Moving to Limerick

[Sophiafaith63]

Hello everyone!

We are currently based in England and we are looking to move to Limerick. We have two children, one 5 and one 2. My OH will be working in Castletroy. We are looking into buying a house and having been considering Castletroy as its near to his work. Are there any other areas we should consider? Our two priorities are good schools and good transport links as my OH doesn't have a drivers licence.

Any tips on where to look would be much appreciated.

I am a little nervous about making the move so would welcome any tips about how to smooth the transition

Bumping for you

I can't give lots of details about Limerick but 2 things that are worth knowing (if you don't already):

1. The city has a bad reputation in Ireland that's largely undeserved. There are posh and deprived bits of Limerick, same as any other urban area, and the posh bits are really quite nice.

1. Public transport is patchy and Castletroy is very much on the outskirts of the city - check out the bus map when considering areas to live www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1512146574-Limerick_Leap_Card_A4_Map.pdf

Castletroy, Annacotty and Monaleen are more or less joined together and would be all nice areas for you. Part of Castletroy can be very studenty as the University is there so there are definitely parts of Castletroy to avoid. There is a regular and decent bus route to town from there as obviously the University would have lots of students traveling daily. The shopping Centre in Castletroy has recently gotten a facelift and is much improved also there's a lovely park and playground and also a cinema so a nice family friendly area. The sports area in the University is open to the public with lots of fitness classes for adults and an Olympic sized swimming pool and there is a very active rugby and soccer club in the area. I have never lived out that direction but it is very nice.

Sorry meant to say as far as I am aware the schools out that side are excellent but to be honest most primary schools in Limerick are good we don't have league tables or anything like that. I am born and rared here and have family all over town and everyone is very happy with their childrens schools. They are very oversubscribed out that side so once you have an address you would need to be contacting the schools for places ASAP.

Thanks for the tips ladies, all very useful

Another Limerick native. The castleconnell area is nice and not far from Castletroy. The public transport wouldn’t be great however there will be people traveling from the area to Castletroy every day so I’m sure he could find someone to carpool easily.

Is your DH planning to take driving lessons? We're in Dublin not Limerick and we moved back here from London. DH had never bothered to learn to drive because you really don't need to in London, but he also didn't want to. However he found that he had to as he was really quite limited without being able to drive, even though we bought a house near the Luas so that he could get to work. For instance, he couldn't take the DC to parties or meet a friend at a restaurant etc. None of the Irish cities have good enough public transport to be always without a car IMO.

Look between Castletroy and Castelconnell - that's the zone you want (rather than the other direction towards town).

In between you have Monaleen, Annacotty, Lisnagry. All lovely areas. You definitely need a car. Good shopping complexes around that side of town also and the road straight to the airport which by-passes the city centre.

If it were me I just love Castleconnell and Killaoe although the latter might be a bit far for you but is absolutely beautiful on the Shannon river, stunning scenery....

Lots of great schools. Castletroy college is very good and Laurel Hill for girls has repeatedly been top of the leagues for girl schools in the country (and its not fee paying). The University of limerick has an amazing campus and great sports facilities.

Thanks, will take a look at those areas.

Blackamericano, we do have a car and its usually me that drives the kids to parties and such. I'm hoping having more limited public transport options might encourage OH to finally get round to getting a licence.