Most miserable and grim towns and villages in Ireland

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly · 19-04-2020 10:07pm

Larne

Radharc na Sleibhte · 19-04-2020 10:10pm

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??

Way to support our own.

Sober Crappy Chemis · 19-04-2020 10:36pm

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

Larne

Two boys have serious low hangers....

Sawduck · 19-04-2020 10:49pm

Deiselurker wrote: »

Fethard in Co Tipperary is a grim looking place that looks like it's stuck in a time warp and has awful bumpy road surfaces.
I lived in New Ross over 20 years ago for a short time and it wasn't great although maybe it's livened up with the influx of Polish and other immigrants since then. It's now bypassed as well as traffic was awful there for years.

Lived in fethard for awhile, have family there too and I can say it's even grimmer than it looks, in recent years a couple of popular pups and shops have closed and drug crime is a major problem there, also vandalism and robberies

Bob the Builder · 19-04-2020 11:04pm

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I grew up in a small West of Ireland town, and am a regular visitor back to Ireland, especially during the summer months. My own town wouldn't even be a particularly awful one, by the admittedly low standards it would be compared against.

It's the whole package of small town Irish life that fills me with horror. The lack of ambition inherent in a decision to live in one of these awful places. The nosiness, the resentment, the jealousy that emerges as your mind starts to warp during to lack of intellectual and cultural stimulation. The boarded up shops and pubs, the decay, the fading signs, the empty butcher, the sadness. Gormless looking men standing in a pub door sharing a rollie cigarette. Fat-arsed women wearing a O'Neills tracksuit pushing a trolley around the local Supervalu while two peanut-headed children follow her around. The Wrangler bootcut jeans, Superdry jackets, and checked shirts. The acceptance of 3rd world levels of dental hygiene amongst the populace. The pints of cider while playing pool in a ran down pub on a Tuesday night.

My sentiment exactly. In fact, only for your grammar is better than mine, I'd swear it was me who wrote that

If you have any work or career ambitions, you're wasting your time being anywhere outside of Dublin. Save for maybe Waterford's tech scene, or Limerick or Galway for pharma or medical devices manufacturing. Almost every mainstay company has their headquarters in Dublin - and this is where all the best jobs are for that reason. All of the decision making happens in Dublin.

If you do manage to get a good job down the country, you're basically stuck there. You're stuck working with people who have never left that town or that company, that have floated to the jobs they're in and you can't leave because there's no other employer around.

For example, I can think of minimum five companies based all the way down the western seaboard and their only real selling points are - you can surf here and it's cheap(er) rent than Dublin with less traffic congestion.

Muahahaha · 19-04-2020 11:32pm

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I wonder why so many of our towns are horrible? Nice towns and villages are few and far between. I know the UK has loads of sh*tholes but some of the villages I've been to there are like something from a fairy tale.

Not sure what areas you were in but in the UK it is possible to buy houses within the borders of national parks. Their national parks are a hell of a lot bigger than our own and thousands of people live within side of them in villages with a couple of shops and a pub or two. As they're in national parks they are also in conservation areas and the local council has a lot of power to make sure these fairy tale villages stay exactly the same.

In conservation areas they have rules and regulations on what you can and cant do to your house, I used to go out with girl from near Lake Windermere in the Lake District and in her village all the houses had thatched roofs. Its in a conservation area so an owner has to maintain the look of the building or else planning enforcement comes out and pays a visit and fines issue. That means they have to rethatch the roof every couple of years at a cost of thousands. Before you buy a house there you accept that the thatch has to be maintained and it will cost you a fair bit of money to do so. Theres lots of wealth in these areas so people generally comply, also people dont want their name in the local paper for refusing to maintain their house the way all their neighbours are doing. So there is lots of pressure to conform and people living in these areas are very proud of the beauty of them and go to great lengths to preserve it.

So the fairy tale villages you see in the UK did not happen by accident, they happened by design and the strict enforcement of conservation to keep them that way.

All that fandango · 19-04-2020 11:58pm

Infernal Racket wrote:

And yet you found some precious time to comment

Oh the irony..

Ciaranis · 19-04-2020 11:58pm

tastyt wrote:

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

Terribly planned? I think you mean "organic"

20-04-2020 12:05am

In no particular order from having to work in them/stay over in my last job.

Nobber

Ballivor

Clonmel

Boyle

Thurles

Tipperary

Clonakilty

Clones

Athlone

Arklow

Moycullen

Tuam

Ballymahon

Tinahely

Fethard

Ferbane

Ballycumber

Gowran

Moate

Tullamore

Birr

Ballyragget

Kilcar

Fintown

I actually like older style (some would say run down) shops and pubs and they are getting rarer unfortunately, just the people in some cases being unfriendly or in one or two cases outright aggressive when drunk and some places just having an air of being near deaths door due to lack of amenities etc.

FintanMcluskey · 20-04-2020 12:17am

Bob the Builder wrote: »

My sentiment exactly. In fact, only for your grammar is better than mine, I'd swear it was me who wrote that

If you have any work or career ambitions, you're wasting your time being anywhere outside of Dublin. Save for maybe Waterford's tech scene, or Limerick or Galway for pharma or medical devices manufacturing. Almost every mainstay company has their headquarters in Dublin - and this is where all the best jobs are for that reason. All of the decision making happens in Dublin.

If you do manage to get a good job down the country, you're basically stuck there. You're stuck working with people who have never left that town or that company, that have floated to the jobs they're in and you can't leave because there's no other employer around.

For example, I can think of minimum five companies based all the way down the western seaboard and their only real selling points are - you can surf here and it's cheap(er) rent than Dublin with less traffic congestion.

I share your sentiment here with the exception of Galway. It only has med device firms and realistically Dublin and Cork are the home of Pharma.
Professionals will be drawn to Dublin and Cork.
Allergan in Westport and Regeneron in Limerick are exceptions

FintanMcluskey · 20-04-2020 12:19am

DubInMeath wrote: »

In no particular order from having to work in them/stay over in my last job.

Nobber

Ballivor

Clonmel

Boyle

Thurles

Tipperary

Clonakilty

Clones

Athlone

Arklow

Moycullen

Tuam

Ballymahon

Tinahely

Fethard

Ferbane

Ballycumber

Gowran

Moate

Tullamore

Birr

Ballyragget

I actually like older style (some would say run down) shops and pubs and they are getting rarer unfortunately, just the people in some cases being unfriendly or in one or two cases outright aggressive when drunk and some places just having an air of being near deaths door due to lack of amenities etc.

If my job requires hotel stays, I will choose a night in Athlone over Ballymahon.

LiquidZeb · 20-04-2020 12:21am

Bob the Builder wrote: »

My sentiment exactly. In fact, only for your grammar is better than mine, I'd swear it was me who wrote that

If you have any work or career ambitions, you're wasting your time being anywhere outside of Dublin. Save for maybe Waterford's tech scene, or Limerick or Galway for pharma or medical devices manufacturing. Almost every mainstay company has their headquarters in Dublin - and this is where all the best jobs are for that reason. All of the decision making happens in Dublin.

If you do manage to get a good job down the country, you're basically stuck there. You're stuck working with people who have never left that town or that company, that have floated to the jobs they're in and you can't leave because there's no other employer around.

For example, I can think of minimum five companies based all the way down the western seaboard and their only real selling points are - you can surf here and it's cheap(er) rent than Dublin with less traffic congestion.

It's a shame Limerick city is so run down. The city centre is dotted with abandoned and boarded up buildings some people hanging around just look like the absolute pits. I came back from a trip to Munich back in February and it was like I landed on another planet. It's a shame because if the city got some proper government investment it could be something special.

G-Man · 20-04-2020 12:23am

Historically, only very few towns had industry or agricultural wealth, to compare with similar towns in UK or France, Germany... What happened in 20c was widespread emigration and then to kick it when its down, drink culture has made some of the towns nasty at night--- and car culture has made them unpleasant during the day.. Added to that we have had decades and decades of poor investment in our towns, no pools, playgrounds, decent walking paths or parks..

Why would anyone want to go there or live there.

Thankfully now there are many great local volunteers and some money from councils or local bluechips to invest in towns and improve this.. That said - I see no evidence Intel has improved Leixlip or Tara Mines done the same for Navan... Or even tourism, look how shoddy the tourist villages look on wet winter days..

Del.Monte · 20-04-2020 12:24am

Longford Town and up the road Dromod in County Leitrim.

ressem · 20-04-2020 12:34am

Disagree with Ballinasloe and Clara, definitely not the most grim.
Both have large employers, schools, transport links; activity, some community spirit that isn't the pub.

Certainly they have streets with dereliction, but you can find uglier in the lanes within 200 meters of O'Connell bridge in Dublin.
They have the same issue that's common across Ireland, what can be put into a town street shopfront that will pay the upkeep? It's a short list.

PTH2009 · 20-04-2020 12:54am

The whole county of Tipperary is grim and Limerick too

Theres a village in Limerick which still has there Special Olympics signs up

Courtown Harbour in Wexford sounds grims and has that social welfare summer holiday caravan feel to it. Holiday shops cheap and tacky grim feeling. Rosslare is a kip too (fishguard in Wales is nothing better either)

amadangomor · 20-04-2020 12:56am

Youghal mentioned a lot. Not sure about it being the biggest kip in Ireland. It is probably the biggest underachiever though.
Has great potential - great beach, lot of history with some fine buildings.

The quays area could do with a total revamp and I reckon it would make the place way better. Few bars and restaurants and shops with outdoor sitting and tastefully done there would get people in.

What's the story? Have to got no local TD to get stuff done?

fryup · 20-04-2020 1:03am

any midlands town

Thank god for the motorway network, you don't have to drive through those wrist slitting inducing towns anymore

corks finest · 20-04-2020 1:11am

FintanMcluskey wrote: »

If my job requires hotel stays, I will choose a night in Athlone over Ballymahon.

Both ****eholes

corks finest · 20-04-2020 1:12am

Sober Crappy Chemis wrote: »

Two boys have serious low hangers....

Larne is grim,as is Craigavon

corks finest · 20-04-2020 1:13am

Ubbquittious wrote: »

Shannon Town. Looks like some social engineering experiment gone wrong

Portlaoise and surrounding area awful

wakka12 · 20-04-2020 1:14am

Most of them, grim is the standard in Irish urban areas not the exception . Only a handful of towns in Ireland that are charming and likeable

May not be that awful but because I have family there I end up visiting a lot, so my vote goes to tramore. The beach is grand but the town is a cheap tacky hole filled with casinos and chippers and tourist tat, surrounded by a rundown amusement park a caravan park a marsh and ugly holiday homes

An Ri rua · 20-04-2020 1:18am

jackboy wrote: »

Tipp is famous for atrocious towns. Just wondering, is there a town in Tipp that could be considered nice?

I have to say that I like Cahir. Very pleasant on a sunny day.

An Ri rua · 20-04-2020 1:20am

amadangomor wrote: »

Youghal mentioned a lot. Not sure about it being the biggest kip in Ireland. It is probably the biggest underachiever though.
Has great potential - great beach, lot of history with some fine buildings.

The quays area could do with a total revamp and I reckon it would make the place way better. Few bars and restaurants and shops with outdoor sitting and tastefully done there would get people in.

What's the story? Have to got no local TD to get stuff done?

1st out of the blocks on Covid19 too. Plenty of moxy.

Hunchback · 20-04-2020 1:21am

Whatever about the towns mentioned, just reading one page of this thread is depressing.

An Ri rua · 20-04-2020 1:24am

fryup wrote: »

any midlands town

Thank god for the motorway network, you don't have to drive through those wrist slitting inducing towns anymore

You need to walk the wide leaning boulevards of Daingean. You will change your mind. The jewel in Henry VIII's crown and voted best reformatory for over 100 years in a row. The place oozes. Just oozes...

ILoveYourVibes · 20-04-2020 7:42am

Kilkenny.

Im sorry if you are from there. But just nope. Maybe its me.

20-04-2020 7:50am

Sallins in Kildare, awful spot.
In the midst of Naas, Clane, Maynooth, Straffan etc which are all not too bad.
Like, the main street.....
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MjZiOTZlYTg4ZGFhZDQ2NTZiNjY5MmM1YmYxYWI4ZDCUuPK6xC7N61VDafF2MBIhaHR0cDovL3MzLWV1LXdlc3QtMS5hbWF6b25hd3MuY29tL21lZGlhbWFzdGVyLXMzZXUvNi8wLzYwN2NlODk5ZDM5MDQ4MzlkMzgyMTFkZmI2YzIyMTdhLmpwZ3x8fDcwMGx8fHx8fHx8.jpg

Canal is the saving grace......

But several weirdos living on that.

Casey78 · 20-04-2020 7:54am

Ballyfermot.

Jonybgud · 20-04-2020 8:03am

If there was a thread on the nicest and best towns and villages in Ireland, we'd see all the same names just from alternate posters...

Dublin's still a kip though.

from_atozinc · 20-04-2020 8:05am

Driven through Athenry a few times. Seems very run down.

L1011 · 20-04-2020 8:06am

Kiltimagh. One of the grimmest places I've ever had to stay over in.

Charlestown up the road is pretty bad too; and Swinford further up. An axis of awful

Sam Hain · 20-04-2020 8:23am

The Midlands definitely has the monopoly on grim in both the towns and the dwellers.

deise08 · 20-04-2020 8:29am

As soon as a saw the title I thought Tipp town..

corcaigh07 · 20-04-2020 8:37am

Only one other person said it so far but jesus, Buttevant drains your soul. Charleville isn’t great either and is also choked with traffic.

Nobody else has said it yet, Dunmanway, hellish town square. You might stop for their Aldi, that’s it.

Bandon has been mentioned a good few times and while it has a long way to go, it has some nice areas, some quirky shops and cafes starting to pop up and a decent little shopping centre. Most of all, they have a bypass if you don’t want to see the place. It suffers from being a suburb of Cork (pretty much) but with population, it has a chance to be a nice town in the future.

whisky_galore · 20-04-2020 8:38am

amadangomor wrote: »

Youghal mentioned a lot. Not sure about it being the biggest kip in Ireland. It is probably the biggest underachiever though.
Has great potential - great beach, lot of history with some fine buildings.

The quays area could do with a total revamp and I reckon it would make the place way better. Few bars and restaurants and shops with outdoor sitting and tastefully done there would get people in.

What's the story? Have to got no local TD to get stuff done?

Uninspired and uninspiring locals, happy with mediocrity. People have to get off their holes too, Kinsale was once a rough as a badgers arse fishing village and look at it now.

JohnnyFlash · 20-04-2020 8:44am

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Kilkenny.

Im sorry if you are from there. But just nope. Maybe its me.

It’s probably you in fairness.

whisky_galore · 20-04-2020 8:45am

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Mallow. For a town that should offer so much the place is so run down with no pride in some shops and upkeep is terrible. One way system is joke. A horrible town now, 20 years ago it was great town.

Mallow has a derelict hotel slap bang in the middle that spontaneously combusts on an ongoing basis.
That main street before the clock house where it narrows and natural light struggles to get in, surrounded by boarded up shops with faux fronts painted on flaking plywood is especially grim.

lazeedaisy · 20-04-2020 8:50am

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Kilkenny.

Im sorry if you are from there. But just nope. Maybe its me.

I like Kilkenny, despite being from Dublin, I think its one of the best cities in Ireland, I live in Kilkenny, but just barely,

Now if you're talking New Ross, now that is grim.

irishguitarlad · 20-04-2020 8:59am

Castleisland Co.Kerry. Boarded up shops and bars, scrotes hanging around corners, the most backwards people you would ever meet. Don't forget the weather, I don't know how many times on the way home from Tralee/Killarney where the sun was shining to be met by a big black cloud over Castleisland/Cordal/Brosna/Scart and it pissing fúcking rain. Those villages I mentioned there are also fairly ****e, worst part of Kerry.

Tim76 · 20-04-2020 9:21am

tastyt wrote: »

The answer to this question has always been either Tipperary town or Athy in any other thread I have seen on it, and it’s hard to argue with that

+1 for Tipp Town. Or should that be minus one? Either way it's The Armpit of Ireland.

onrail · 20-04-2020 9:27am

There’s a tendency here to be harsh on ourselves, but having lived and travelled New Zealand and UK for the last 10 years, we are absolutely blessed if we think Arklow or Fethard are as bad as it gets.

You wouldn’t believe the state of the ****holes in NZ once you get away from the tourist hotspots.

Ich liebe Berlin · 20-04-2020 9:30am

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Ennis yet. It's a horrible place to live.

smelly sock · 20-04-2020 9:34am

onrail wrote: »

There’s a tendency here to be harsh on ourselves, but having lived and travelled New Zealand and UK for the last 10 years, we are absolutely blessed if we think Arklow or Fethard are as bad as it gets.

You wouldn’t believe the state of the ****holes in NZ once you get away from the tourist hotspots.

Ye. Oldham, Stockport amd Bradford. FFS.

NZ is basically a shanty town.

Rufeo · 20-04-2020 9:37am

onrail wrote: »

There’s a tendency here to be harsh on ourselves, but having lived and travelled New Zealand and UK for the last 10 years, we are absolutely blessed if we think Arklow or Fethard are as bad as it gets.

You wouldn’t believe the state of the ****holes in NZ once you get away from the tourist hotspots.

A tendency.

This thread comes around every now and again. Just like the dole one, the traveller ones and all the threads about excrement.

I think there are some people on here who need help, but why would you need help when you can start a controversial thread and watch people batter each other about where they're from!

The joys of the internet.

corks finest · 20-04-2020 9:38am

An Ri rua wrote: »

I have to say that I like Cahir. Very pleasant on a sunny day.

Cahir is ok, great tour of the castle a must if there

corks finest · 20-04-2020 9:41am

Sam Hain wrote: »

The Midlands definitely has the monopoly on grim in both the towns and the dwellers.

Yep Midlands is just not nice,too far away from the sea for me,,, another kip Cootehill co Cavan ,rather be in limbo

Radio5 · 20-04-2020 9:41am

Ich liebe Berlin wrote: »

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Ennis yet. It's a horrible place to live.

Why?

corks finest · 20-04-2020 9:42am

Radio5 wrote: »

Why?

Nothing there- was bad enough years ago having to be stuck in traffic there

corks finest · 20-04-2020 9:43am

whisky_galore wrote: »

Uninspired and uninspiring locals, happy with mediocrity. People have to get off their holes too, Kinsale was once a rough as a badgers arse fishing village and look at it now.

Yep it's dire as is passage west

Most miserable and grim towns and villages in Ireland

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