Moving to West of Ireland- advice

[Carriemehome]

Hi there,
How to begin... My family consists of myself and my DD and her grandparents. I am single parent. We have lived in England for most of my life but as my folks are Irish we've spent a lot of time in Ireland and I have at different times when I was younger lived in Ireland. A few years back my folks moved in with me. It made life a lot easier as they both needed a bit of help from time to time and saved exhausting travel back and forth when my dad was poorly.
So, now my DD is heading up to 9, we have decided to move back to Ireland. My family are from around Leitrim and Cavan area, so it makes sense to be near ish to wider family/cousins etc...
As i work in the creative arts, I am keen to move somewhere where I wont stick out too much but where i might find a few creative people and where my DD will connect and be happy. I heard that around Manorhamilton might be a good start.
So, really looking for advice around best areas to live, things i need to consider for schools, living and meeting like minded people and anything else that I should think about. I am self employed so I will be working from home a lot but meeting people is a must for me. The oldies will both have medical cards so I already have their health covered as they are back and forth a fair bit. Thanks!

The medical cards may not cover the standard of care your parents have been used to. Health service is a mess with ridiculously long waiting lists for consultants and procedures.

Manorhamilton is lovely with beautiful scenery but very quiet and sleepy. Schools are fine I think and you shouldn’t have any problem getting in. If you are working from home however I would try to find out what the broadband is like - it is not great in many parts of rural Ireland and although there are moves to extend it I would not be expecting that to happen any time soon.

Have you thought about Sligo? It is close to Manorhamilton but bigger and has a very lively arts scene so may be worth considering.

I’d echo the previous poster re healthcare - if your parents have any underlying conditions I would seriously look into getting health insurance.

Thanks so much. Yes the insurance element is a real concern. We will all have insurance so that element will be covered but we will be stepping into some element of unknown. Thanks for heads up about Manorhamilton and Sligo. I will look there but good point about the broadband- much needed. Though, I live in the countryside in the UK and our broadband only works when it feels like it!