ballinlough, Boreenmanna. Very good quality of life compared to the outer suburbs because everything is much closer to hand. None of the widely publicised issues seen elsewhere have been seen here (yet?).

I like Kinsale but couldn’t stand living there due to the huge number of visitors during the summer months. Also, whether it is Kinsale or another satellite town like Midleton, do try to think ten years ahead to when your kids are teenagers. Friends and work colleagues living outside the city seem to spend their lives in the car, driving the kids here and there. My kids just get the bus.

[Deleted User] wrote: »

5 contiguous Bs, 😂😂😂😂😂, isn't Beaumont part of ballintemple.

Oh maybe. No idea where the boundaries lie to be honest. Not sure anyone does. It was one of the most confusing things for us when we moved to Cork from a country where suburb boundaries are shown very clearly on the map. I spent a year thinking I lived in Douglas until one morning I got into a taxi outside my house and the driver said into his radio, “just picked up in Ballinlough.” I asked him, “is this Ballinlough?” and he looked at me like I was mental.

Be careful of blackrock as half of mahon is now blackrock if you go by estate agents

The interesting thing there is that Blackrock doesn’t exist in the traditional place names hierarchy. There is a townland of Ballintemple and a townland of Mahon, both in the civil parish of St Finbar’s in the Barony of Cork. But there’s actually no townland of Blackrock. My wife’s into local history, and according to a book she read about the Mahon Peninsula, Blackrock is mostly within the townland of Mahon. But the locals can at least latch on to the modern day electoral district of Blackrock

Beaumount/Blackrock/Ballintemple are simply great places to live, close to the City Centre, close to the Marina and all the walks, views, etc. You won't have to spend your life in a car. The schools are excellent, good cafes/deli's, a lot of quirky characters, Blackrock Market on a Sunday, you can cycle off road in all directions, generally if you have to drive you're not too far from anywhere, bus routes, future parks and light rail hopefully over the next 20 years. Only problem is trying to find somewhere as it's probably the priciest part of Cork per sq. ft and the estate agents have lists of buyers trying to locate in the area.

In weighing up Kinsale consider how likely it is you will have an ability to work from home too - we considered Kinsale about 2 years ago and didnt go for it for the reasons noted that a long drive every morning did not sound great (road is narrow and feels quite fast - not saying its dangerous as such, but a mistake by someone could be very bad). If we were making that call now it might have far more appeal if we were doing that once or twice a week and living in Kinsale day to day. Gorgeous town, it was always and has improved a lot in the few years where I was gone from Cork - restaurant heaven in so many ways.

Also just to offer a counter opinion on Cork city itself, of course there are negative stories and they trouble me as much as anyone, has felt like Cork city was in a big decline since recession. With that said I find myself more and more heading in for walks, grabbing a coffee (or pint of Murphys) and really enjoying the character and charm of all streets on Morrisons Island. The buzz on Oliver Plunkett street lately with Christmas lights and takeaway is really something. I notice a slow but steady improvement lately, some driven by outdoor seating and a sense of families and respectable adults coming back to the city as opposed to groups of scuts and homeless people. Not saying its perfect and one bad experience might change my whole outlook, but wanted to put my experience out there.
Rather than set out specifics this thread keeps a good eye on developments in the centre https://www.skyscrapercity.com/forums/cork-metro-area.4450/

Good luck! You'll be glad to be back in Cork I think, we all come full circle fighting to get away and then appreciating it on return.

Can't comment directly on Kinsale or the '5 contiguous Bs' but as you mention Ballincollig as your potential place of work why not consider it as a place to live? City bus service to city centre every 20 mins for your other half, good sense of community and its developed a lot infrastructure wise in the last 10-15 years.

thejuggler wrote: »

Can't comment directly on Kinsale or the '5 contiguous Bs' but as you mention Ballincollig as your potential place of work why not consider it as a place to live? City bus service to city centre every 20 mins for your other half, good sense of community and its developed a lot infrastructure wise in the last 10-15 years.

I never liked Ballincollig when I was younger but the street redvelopment has given it a better sense of community that has spurred more businesses and better care of the place. I live in Kerry Pike nearby and its a nice town centre out of the city

One more thought from me is that giving too much weight to where you work can be a bit short-sighted. Unless you both have the luxury of a job that is unlikely to move, you or your partner could find yourself working in a completely different location five years from now.

- Employers move offices, e.g. my employer has been in three different locations in 15 years.
- Employers move staff to satellite/overflow offices, e.g. Apple, Dell, UCC, etc.
- Employers change remote working policies, e.g. my wife’s employer (though Covid forced a reversal of that).
- Employers make people redundant or close up shop altogether.
- Employees get bored or feel undervalued and decide to change jobs.

If you weight too heavily towards your commute and your commute changes, you can find yourself living somewhere that, when scored on its intrinsic merits, that doesn’t come out so favourably. And it’s not so easy to move again when you’ve become attached to your home & community, and when a teenage child has become embedded in a network of friends.

Traditionally, the property market used to take off at Easter. That may have changed a bit but worth noting.

Re upgrading a house, there are several grants available from SEAI, and also some good threads here on boards e.g. https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057550775