Relocating to Ireland

[DoUKnowTheMuffinMan]

Hi all,
I’m a man and this is my first post here on MN so please forgive me if this is the wrong section. Not sure if there is a specific section for this topic or not but would just like some advise off anyone with experience on relocating to Ireland please.

My wife and I are expecting our first baby in August and currently live in England (in Derbyshire). I’m a full time registered nurse and my wife also works for the nhs.
It’s something we have thought about for a while, my wife’s Dads side of the family are Irish but no longer live there but we don’t really want to talk to them about our thoughts yet. We just want a new life, we’ve both grown up in this town and feel we want a better lifestyle for us and our daughter. It’s something we are contemplating doing in around 5 years time either before our daughter starts school or there about. So we have plenty of time to plan but it’s one thing having an idea, and another actually going for it!

My question is, has anyone done it and what was your process like? What advise could you give us?
We are looking at County Cork/ anywhere south west .
Please any advise at all, experience, we would really appreciate it. Feel free to ask any questions too if I’ve missed any details.
Thanks a lot

Hiya - I live in Cork.

The hospitals are Cork University Hospital, Cork University Maternity Hospital, The South Infirmary and the Mercy. There are two private hospitals - The Mater Private and Bons Secours.

I don't know how long you have to be living here to get a mortgage but for the purpose of looking on daft to check out prices of rentals or to buy I'll list a few areas

Ballincollig
Bishopstown/Wilton
Douglas/Rochestown/Grange/Donnybrook

These are all on the south side of city, the side that the hospitals are based so from a traffic point of view maybe easier to get to.

A little further out would be Carrigaline or Glanmire or Midleton. Traffic wouldn't be great coming from these towns but maybe it's a piece of cake compared to where you live!

I don't think the cost of living is too bad here , it's cheaper than Dublin but places like Waterford or Limerick would be cheaper again. Most schools are Catholic but you don't have to be Catholic to get in, there are a few multi denominational schools but they can be hard to get into although depending on the school matter the ethos it may be difficult to get into it it's over subscribed.

Corks great - lots of good food , nice beaches and local woods and west cork is stunning as is Kerry which is near enough for day trips.

You are welcome to pm me if you have an questions on Cork.

I'm Irish and after years in the UK, I moved back to Ireland, so, like a previous poster, I lived with family for a while before I got a place.
I don't get taxed that much but I earn less than 32k
Some things are cheaper here, like public transport. I could never believe the price of train journeys in England.

I have a friend who was a theatre nurse with the blackrock clinic and they're always looking for theatre nurses she tells me (check that!).

I agree that 180k stg wouldn't buy a great house in Dublin, you'd still have a big mortgage. Maybe Derry, in the uk would be better, you'd still ahve NHS and houses seem much cheaper there! I was looking in the entire country to see where the cheapest houses were in relation to the biggest towns.

You can work in Derry and live in Donegal, if you like to mix things up. There are small hospitals around the county in Cork, places like Bantry and Mallow would avoid city prices and traffic.

Why cork? Nothing wrongnwith cork but housing would be cheaper in other counties. Kerry is beautiful, fab beaches and scenery. Tralee has two main hospitals and a college offering a lot of courses for when your dc are older.

Im Irish so obviously biased but I think its a great country in many respects. Relative safety, good education - i disagree that its expensive. Outside of Dublin there is really no dilemma of private vs public schooling as very few private schools exist and public schools are generally very good.

There are plenty of jobs for nurses. Youll never be unemployed. The culture difference is there but generally speaking we Irish are friendly and pleasant enough!

RTFT. He's no longer looking at moving to Ireland.

There's two sorts of people in the world. People from Cork, and people who wish they were from Cork!

Well...

I live in Cork - My DP has a T-Shirt with that exact print. And he is not from Cork. But he gets it

My great granny was from Cork. We live in Cork. My great granny moved away about1900, but is handy if I need to impress a local. Having a baby in Cork also helps!