To ask about Limerick?

[justilou1]

We might be moving there from Australia and I honestly don't know the first thing about the place. Which areas would you move to if you had three kids (lower high school and upper primary), are not afraid of driving, etc....?

I have lived overseas before - The Netherlands, and I loved it. I imagine that Ireland would be a slightly easier transition because there is (almost) no language difference and the sense of humour is similar.

I honestly don't know who to ask!

You can't get a drink on Sunday mornings,

If that’s a dealbreaker you have bigger problems...!

Around 90% of schools are church-run.

True, the Catholic Church actually set up the schools though originally which is why, you can opt out of religion class

You can't get a drink on Sunday mornings, good friday or christmas day.

Pubs open at 12:30pm on Sundays, who actually drinks before then anyway? lol If you need to drink in the morning maybe open a can at home

You also can't have an abortion.

Yet* Should be a referendum before the summer, opinion Polls suggest it will go through

Ireland is rapidly becoming a post-religious society. And hurrah for that. Church attendance has absolutely plummeted since the early 90s. We have marriage equality. Yes the abortion laws are a disgrace but it looks as though (fingers crossed) this will change in the near future. And yes far too many primary schools are under the jurisdiction of the Catholic church. There needs to be far more non-denominational schools set up. Again, progress is being made with this, albeit slowly.

Pubs closing on Good Friday is a leftover from a bygone Ireland. I think if people want to avoid pubs on Good Friday it should be a personal choice. And I always feel sorry for tourists who land in Ireland on Good Friday all set for a night out on the town. But I really doubt there’s any appetite to see pubs open on Christmas Day. The reasoning behind pubs in Dublin closing early on Christmas Eve is to give a chance to bar staff who aren’t from Dublin to get home to their families. So I don’t think that pubs opening on Christmas day would be seen as a progressive move by anyone.

So personally I feel that 'churchy' Ireland is fading fast. People may say they're Catholic if asked but in reality this a cultural association rather than a religious one. They'll eat fish and chips on Good Friday but they won't get up for mass on Easter Sunday. Quite right too!

I have to agree with glitter I’m afraid, unless it’s changed a lot in the five years since we left. I know Ireland is a hell of a lot less religious than it used to be because people are leaving the church in droves, but most people feel compelled to baptise their kids whether they go to church or not, and unless you are lucky enough to be close to an Educate together school ( we weren’t) it’s difficult to avoid communion lessons etc in school. I do know its a hell of a lot more secular then it used to be, but compared to other countries I’ve lived in, the church still has a lot of influence.

is GlitterUnicornsAndAllThatJazz Australian though? I posted after OP and said I was. But it's perfectly OK for you MondayTuesdayWednesday to shit all over Australia while calling someone else out on doing it to Ireland??

Of course the Irish can be racist, just like any other nationality. No country is exempt from that, no matter what the Irish on here would like to think

I didn't elaborate OP but I wouldn't live there as the weather was just fucking dire, it was always grey and rained regularly, even in summer. But that's all of Ireland, not just Limerick!

It's not what I would class a 'city', it's a big town. I've considered Dublin as that's where DH is from but I don't think living in Ireland is for me, as much as I love visiting and spending time there.

Of course the Irish can be racist, just like any other nationality. No country is exempt from that, no matter what the Irish on here would like to think

I don't think any of the Irish people in this thread actually said that though.......... I know I said, that of course it has racist arseholes like every other country

Thats absolutely hilarious that two of you have now had a go at Australians.

It's actually the OP who is Australian - or at least, she now lives in Australia.

Pretty much says it all.

My dad is Irish and my mum is English.

Pretty much says it all.

Says what?

@Trinity66
Well I mean in all fairness you've just confirmed my three points (+90% church-run schools, church-influenced alcohol laws and church-led anti-abortion stance) as being correct. You can say "but...but...but!" all you like, the fact is those 3 issues (and there are obviously loads more, those are just the easiest to understand) still exist.

Hence: is Ireland still churchy? Yes!

@GreenSeededGrape
Ain't that the truth!

Glitter in fairness you still think Limerick is known as Stab City so I'm not sure you're in the best position to give up to date information on life in Ireland.

GlitterUnicornsAndAllThatJazz

I did but one isn't really an issue for most people unless you've actually got a drink problem :/ and one will most likely not be an issue in the next few months.

Ireland was very churchy, the amount it's changed over that last 20 or so years is huge, I'm sorry you don't like Ireland Glitter (and tbh if you had said the weather is shit I would totally agree with you) but your posts do come across as rude and offensive.

it’s difficult to avoid communion lessons etc in school

It's really easy. You just withdraw them.

Ireland is not remotely churchy, but please keep telling us how our country is, I'm sure people who don't live there obviously know far more than those of us who are there right now!

You can only have the status of a jackeen if you shudder at the thought of a cow giving milk and believe Avonmore is a factory where they produce it from scratch.

To be fair, we used to go past the Premier Dairies "factory" a couple of times a week in the car when I was wee (my Nanna lived in Finglas) and that was DEEPLY confusing. If milk comes from cows, what are they doing in the factory??

I haven't been to Limerick in a billion years and it wasn't great then (late 90's?) but then Ireland has been transformed in the last 20 years - we live in London, and I'd hesitate before confidently saying we could afford to move back.

Weeping angel I am actually Irish and have spent over 30 years living there so I do think I’m qualified to comment and disagree with you. My son went to primary school in Cork. If we’d pulled him out of religious teaching and communion preparation he would have had to spend heaps of time sitting on his own doing busy work and feeling left out, not a great option really. And the pressure to be baptised and take communion is massive! I agree Ireland is much more secular than it used to be, but compared with other countries like Australia it actually is very churchy. It is a relief to me to live somewhere where religion just isn’t an issue, so I think saying that this issue just doesn’t exist in Ireland is disingenuous to say the least.

I've had the exact opposite experience, Thermowoman. My children are not catholic but went to the local catholic school. We had no issue getting them a place in the school despite them not being baptised. They were invited to participate in the communion day celebrations or not as we saw fit, but again, no pressure was applied.
Op, Limerick is a place much like everywhere else in the world -some good and some bad. It will be what you make of it yourself. Judging by the responses to the thread, you will find plenty of mumsnetters in the vicinity to socialise with.

I've name changed for this, to an appropriately Limerick themed one in honour of the Rubber Bandits

I live about 20 minutes from Limerick and know the city & the area reasonably well.

OP, if your DH is going to be based at UL you should look at living in the Castletroy or Monaleen areas as they are very close to the university. It's a nice area of the city and close to shops, schools etc. There's a good secondary school, Castletroy College, and several primary schools with good reputations close by. The university itself is good.

Adare is lovely, but it's very touristy & it's the wrong side of the city for the university and traffic can be busy. The N7 motorway has improved transport links in recent years so getting from one side of the city to the other is a lot easier than it was, but there is still rush hour congestion as in every city.

Killaloe/Ballina is a lovely twin village on either side of the river Shannon, linked by a bridge. It's very popular with people working in UL and is only 20 minutes away. Someone said upthread it's the home of a lot of the Munster rugby players - it certainly was a few years ago but the only ones I know living there now are retired. It's quite cosmopolitan for a smallish Irish village, during the Celtic Tiger years the local primary school had children of 14 nationalities and 9 different religions. There's a small secondary school in the village which has a socially mixed intake and a reasonable reputation locally, and good local shops & services.

Castleconnell is another pretty village which is even closer to UL.

Limerick has changed a lot in recent years, there's been a great deal of investment to improve the city centre and there's a decent range of shops. Still no Marks & Spencers though, sadly.

The 'stab city' nickname isn't relevant any more as Limerick has cleaned up its act a lot. Yes there are a few dodgy areas, but every city has those. You soon learn where to avoid. The city centre is safe during the day and the usual precautions need to be taken at night. I've always found it a friendly enough place, and I'm a blow in. I've never felt in the least bit threatened.

The weather isn't the best, but it tends to be damp rather than cold. I don't mind it. I've always said you don't come to live in Ireland for the weather! In Limerick you're only an hour's drive from a beach if you do get some decent sunshine.

OP, if you'd like any more info, feel free to PM me.

I hated every single second I was thete.
Being there explained why my grandparents left and never looked back.

You have all been very helpful and I thank you very much. I'm not naive enough to think it's all sunshine and smiley leprechauns everywhere in Ireland. I'm happy for all the advice so that I can start researching whether we could be happy there. If it looks even more likely, we will definitely do a trip over asap to look in person! Maybe we could all meet in a pub!

I think a few people on here have been watching too much Father Ted.

If it looks even more likely, we will definitely do a trip over asap to look in person! Maybe we could all meet in a pub!

Sounds like a plan . But it'll have to be after 12.30 on a Sunday morning

Thermowoman, is that now? AS in this year? Or in the past? Because I can assure you that My children have not had any pressure at all to be baptised or take comunion, and have no issue being excused from religion classes, and are not alone. Because they are far from the only ones, and their classes have children of multiple other religions.

things have changed, and if you do not live there now, you are not actually in a position to disagree at all.

Weeping angel of course I am entitled to my opinion and experience. I left Ireland five years ago. We got a lot of pressure to go through communion etc, not from the school but from friends and family. Surely you acknowledge that there is a lot of societal pressure to do thi? None of my husbands siblings are religious in the slightest, yet they have all baptised their kids and will be putting them through all the religious hoops, because well, that’s just what most people do. Most of my friends in Ireland did the same thing, I used to get so bloody bored with people telling me my son would feel left out, or not get into his school of choice because we didn’t want him to take communion! So please don’t dismiss my experience. I’ve lived in several countries, Ireland was by far the the most religious. I suspect you are correctly seeing that it isn’t anywhere near as religious as it was, but compared with other places, the RC influence is still an issue.

You are allowed your opinion but if its out of date and not actually true then people are going to say so.

I don't think there is any societal pressure at all, my children are not baptised and its never even been mentioned by anyone.

Huge cultural change but you’ll still notice differences compared to England or other Western Europe, you’d find

Lack of anonymity and people thinking they have a right to know your business - but no where near as bad as it used to be - when houses used to be advertised for sale with no price on the ad, same for jobs etc etc - which I think used to fuel the gossip mill and the need to have back channels to find out the most basic information. we have definitely become a more ‘low context’ society in a short time

The average person (huge generalisation here) tends to be better educated / informed than the masses in some other countries. That said, we have our very own edition of the Daily Mail. My mother reads this and then gripes about “English
Newspapers”

pro EU - though again, that is of course a generalisation

Much less insular and diverse than in the past - but it is culturally more like America where there tends to be less willingness to live and let live than in the Uk. I also think the attitudes to authority is a bit more American too.