Where in Dublin by the sea??

[toddlermom]

Hi all!

Love advice from anyone who knows Dublin please!!

We are moving to Dublin from London for DH work. So looking for somewhere not too far a commute for him (DART probably). Also by the sea, somewhere where you can walk along the sea - not just look out over it. Also, has to be near to good catholic school for girls ( or mixed) - primary only for now but in 5 years will need secondary. Asking a lot I know!

Any ideas at all? I don't know whether to do north or south of Dublin. Can compromise on not being close to airport as we won't travel that much.

Thank you so much!!

Have you visited yet @toddlermom ? Really interested in your views having seen the city!

If you’re thinking of Sandymount The Teresian School in Donnybrook is also an option for schooling - all girls private school which covers both primary and secondary.

Holy Child is a great school, and doesn't have a list of feeder schools iirc.

If you're interested, best to contact the school office directly and arrange either a private look at the school or find out the next open day.

You may end up on a wait list, however.

Take a look at Loreto Dalkey too - another really good school, and also right on the Dart. There are no places currently open for admissions in 2020 or 2021 but you can try your luck for admissions in 2022 and onward.

Also take a good look at Loreto Stephen's Green (fee paying) and Muckross Park, Donnybrook (not on the Dart but very good, very big school, non fee-paying).
For both, ask about wait lists, feeder schools. Loreto likes to admit pupils from its junior school.
www.loretothegreen.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Admissions-Policy-March-19-1.pdf
Loreto on the Green wants a letter of interest submitted two years before the expected date of admission. There is a numbered wait list and a system of prioritisation of applicants in which the students on the numbered list come last.

You apply three years ahead of expected date of entry for Muckross Park. Number 2 on their priority list for admissions are girls who are students at St. Mary's (parish) national school, Donnybrook.

You may need to apply for a large number of schools. Don't forget St Kilian's German School (co-ed) in Clonskeagh, or Newpark Comprehensive (co-ed, Blackrock).

The question is not, 'Where should we apply?' but, 'Where will we get in after applying to two dozen schools?'

Question re the sea in Killiney and Dalkey, can you go for walks along the sea there or is it all built up? I know we drove through one place that had a lovely pier/sea walk but I can't remember which town it was ( we went for a day to look around but they all blur into one!!)
That would be DunLaoghaire.
You can do the Killiney Hill walk, and swim from Seapoint south. When the tide is out, walking on Killiney Beach is very enjoyable. Take the Dart south to Bray and stretch your legs and rearrange your hair nicely by walking along the coast trail to Greystones.

John Scotus are between Shankill and Bray on the old Bray road afaik.

Very small and quite weird school.

John Scottus primary is still on Northumberland Road. I think lots of families end up there not because they agree with the loopy 'philosophy' but because the school enrolment system here is so difficult to deal with for anyone who moves to Dublin. It's full of ex pats who couldn't get their children into a regular school.

Thank you all!! I came here for housing advice but now the school admissions situation seems more terrifying and pressing! I thought central London was bad!! 🙄🙄
Thanks for all the suggestions - especially Terrsians and Loreto.
Going to apply next month as soon as I know out moving dates.
Coming for big search around Feb half term to look at all the houses I've been looking at on daft.ie 😍😍😍
Thanks again for advice, you've all been amaxing

Wishing you all the best @toddlermom.

www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/new-to-market/dolores-o-riordan-s-former-howth-home-for-1-395m-1.4145457

I saw that Sarahlou63.
It looks lovely.

toddlermom have you seen anything you liked?

toddlermom
I presume Covid19 put a stop to your house search.

That's a great budget!

I lived on the seafront in Clontarf for four years. I LOVED it. There is lovely beach walking on Bull Island - you can do a 5km loop walk. And you can walk along the path by the sea from Clontarf as far as the DART station. Mind you, there's usually a gale force wind, so you need to be kitted out. There's also a cycle path - I worked at EastPoint, and there was an off-road cycle path right into the business park.

Howth, is also lovely, although you are further out - you are right at the beginning for the DART so should usually get a seat and can then just relax with a book. The North side would also be more convenient for the airport if that's important to you.

Clontarf.

OP any news? I’m Irish living in London and thinking of heading back to Dublin, ideally to live by the sea.

Yes, I’d love to hear your news too OP. After years of talking about it and 20 years in London, we are finally ready to take the plunge and move to Dublin. I live there before, but my husband hasn’t. We’re gonna move this summer 😱😱😱
Am totally torn tho between living in Dublin 6 where we have school places, or trying to get in somewhere closer to the sea. I’m not keen to swap one noisy, polluted city for another & worry D6 will feel too much like London. My friends who live there say Dublin in general is so much quieter that no matter where you live, it’s nothing like London. Would love to hear any thoughts on this!

I have never lived in London but have visited frequently and it is nothing like Dublin. The difference is like Galway and Dublin size and population wise.
Public Transport is abysmal so really look at your commutes.
Hope the move back is successful for you. 🍀

Dublin 6 is a small part of Dublin and not comparable to London. Even if you take a small comparably sized part of London they're totally different. In 15/20 mins from D6 you can be in Sandymount on the beach or in the Dublin or Wicklow hills. My experience of London was that you could never escape (or it felt like that)! If you have school places in D6 you've been lucky. If you don't have school places in the other areas you might be considering then be very wary of assuming you will get them. You also have the Luas and buses to use in D6 (and the city centre is only 5km so walkable if you're enthusiastic). There are lovely parks in D6 and close by (Bushy and Marley) and plenty of sports clubs and amenities.

Traffic is bad in Dublin (or was pre-Covid) so commutes and public transport are important to consider. Where you're working is a huge factor in how much fun living here will be. I grew up by the sea and spent so much time commuting to school and university that I swore I'd never again live that far from where I was spending my days. Where we are my children walk to schools and university and dh and I both can cycle to work. His workplace has moved location 3 times and each time has remained within cycling distance. If we lived on the coast he'd have been forced to drive. Cross city commuting options are abysmal though this is being addressed in a plan that could take 5 years to come into place.

Pre-Covid the rental housing market was really difficult and family homes hard to find. If you're planning on moving this summer that would be my starting point - but around where you have school places. If you haven't got school places lined up elsewhere I think you're restricted to D6 simply because of that.

Feel free to message me if you have specific questions.

Sadly the OP, toddlermom hasn't come back for a long time.
I presume Covid19 has impacted on her plans.
I hope she got sorted.

When we moved from London to Dublin we used a house hunter with a lot of local knowledge. It's a lot easier in your budget range. We told him our criteria and he found a shortlist for us to look out. It worked out really, really well for us because house that we wanted fell through and we only had (I think) 6 weeks to find something else, buy it and move in and he found us another one that wasn't even on the market.

It's all about contacts and who you know in Dublin, you can miss out on some things if you just go with public knowledge like. I can PM you his name and details if you like (see - contacts and who you know).

Oh fuck, I failed to notice that it was a zombie thread.

I'm hoping toddlermom will come back and update us.

It's not a very old thread.

Sorry, I missed the replies to my post on here. 3timeslucky and blackamericano, thank you so much. Just got confirmation of school places in D6 yesterday so definitely on the way. Husband will be working abroad (or at home depending on Covid) and I will be between Stephen’s green & Grangegorman. I’ve figured I can get the Luas from D6 & the kids can walk to school. Need to find a house now - feels like I’ve left it rather late - oops! Can’t wait to get out of London and b-r-e-a-t-h-e

Good luck with your move @Natalielondon , D6 is a lovely place to live. Let us know if you'd like any help with house hunting, I think there are a few on this thread who love a bit of vicarious property searching!

Thanks Chartreuse! If I counted up the hours I’ve spent on Daft.ie I think I’d be in for a big shock! If you know of any other websites I should lurk on, please do let me know. Nx

Also try Myhome.ie

Are you looking to rent first? Daft is the best for that. I wonder if it would be worth looking on Airbnb and seeing if you could negotiate a longer term. There were huge numbers of properties in Dublin on Airbnb and now no tourists to stay in them so landlords might be happy to have a tenant for a few months while you find your feet.