moving to Ireland from the UK - help me brainstorm?

[tiredoflondonwanttomove]

Hello all good people. Please help me brainstorm a little bit?

I have a wild idea of relocating to Ireland for a couple of years for my children's secondary education (they are young primary at the moment, in the UK, 6 and 7 years). The pandemic had reshuffled my working / earning opportunities, and it is likely to be wfh / remote for the foreseeable time, with full flexibility as to where to work from. In addition to that, local secondary options here in London are getting only sadder and sadder every year (and private options are now priced completely out of my reach). I looked at Irish private schools and they are surprisingly affordable, and the academic level seems to be quite high as well. So toying with this idea now.

The children are half-Irish (and Irish citizens), unfortunately their Irish dad is not very involved. I have visited Ireland quite often during our marriage, and had even worked briefly on a couple of projects in Dublin, loved the country - from the visitor's perspective.

My (Irish) ex-MIL thinks that it is unlikely that the children will be even considered for entry for good private schools, as you have to have connections to the school - they very rarely accept someone completely from the outside, with no alumni in the family. How correct that is?

My annual income would be probably around Eur 100K - 150K (gross, depending on the contracts). What quality of life would it realistically buy? Where is it best to look for with this budget? Ideally I'd want somewhere with a bit of space, not too busy, so probably not Dublin.

And a tricky question, I don't know how to ask in a sensitive way - hope I don't offend anyone. How difficult would it be to live outside Dublin / bigger cities as a visibly foreign person? (I am a British citizen, but not native, naturalised). I had a full range of experiences when holidaying in the British countryside - it wasn't always very welcoming, so a bit cautious now.

Iwish

Just to say, we moved from UK (home counties, London before that) to rural Galway exactly a yearas the OP as DS is at a special school, but we have been very happy with the school. Bought a house here for the first time in my life (in my 50s) as was never able to afford appropriate property in the UK. Because of the lockdown I have seen next to nothing of Ireland, have not left the county in a year, but Galway is amazing!

Oops, half of that message deleted itself! Should have read:

Just to say, we moved from UK (home counties, London before that) to rural Galway exactly a year ago. Not in the same school position as the OP as DS is at a special school, but we have been very happy with the school. Bought a house here for the first time in my life (in my 50s) as was never able to afford appropriate property in the UK. Because of the lockdown I have seen next to nothing of Ireland, have not left the county in a year, but Galway is amazing

PS my DH has a pronounced "foreign" (Afrikaans) accent, has encountered no problems with that here so far. There are quite a few South Africans around though, even in our small village. I too have seen/heard plenty of other ethnicities/accents here including various Europeans, subcontinent, Middle Eastern...it's more diverse than you would imagine...

OP I thought of you yesterday when I was in a playground with my DC in a very rural part of the country - a group of mums chatting away together in Polish and all the local kids playing with each other seemingly very well integrated in this small community.
I’d echo those that say your MIL doesn’t have a representative view of the school system in ROI. Other than south Dublin, it’s not the norm to go private, especially at primary level. My experience has been that Church of Ireland schools (open to all faiths and none) are a good half way house for those families newly arrived without links in the area, often a very international intake.
Best of luck.

We've just moved to South Dublin after 10 years in Sydney and 5 in London. I wouldn't think you would need to go to far out of Dublin to find the space you are looking for. Bray, Greystones and Wicklow are lovely. Pretty beaches, countryside and mountains.
I agree that private schools seem reasonably priced compared to the UK (and Australia). Although it was important to us that our boy went to mixed, non-religous school and there aren't many of them. I think you'd have a pretty comfortable life on the salary you mentioned, but income tax is higher here and you would probably go for private health insurance too which would reduce disposable income.

Hi, we have just moved to ROI, we have moved to a small town called Maynooth, it’s on the Dublin/Kildare/Meath boarder. Obviously moving during lockdown has meant we’ve not been able to explore very well but so far we have found it a very nice area, lots and lots of European languages and very multicultural. It’s a university town so has a good mix of people.

It’s a growing commuter town with lots of new builds in the area. My DH is wfh at the moment but will be commuting to Dublin when things open up again.

It’s very affordable price wise on the figures you have given as we are far enough out of Dublin and not one of the main commuter towns that are so popular. We are currently in a 4 bed semi for €2300/month until we sell our uk house and can buy here.

My children are primary aged and moved from a very nice outstanding Catholic school where they were excelling into what’s called an Educate Together school. It’s still early days but they seem to enjoy it, they have smiles every day when they come home. If anything I’m the one struggling with the short school days 😆. We could have gone the same route and tried to get them into a Catholic school here but I really liked the sound of the Educate Together philosophy. It’s very multicultural and inclusive. In the short time my DCs have been going I must of heard at least 10 different accents and languages at the school.

I’m not sure about private schools in the area, it’s not crossed our minds to even look. We probably wouldn’t unless there was a problem with the primary and high schools in the area which there doesn’t seem to be.

Sorry to resurrect this thread but I've just come across it and it's very relevant to us. Like many anglo/irish families, we have a regular discussion in our household about pros and cons of moving to Ireland. Two things I'd love to hear from those of you in the know are:

1. would my DS be accepted in a school in the west of ireland with an english accent and english mother? for context: he's only 2 and if we moved it would be just before primary school, so obviously he'd lose the accent in time, but I know when my parents briefly re-located to Ireland in the 80s after a bereavement, my brother had a really terrible time in the local school because of this. Please be honest about whether this is likely to make him a target? He's a very robust and friendly child so far, but it would obviously be difficult for me to put him into a situation where he's knowingly likely to be a target.

1. The weather! It may sound a stupid question, but can you have an outdoors lifestyle with it? I know the UK is hardly the Costa del Sol, but the rain (particularly in the west) seems to be relentless at times. How do you find living with it?

Just to underline, I love absolutely everything else about Ireland, I'm filled with joy every time I land at Knock airport and I think the family, culture, education and surroundings we'd have there would give us a really satisfying life. But we are also pretty happy in our current situation, so I wouldn't want to try a move without giving strong consideration to these issues.

In case anyone's wondering why we would risk moving when we are happy where we are - well, my husband's Irish and a genuine philosophical question - is any Irish person truly happy when they are living away from Ireland? Genuinely interested to know!

In answer to Question 1, I can't answer from personal experience as I am Irish (though a blow in to the county I live in) but I think at your childs age in particular, he should be absolutely fine. My son had a girl come into his class in 5th (so when they were 11/12) and she definitely was seen as a bit different and of course she did naturally refer back to life in England (and sometimes in quite a superior way). She wasnt bullied as such but there may certainly have been some eye rolling . At his age, this won't be a factor and especially with having an Irish Dad, you'd be fine I reckon. The reflexive anti-English sentiment certainly isnt anywhere nearly as strong as it might have been in the era you mention. Ireland is a more confident and I suppose globalist place and much less likely to define ourselves in narrow nationalist terms or against something.

Q 2. The weather is what it is. Unless you get a house with a garden that's a serious suntrap and is well sheltered, the rain and perhaps even more so the wind are not conducive to huge amounts of sitting around outside, most of the time. But, but, but the scenery is mostly lovely, near deserted beaches and woods....with good clothes and a good atitude there are many months of the year where you can be outside a lot (moving mostly!). If you are very positive about other things that you mention, I think the weather is surmountable or at least I find it so. It rains a lot but that what makes it so green and looking at the big picture, there are few extremes. I for instance couldnt cope with 30 degrees plus which you often get in the south of England.

Hi @theleafandnotthetree thanks very much for your reply. That’s really helpful to know and an honest, balanced view. Very good point about the weather extremes too. We actually find it unbearable in the summer here now (having to shelter in the one cool room in the house during the day)! You’ve definitely given me some food for thought and it’s reassuring to know that the anti-English feeling has subdued. Not really much holding us back in that case!!!

@Moules

Hi *@theleafandnotthetree* thanks very much for your reply. That’s really helpful to know and an honest, balanced view. Very good point about the weather extremes too. We actually find it unbearable in the summer here now (having to shelter in the one cool room in the house during the day)! You’ve definitely given me some food for thought and it’s reassuring to know that the anti-English feeling has subdued. Not really much holding us back in that case!!!

Glad I can be of help. Like with everything, you bring yourself with you don't you and it's a good sign that you ALREADY have a good life, you're not running away from your problems or expecting some big dramatic change. Like everywhere, there are good and bad things about life in Ireland and more specifically rural Ireland. I think take it handy when you come first, be warm and friendly but don't try to force friendship before its time. And it does take time. Having a son at this stage is probably the optimum time to arrive, I made most of my closest friends in my village when my son was between 2/3 and 6 - the rhythms and routines of that childhood stage just seem to naturally result in connections with people, at playgrounds, class parties, at the school gate, doing sports, etc.

And whatever you are thinking, do please try not to start too many sentences with "Well in England...." unless the comparison is favourable to Ireland. . Sensible people don't mind a bit of mutual observation but some people can get quite defensive and you don't want to get off on the wrong foot

@Moules

Hi *@theleafandnotthetree* thanks very much for your reply. That’s really helpful to know and an honest, balanced view. Very good point about the weather extremes too. We actually find it unbearable in the summer here now (having to shelter in the one cool room in the house during the day)! You’ve definitely given me some food for thought and it’s reassuring to know that the anti-English feeling has subdued. Not really much holding us back in that case!!!

Glad I can be of help. Like with everything, you bring yourself with you don't you and it's a good sign that you ALREADY have a good life, you're not running away from your problems or expecting some big dramatic change. Like everywhere, there are good and bad things about life in Ireland and more specifically rural Ireland. I think take it handy when you come first, be warm and friendly but don't try to force friendship before its time. And it does take time. Having a son at this stage is probably the optimum time to arrive, I made most of my closest friends in my village when my son was between 2/3 and 6 - the rhythms and routines of that childhood stage just seem to naturally result in connections with people, at playgrounds, class parties, at the school gate, doing sports, etc.

And whatever you are thinking, do please try not to start too many sentences with "Well in England...." unless the comparison is favourable to Ireland. . Sensible people don't mind a bit of mutual observation but some people can get quite defensive and you don't want to get off on the wrong foot

I don't know about whether your son would be a target but my feeling would be no? We're not nearly as nationalistic as we were 30/40 years ago.

Re. The weather. All I can say is ugh. The west is just so wet. I couldn't go back. I'm on the east coast and it rains exactly about half here. Met eireann would have rainfall data you can look up if you're interested.

I am English and live in Ireland.

As others have said considering a c of i school could be a good idea. There will be loads of children of different religions and accents, especially English due to mixed parents. They are usually small and mixed and get excellent results too.

I went to private school in the Uk and dh went to a private school in Ireland that has been mentioned up thread. We aren't bothering with private for our dc as we want them to be part of the local community more so and the local school gets results as good as the private schools.

The old boy network isn't so much a thing here. I know loads of company directors, doctors, solicitors, newspaper editors etc. No dominance of private schools, a mixture of all types of schools. Especially from anywhere outside south Dublin.

You need to look up the feeder schools and entry requirements for particular schools, there is no centralised catchment area system.

I would look at the Irish times third level feeder schools league tables. Identify schools you're interested in. Look up their entry requirements in terms of primary/national feeder schools. Look up the National/primary school's entry requirements. So work backwards from which school sends most people to Trinity .

Obviously this doesn't reflect extra curricular activities, but it will give you an idea. Many kids do their sport / music / drama etc outside of school. GAA is especially popular. C of I schools often play 'English' sports e.g. Hockey.

www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.4452642.1610047624!/menu/standard/file/feeder2020list.pdf

Re rain : same as Manchester, more rainy than London imo.

I know this is pedantic, but the annual rainfall in Manchester is 42 inches, in Mayo it's 47. I know 5 inches doesn't seem like a lot but the west have days and days in a row of that misty rain that wouldn't amount to much in terms of inches but it's almost constant! I find it very depressing.

Thanks @theleafandnotthetree that is all very sage advice and good point re making friends. I think culturally there is definitely a different approach to building connections in rural Ireland which I hadn’t thought about and would need to get used to i.e. don’t be a keen bean, appreciate that things will take time (I am definitely inclined to be quite proactive which I would need to reign in!!). And not to worry, my husband regularly points out the shortcomings of the UK (!) so I wouldn’t dare assert any superior views !

That’s a good point @SwimmingOnEggshells I definitely think the lack of ‘good’ weather days would be the biggest challenge for me personally as the weather can impact on my mood. Interesting that you find the East so much more manageable. We haven’t so far considered moving that way, although there would be more employment opportunities for us there. We may have to explore it as a middle ground option.

Oh lord @frogswimming don’t tell me there’s a whole other complicated school system to get my head round, haha thank you this is invaluable for a rookie, I’d have no idea where to start with this!! Great that you consider little difference between the state and private schools in Ireland, that’s what I was hoping the position would be (part of the appeal of Ireland was my perception that the free education system was universally very good in Ireland).

How have you found the move generally? Are you pretty happy that you did it? Do you feel accepted into the local community?

Well I've been here 17 years now it is home now and I wouldn't move back to the Uk. In all that time only one incident due to being English, when someone from work was slagging off the 'brits' to me and forgot I was one of them!!! There is light banter too from friends etc. My kids have English accents from me even though they were born here and go to school here! I don't think any of the other kids have noticed.

@Moules

Oh lord *@frogswimming* don’t tell me there’s a whole other complicated school system to get my head round, haha thank you this is invaluable for a rookie, I’d have no idea where to start with this!! Great that you consider little difference between the state and private schools in Ireland, that’s what I was hoping the position would be (part of the appeal of Ireland was my perception that the free education system was universally very good in Ireland).

How have you found the move generally? Are you pretty happy that you did it? Do you feel accepted into the local community?

It might have been said already but outside of Dublin and even at that, within a relatively narrow strata of society in South Co. Dublin mostly, private school is a very small segment of second level education and virtually non existent at primary. Most ordinary schools in most places are of decent quality and many are excellent. As you probably know from your husband, free education isn't quite as free as in the Uk, you have to pay for books (though lots of schools have book loan schemes), theres nearly always uniform costs, there are no school dinners and pretty much every school requires parents to pay something towards costs (usually called a subvention) which can be as little as 50 per child as it is in my child's school up to a good few hundred in others. Education at primary level in particular is I think quite positive and holistic with little enough emphasis on 'performance'. Secondary of course gets more competitive and can be very competitive indeed at the senior level with the race to get points which determine pretty much solely college places. I wouldn't worry unduly about education, it'll be grand, especially with your child starting from scratch

Following with glee!! Loving all the info here. We are hoping to move to the Wild West this summer in time for eldest DS to start school!
I'm currently pregnant and was wondering about antenatal care and how regular home birth might be over there if anyone had any useful insights!?
So far loved all details here. My husband is Irish and I'm the English one I can't wait to get over there but her is more cautious!

Hi @Moules - just answering one of your questions “ is any Irish person truly happy when they are living away from Ireland? Genuinely interested to know!”

For me the answer is definitely yes! Irish born and bred but living in London for 20+ years and love it. Zero interest in ever returning to Ireland, think once all my older Irish relatives are no longer around my links with the country will be severed.