Another moving to Ireland post...

[Oceancolourbeans]

After years of dancing around it, DH and I have (nearly) decided to take the plunge with our three DC (not started primary school yet), and move from UK to Ireland (West).

I've combed through every post in the last couple of years on this subject but given our imminent possible move I'm really, really keen to hear the experiences of anybody who has done this and how they have found the transition, including anybody who posted previously and has any updates. For background, DH is irish and has job lined up. I can work anywhere with my job.

Very grateful for any nuggets of information, including how you've found education system, local community/making friends, weather, adjustment from UK to Ireland etc. This includes any negatives. We can still pull out of our move, but I'm about 75% convinced it's the right thing to do for children's education, lifestyle etc.

I’m English and my husband is Scottish and we moved to West Cork 8 years ago when DS was turning 5. He’d already started Reception at the local school in the U.K. and left at Easter after two terms when we moved here.

We sold up, put everything into storage in the U.K., rented a holiday cottage for 2 weeks and drove over without any further plans. We didn’t know anyone and had no links to Ireland but had enjoyed a few holidays travelling around the west coast. We were INCREDIBLY lucky. We found a lovely house to rent within a week and were able to move in a day before our holiday rental finished and we spent the summer driving around looking at properties for sale. In recent years, rental properties in sought after areas are much more scarce and the cost to rent has doubled from what we were paying back in 2014.

We have never for one second regretted the move and we were especially grateful to be living here during the lockdowns.

We bought a lovely house a mile inland from the beach and have met lots of amazing people. DS now 13, has really enjoyed his small village school experience and we have lots of friends. Out of 6 boys in his class, 3 didn’t do Confirmation or Communion. Where we live has more of a cosmopolitan vibe to it but some rural areas further inland can still be quite parochial so you do need to get to know your area before settling there. My husband and I both worked in Higher Education and lived in big cities in the U.K., but we were keen not to live in a city in Ireland. We have family living in London so DS still has the opportunity to experience city life for short periods during school holidays.

What are you hoping to gain from the move? Are you looking for a more laid back lifestyle? Will you be moving to a city/town or more rural idyll?

Have you thought about health insurance? It’s much easier to get a same day appointment to see your GP where I live but you do have to pay €50 a time. The situation may be different in the cities. I had a fairly minor operation in a public hospital a few years ago but only paid €75 in total for staying overnight on a fairly quiet ward. Since Covid though, there is a backlog for some medical treatments and as an example, my friend’s husband has been diagnosed with Lung cancer and has been waiting 3 weeks to start Chemo treatment with no start date offered yet. I’m not sure how that compares to the U.K. ?

Wherever you move to, I think you need to to put in a huge effort in the beginning to join in with things. I haven't bothered with paid work over here so far, but did lots of volunteering during the first 4/5 years although I don’t do as much since Covid appeared. If you’re both going to be working full time, I recommend you factor in spending time getting to know the community where you live rather than relying solely on making friends only through work and school. But then I’d say that about moving to anywhere new, to be honest.

People are very friendly but that means expecting strangers to chat to you whilst waiting in line at the checkouts. Don’t get too frustrated just because the cashier has left the till and nipped off to the other end of the supermarket to fetch something for the old lady in front of you. The idea of not opening doors to people knocking would be considered a seriously dick move here! 😂

Hi @GrandAltogetherSo thank you so much for the reply. It is fantastic to hear that you have had such a positive experience. I really appreciate all of the feedback on lifestyle, culture and schooling. I have heard that West Cork is very beautiful and also that there is a mix of locals and foreigners which I assume also made the transition a bit easier (as opposed to somewhere that everybody else has been living in for generations). I couldn't agree more about getting involved in the local community, I'll probably take an extended career break when we move in order to participate in some local groups. The plan is to move commuting distance from a city, most likely in Connacht, probably in a village or small town. We have very wild, energetic children that love to be outdoors so city living (where we currently are) is not suiting them or us. The child oriented approach to schooling and less pressure in the education system is what has drawn me to Ireland, as well as a warm feeling for the country and people. There is always a concern about whether we will be able to integrate effectively into the local community, but hopefully having children will help with that. Thank you also for the pointers on the healthcare system, I need to look into that more.

Will you buy before you move or will you move and rent for a bit? There is a lot of housing pressure at the moment so either of those options might be a hassle. It can be hard to find a decent rental even outside of Dublin (practically impossible in Dublin). We bought when we moved back 11 years ago and it was hard work administratively, plus we paid around 10% more than the house would have sold for on the open market in order to facilitate a quick move.

Healthcare-wise I advise you to get health insurance. This page from www.hia.ie/frequently-asked-questions has information, this bit is the most relevant to you.

"You can take out insurance if you become a resident of Ireland. You may, however, have to serve a waiting period. If you are an EU national and you become ill or have an accident during a visit to any EU country you can get free or reduced cost healthcare on production of a European Health Insurance Card. You can obtain this card from your country of usual residence. (www.ehic.ie)
If you are 35 or older when you move to Ireland you must purchase private health insurance within 9 months, otherwise, a Lifetime Community Rating Loading will be applied to your premium. This loading is 2% of the gross premium for every year over 34 that you have attained. The loading will be applied to your premium for 10 years."
I don't know how long the waiting period is, it may vary by company. Shop around for the best price. It's not selective, the company can't refuse to take you. You can also change insurance company without penalty if you want to.

Check out the primary and secondary schools in the areas that you might live. Some primary schools in rural areas struggle to keep their numbers up and they have to combine classes. This often works fine if two years are combine together but less well if they have to combine three years. You can find loads of information here. www.gov.ie/en/service/find-a-school/

Hi @BlackAmericanoNoSugar that advice on health insurance is invaluable, thank you so much. My DH has literally no clue about the healthcare system despite spending the first 30 years of his life there, so I am very dependant on the kind advice of those who have already navigated the system, this is a great help.

It's very interesting that you mention the rental market because I was just looking this morning and was shocked to see hardly anything in more populated areas and what is available is extraordinarily expensive e.g. €2000 for a property that we would have rented for €750 a few years ago - and this is on the other side of the country from Dublin! As we aren't 100% sure where we'd like to settle, I was hoping to rent for a year first but I've seen some potential options for sale so we may need to just do really good research and a couple of extended holidays over the next few months and then just bite the bullet and buy somewhere. I'm going to look at that schools link you posted now.

I hope from an MN point of view it is OK to post a link to another forum, but I'll give it a go anyway!

Go to Boards.ie www.boards.ie/categories/accommodation-property?utm_source=sidebar_categories and have a look under the "Accommodation and Property" board. There are often posts similar to your own circumstances there and you might find something of interest. There is also a regional board, so if say you are thinking of Galway Region you will find it under "Regional" section as the West and so on. You can also register and post of course, you don't have to be Irish to do it?! I have no connection but use it occasionally for an interest I have.

Best of luck.

I'm from NI and DH is from Republic. We moved from England to Dublin about 20 years ago (he's not from Dublin). It worked out very well for us overall, we both had family in Ireland a few hours drive away (different directions!). No problems fitting in socially, school system very good, but found tax there very high, and things more generally expensive than we were used too.

A few later for family reasons we moved back close to my home place in NI, but I still work in Dublin area, and DH does a lot of work there too. One DS in Uni in Dublin, and the other likely to go there too.

My advice is to think carefully about location if your kids are going to college there, i.e., the costs/commute issues for them. Also, there is a real problem with housing cost and availability now (there was 20 years ago too, but this time it's just crazy!).

Thank you so much @BreakorMake ! I will check the board out now, sounds like getting somewhere informally rather than waiting for something to go up on Daft is our best bet.

That's very interesting @DonnaHadDee thank you. I've noticed comments on other threads about the cost of living issue, which I found suprising initially but then when I remember how much it costs to go for a meal and have a few drinks when we are visiting Ireland, I always come away having spent much more than I expected. And I can see that finding appropriate housing is going to be a real issue for us.

Housing is a real issue. Posted on another thread today that where under 500 properties to rent on Daft.ie today. Drops to under 200 if you want three beds. Ask your DH family to start asking round after properties. Word of mouth means you might get something before it's advertised. Connections are very very important in Ireland 😕

The West means endless rain. Its so so very wet all the time. The east coast is significantly dryer! Winters can feel endless too. It can come as a shock to many.

For integration, enroll your kids into the local GAA and they'll be rapidly be locals.

Thank you @turkeyboots that's shocking how little is available on the open market.

Weather is a genuine concern for me, hence wanting to rent first in order to see whether I will be able to withstand a winter there. The plan would be to take all of our 'sun' holiday time in winter, heading to the Canaries or similar to get a big dose of vitamin D to see us through the dark cold winters. I know it sounds dramatic but I honestly get a bit of depression if I go weeks without any sunshine. Unfortunately west is where we want to base ourselves, although the Waterford/Wexford climate would definitely suit me better.

That's a good tip regarding GAA. The kids all seem to be showing signs of being quite sporty, although haven't tried gaelic yet. Hopefully getting involved in a local club will help us to properly assimilate.

If you are seasonal affective it would be crazy moving to the west of Ireland. Sorry to be so blunt but the climate will drive you insane (possibly literally).

I've been meaning to post on here for a little while so I'll try and include as much as possible as I think I may be able to provide help! If I miss anything though please just message or ask!
I am English born and raised but just moved to the West of Ireland (Galway) from South East England last summer. So a recent experience!
I can honestly say I would never go back, I think nearly daily that I love living here. We have three kids 5 and under. Eldest started junior infants right after we moved and is absolutely loving life. He has loads of play dates, local friends, kids to play out in the estate with, he goes hurling with all kids from school and is speaking irish and generally just has the life I wanted for him!
Selfishly for myself I've never been happier. I'm outdoorsy so love the views and out side life style! I've made more friends in 6 months than in 5 years in England where we lived previously purely because the people are so friendly and nice and supportive. We have people over and go out walking and have people who would mind kids if I ever needed etc.

Cost of living! Yes! It's expensive and the wages for us are much lower so that's an adjustment. But it just seems to be you change the way you do things. For us with little kids we're not eating out alot anyway and the take aways aren't as good as London so we're not pushed on that! I think it's down to your situation how much that will bother you but def be prepared for it!
Heathcare is very good I think in comparison so I'm happy to pay, kids under 6 get medical cards and we have insurance now.
Paper work for moving over took me absolutely ages is one negative! However I had a baby literally a few weeks after arriving so we weren't best organised! They just seem to be very suspect that you're out to play the system so just have all your stuff prepared as possible and get help or advice if you can! We had no help and it was hard work!

Finally... the weather. I'm going out on a limb here to tell you it's not that bad! Well my limited experience anyway. This year we have had endless sunny days and beautiful weather! Even now its a bit wet but there are bursts of sunshine so we've been out as usual with rain gear to hand. It is what you make it essentially but I really have had a very positive experience since last summer....maybe I'll change my mind in a year or two! 😅

OK I think that's all I can think of to describe our experience but do feel free to ask anything you need! 😊

The west is wet, but on the plus side it moves fast. New Zealand might have 4 seasons in one day, the west of Ireland can get that in an hour!!

Hi @mamamalt thank you so much for the detailed account of your relocation to Galway. I actually read it to my husband as it is exactly the kind of positive story we were hoping for to give us a little confidence before we make the move. The childhood you describe giving your children is precisely what we would be hoping to move for. I hope you don't mind if I sent you a private message to ask a couple more questions.

@MrsJorahMormont haha! I think you may well be right! It is very much at the forefront of my mind, probably the number one reason for doing a test run. I suppose if I really can't bear it but love living in the county enough, we could also contemplate moving east instead.

@turkeyboots this gives me some hope!! I think I could handle that

Wrt your worry about a place where a community has been living for generations vs the likes of West Cork - you are going to find everyone in the west of Ireland has either lived in the UK or the US themselves for a few years or have close relatives living there. It's not inward looking.

You might find yourself chatting knowledgeably with someone in a supermarket about the place you used to live in in the UK, exchanging experiences of the NHS, train service to Slough, etc

We moved to ROI last year, we love the people, atmosphere and country but the negatives far outweighed it for us and we are moving back.

Schools - great, for the most part one DD (10yo) absolutely loves it, has an amazing group of friends but the school is lacking in sports, I think we attend the only school in Ireland that dosnt do sports. Which isn't good for a sports obsessed child.

2nd DD (8yo) has really struggled, I think this has more to do with the school and internal problems and teacher which won't be sorted anytime soon. We can't move schools because there no places available elsewhere.

School also finished at 2.10 with no afterschool clubs at all.

We moved during lockdown so it wasn't easy communicating with anyone and everything was closed so we were a bit blind when it came to schools.

3rd DD in preschool loves it, but we can't get her in full time so she finishes at 11.30 each day.

Cost of living is a big thing for us. Our rent is 5 x our UK mortgage. To buy a house in the area we live we would struggle just on DHs salary and if we did buy we'd be paying off a mortgage well into retirement age where we will be mortgage free in the UK in 10years. No point in my working with school times, anything I'd earn would just go into childcare. Also houses here tend to go into a bidding war and go way above asking price.

We are visiting England at the moment and WOW even with price increases here the supermarkets are so much cheaper. My DH is like a kid in a sweet shop.

Definitely reccomend health insurance, we couldn't manage without it. I have chronic health issues and take a lot of prescription meds so it gets very expensive. Saying that I've had a far better experience with healthcare here both private and public than I did on the NHS. I've heard a lot of negative comments but I can't reccomend it enough. All my specialist referrals were done via the health insurance, I didn't need to see a gp.

Another negative is we have not been able to register with a GP here. Everytime our dcs have needed a Dr we have had to go to either a walk in clinic, online Dr through our health insurance or a&e.

Things I love, I love the range of summer and holiday camps for the kids, it was very limited where we where in the UK. The general laid backness about the place, lots of celebrating events through out the year, Paddy's Day, Easter, Christmas. I know we do it in England but there is something magical about it here as everyone gets involved. How kids are not expected to grow up so fast, they are allowed to stay children longer.

I'm sure there is more but I can't think right now.

If your moving from an expensive area in the UK and use to a high cost if living it won't make too much if an impact, but for us it definitely did.

How much time have you actually spent in Ireland, OP?

After 13 years in the UK I moved back to Ireland. I didn't have a very valuable house to sell but if you are selling in London to buy here you will be ok.
The West of Ireland is why Ireland has a reputation amongst the English for having bad weather! But it's much cheaper than the East, so hopefully not too expensive. I have health insurance, 47 per month. never used it. Just seems like a precaution.

Thanks for the insight @mathanxiety that's really interesting to know and I wasn't expecting it to be the case. I want to try to integrate into the local community as much as possible, but having the presence of others who've done the same thing feels very comforting.

Thank you so so much for the detailed account of your move @Bid876 . I really need to know the good, bad and ugly and that's a very balanced view you've given. MN has really opened my eyes to the difference in cost of living, I even did a mock online shop from one of the Irish supermarkets the other day and was definitely surprised at how expensive a weekly grocery shop would be. Provided we are willing to live a bit more rurally, it looks like we could get a fairly nice house with the equity we have saved up. However, it's definitely not like it was 10 years ago, where you could be shopping for an an absolutely "dream" house for a similar budget. Great to know that you had some positives from your experience too.

@Spitescreen I've never lived there before, only extended holidays. Cumulatively probably only 6 months. Should I be worried?

@ChairPose9to5 thanks! Good to have a rough budget for health insurance. We're not exactly dragging suitcases of cash over with us either, but hoping to find a reasonable house in a nice part of West of Ireland - we did check East of Ireland prices just out of curiosity and wow, everywhere around Dublin has gone a bit crazy.

Honestly, OP, I wouldn’t move to Ireland from England in any comprehensive, burning your boats kind of way without spending far longer here — they’re very different societies in many ways that aren’t necessarily apparent from short visits, especially when those visits involve being surrounded by ILs.

HI OP, I'm in West Cork and please be very very careful before you move. Cost of living is extremely high and rising. Houses are cheaper rurally but the cost of fuel to get where you need is v high and chops will be limited and expensive rurally. Every day at the moment our local FB page has people in dire situations facing homelessness through the rental market and most of these people are English/ French who came here for lifestyle but cannot get long term housing

Thanks for the warning @HerTableLaid if you're willing to share more, I'd be really grateful to know a bit about what you consider to be the key differences that I might find difficult to acclimatise to. And I totally agree regarding not burning bridge. This will be on a trial basis for sure.

@IrishMama2015 this is absolutely shocking and terrible to hear. Those poor people. Thanks for the word of caution, we will really need to do a proper costed analysis of whether we would be worse off, better off or roughly the same in Ireland and you're so right to point out cost of fuel. I know the second hand car market is outrageous over there, like double the cost of a car here.