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From Dublin to Mayo

Allta · 2004-08-08 23:27:15

I am feeling very tired of the rat-race. The traffic. The rent. The increasingly depressing house prices, which started to be depressing years ago. So I've been thinking of leaving all of this, leaving Dublin, and going for a better quality of life. I've thought about options, and figured that I want to be near the sea,…

09-08-2004 12:27am

#1

Allta

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I am feeling very tired of the rat-race. The traffic. The rent. The increasingly depressing house prices, which started to be depressing years ago. So I've been thinking of leaving all of this, leaving Dublin, and going for a better quality of life.

I've thought about options, and figured that I want to be near the sea, and at least sort of near a rail terminus. The one place which seems to suit aesthetics and location seems to be the area between Westport and Newport, and possibly over along the coast to Mulvaney or Achill.

What would this be like? Obviously I'm going to have to pay some visits to the area to scope it out properly, and soon, too. But since this is the West forum, I thought I'd ask some questions. What's it like living in the West? Bord Gáis doesn't pipe out here, but is canister gas cooking known and convenient – or is the only choice an electric range or an Aga? Are services in general improving? Is there an optimism about such things in Mayo? Are the roads cared for?

Maybe that's enough questions to start.

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#2 09-08-2004 12:55pm

oscarBravo

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You're right about one thing - you'll have to come out and have a look around. Ideally stay a while in a couple of the places you've mentioned and get a feel for the locality.

Some specific answers to your questions: living in the west is wonderful, if it suits your temperament. I couldn't imagine living in Dublin again. Bottled gas is fine for cooking; I have two large propane tanks outside my house. It's more expensive than natural gas, but not too bad. Services are good, but will never touch what you're used to in Dublin.[1] You'd have to be more specific to get a more specific answer. Roads are largely crap, but getting better.

As to optimism - that's a very individual thing. There's a very strong community spirit in many parts of the west. In my experience, that community spirit is very welcoming to like-minded individuals from outside who are prepared to contribute.

[1] With the exception of broadband - many parts of the west are working on having better broadband services than almost anything currently available in the cities.

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#3 09-08-2004 3:38pm

Allta

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Thank you for your comments! It's encouraging. I'm sure many more questions will come to mind. One is about renting. Where is the best place to look for houses for rent? I don't mean localities; I mean, which of the newspapers (on which day), or is it best done at local auctioneers or the like? Or good old DAFT.IE?

How likely is it that the western rail corridor will be re-opened... and when? That would go a long way to connecting people to Shannon (as an alternative to Knock, which I heard is pretty poor, or Dublin which would be more remote).

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#4 09-08-2004 6:41pm

monument

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Allta wrote:

Thank you for your comments! It's encouraging. I'm sure many more questions will come to mind. One is about renting. Where is the best place to look for houses for rent? I don't mean localities; I mean, which of the newspapers (on which day), or is it best done at local auctioneers or the like? Or good old DAFT.IE?

How likely is it that the western rail corridor will be re-opened... and when? That would go a long way to connecting people to Shannon (as an alternative to Knock, which I heard is pretty poor, or Dublin which would be more remote).

The main rail line in Mayo is the Dublin to Westport line serving Castlebar, with a only other currently active line being the off spurt Ballina line (serving Foxford) breaking off sometime before Castlebar. ([url][/url])

I wouldn’t be quick to but bets on the western rail corridor. It is said it could, if at all, only start with trains going from Galway to near by towns, and Sligo to near by towns.

Dublin is as a close to a lot of Mayo as Shannon - the difference in time isn’t worth talking about.

Knock International Airport (out side Charlestown, not Knock village) has, and is continuing to expand its routes. With flights to London Stansted (Ryanair), Liverpool (AerArann), Manchester (BA), Manchester (bmibaby), Nottingham East Midlands (bmibaby), and Birmingham (my travel lite). And with chartered flights this year to from sun to snow… Lanzarote, Majorca, Gran Canaria, Malaga, Cyprus, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, and Andorra – ok, all but one is sun. The airport has the “capability to handle intercontinental aircraft”.

Broadband availability in Ireland
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=95197

Satellite Broadband & dial up options
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=63719

newspapers...

I’ve seen at least once Western People on sale in Eason's on O’Connell street in Dunlin, it’s out on Wednesdays, the others may also be there at some point, best to ask Eason's…

http://www.westernpeople.ie/
http://www.con-telegraph.ie/
http://www.mayonews.ie/

loads of info on Mayo...
http://www.mayo-ireland.ie/

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#5 09-08-2004 11:09pm

Allta

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Thans for those links, Monument; I'd found them googling already. As far as trains goes I was just wondering if eventually it would be possible to get to Shannon from Westport via Claremorris and Athenry rather than via Portarlington.

Knock though seems a waste of space for me. When I travel it's not to holiday destinations. Normally it's via Heathrow onward to something much farther. I won't fly with Ryanair any more because I don't like their business practices. Some good connections might happen via Manchester though. Worst case I could take the train to Dublin. I'm prepared for that. Well, I'll have to be.

I'll look for those papers in Easons, but my question remains: are those the best ways to find a house to rent near Westport, or would more local resources (or DAFT) be better?

Looks like I'll be heading down to Westport early next week. This is an exciting time. Change!

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#6 09-08-2004 11:42pm

monument

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A I said I wouldn’t be quick to but bets on the western rail corridor, you could always get the bus, but in the worst case you could fly Ryanair!

I haven’t used DAFT.ie, but I'd think the local papers could be better, the Connaught Telegraph (Castlebar), and more so the Mayo News (Westport) would be better for where you need.

Anyway good luck!

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#7 10-08-2004 1:43am

irishgeo

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if you looking for a house in westport , the mayo news is best as its based in westport.

Mayo News = Westport
Connaught Telegraph = Castlebar
Western People = Ballina

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#8 10-08-2004 11:09am

oscarBravo

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Allta wrote:

Worst case I could take the train to Dublin.

Here's an idea you're going to have to get used to: if you move down here, you're going to need a car. Public transport really is all but non-existent in the West.

You could rely on the train for transport to Dublin, but in my experience as often as not the timing just doesn't work out. The bus service is better, but with the state of the roads a long bus journey is not usually a pleasant experience.

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#9 10-08-2004 6:47pm

Yoda

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Tempting idea.

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#10 10-08-2004 7:45pm

Allta

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Monument: You can't rely on Ryanair if you have a connecting flight, alas, though Aer Arann and Manchester might prove useful.

IrishGeo: Easons in O'Connell Street had none, but I did pick up The Connacht Telegraph and The Western People in Easons in Nassau Street today.

OscarBravo: Car. Yeah, a car. Well, freed from Dublin rents maybe it would be a possibility. (I'm sure the partner will get one before I do; anyway my licence lapsed some years ago -- I wasn't driving and I forgot to renew -- so I'll have to go through the horror of testing and all that and get a new one.)

Yoda: It sure is to me.

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#11 11-08-2004 10:08am

oscarBravo

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Allta wrote:

I did pick up The Connacht Telegraph and The Western People in Easons in Nassau Street today.

Check out page 8 of the Western. The article's pretty crap, but there are a couple of pictures of me on it. Let me know if you want more clarity on the state of broadband in the west than that article may have left you with.

Allta wrote:

OscarBravo: Car. Yeah, a car. Well, freed from Dublin rents maybe it would be a possibility.

I'm not kidding - it's a necessity.

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#12 11-08-2004 1:02pm

Allta

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The 4 August edition of The Western People is what I got, OscarBravo, and it doesn't seem to have an article about you in it. But I did read about the Group Data Schemes on the IrelandOffline forum. I guess that's what you're talking about. It's very interesting.

Having said that, isn't the exchange in Westport enabled for DSL? Of course it depends how far someone lives from the exchange. I heard that Newport is on Eircom's "trigger list" and that Eircom specified a trigger number which is greater than the actual number of households in the area. That isn't very encouraging.

As far as the car goes, I believe you. It's a logistics problem for me since I don't have a licence yet.

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#13 11-08-2004 1:35pm

irishgeo

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Allta wrote:

The 4 August edition of The Western People is what I got, OscarBravo, and it doesn't seem to have an article about you in it. But I did read about the Group Data Schemes on the IrelandOffline forum. I guess that's what you're talking about. It's very interesting.

Having said that, isn't the exchange in Westport enabled for DSL? Of course it depends how far someone lives from the exchange. I heard that Newport is on Eircom's "trigger list" and that Eircom specified a trigger number which is greater than the actual number of households in the area. That isn't very encouraging.

As far as the car goes, I believe you. It's a logistics problem for me since I don't have a licence yet.

good old eircom.

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#14 11-08-2004 9:00pm

monument

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Going OT here...

oscarBravo wrote:

Check out page 8 of the Western. The article's pretty crap

I think they missed the whole how and where you can get broadband, as well as what it is, (and maybe what the practical uses are) - in plan English!

The above, along with a few minor errors, probably added to some peoples confused over broadband.

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#15 12-08-2004 12:46pm

oscarBravo

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monument wrote:

I think they missed the whole how and where you can get broadband, as well as what it is, (and maybe what the practical uses are) - in plan English!

Mairéad Lavery's Farmer's Journal article is still probably the best yet, from that perspective.

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#16 28-08-2004 5:08pm

Allta

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I'm Yoda. You probably guessed.

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#17 28-08-2004 5:15pm

Yoda

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Well, that was fun. So anyway, the move is on. Sometime between now and the end of September we'll be packing up and heading over. We found a house which we can rent till June (when it turns into a hugely expensive holiday rental) so that will give us plenty of time to get settled and look for something. That will be a lot easier when we are in the area in any case.

The house we found is near enough to the exchange to get broadband, though the copper probably isn't suitable. We'll see.

It's interesting that it's rather hard to find unfurnished rental accommodation. I suppose not that many people move west. On Monday we'll be heading up for two days in the area; we'll be heading out of town up to Newport and over to Mulranny to see what that all looks like.

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#18 28-08-2004 5:46pm

sceptre

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Allta wrote:

(I'm sure the partner will get one before I do; anyway my licence lapsed some years ago -- I wasn't driving and I forgot to renew -- so I'll have to go through the horror of testing and all that and get a new one.)

Unless it's out of date more than ten years you can just renew any time you like.

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#19 28-08-2004 5:51pm

Yoda

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Nope. The licence I had was my Oregon driving licence, and in Oregon you only have a year's grace period after your licence expires, and then you're licenceless.

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#20 28-08-2004 6:31pm

ERR!

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hey you want to live by the sea...live in greystones its not in Dublin but its by the sea n great handy place to live?

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#21 28-08-2004 6:48pm

Yoda

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Thought of that. Still too expensive. No different from Sutton, really. In the West we'll have the chance to buy a nice big house with a decent view of mountains and sea. That just doesn't happen on the East coast unless you're a millionnaire. Anyway, I work from home, and mostly use Dublin for cinema and proximity to the airport. The latter is quite a convenience, but owning my own house will more than make up for it.

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#22 28-08-2004 7:35pm

ERR!

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tee hee oh ok well greystones is a great place to live in n you dont have to be rich..

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#23 28-08-2004 8:43pm

Yoda

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I'm really looking forward to moving out of Dublin, actually.

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#24 29-08-2004 12:12am

ERR!

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Yoda wrote:

I'm really looking forward to moving out of Dublin, actually.

ok,but greystones aint in dublin lol but i know what you mean...

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#25 04-09-2004 9:18pm

Yoda

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Packing.... Got the removal people booked for 13 September!

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#26 11-09-2004 10:19pm

Drag00n79

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Well done!

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#27 17-09-2004 8:52am

Yoda

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I've been here since Monday, and love it. I keep getting up much earlier than I used to. Having the neighbouring cows look in the window by my desk will take some getting used to. Bright sunny morning today.

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#28 30-09-2004 9:26am

Okie

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Yoda wrote:

I've been here since Monday, and love it. I keep getting up much earlier than I used to. Having the neighbouring cows look in the window by my desk will take some getting used to. Bright sunny morning today.

Well done Yoda, welcome to my neck of the woods!

Hope you'll be happy whever it is your stuated at the moment?

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#29 19-06-2007 8:54am

bowsie casey

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Hi Yoda,
Could you give us an update on how this move went for you? I am planning a move to the same area (Newport / Mulranny) and would like to know how you got on....

Bowsie

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#30 19-06-2007 10:14am

Yoda

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We started with a winter letting of a farmhouse east of Westport on the Ballinrobe Road. In May 2005 we moved to Lecanvey, in the shadow of Croagh Patrick (also renting). Currently we are saving up to buy a field and build a house.

Moving West was the best thing ever for me. I work at home, so I can live where I like. Being 15 minutes' drive from Westport suits me -- or my inner hermit -- too. There's a pub in Lecanvey. There used to be a shop, too. It would be handier if there were a shop again, but time will tell. The job market per se isn't so vibrant out here in the West, but I guess it depends what you do.

Are you moving north from Clare, Bowsie Casey?

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#31 19-06-2007 11:28am

yop

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I used to live there myself Yoda, shame about the shop!! Where abouts are u renting?

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