Moving to Dublin - any advice?

[whattodo235]

Hello all, I posted in living overseas already so apologies for double thread! My husband has been offered a good job near Dublin airport so we’re considering moving from London to Ireland in the next few months. We will have 2 kids in nursery and one 5 year old at primary school (going into year 1 in the UK system). Do you have any advice on areas, schools, making friends, whether it’s a good idea overall etc?! Thanks so much!

We would rent initially - 4 bed with a garden if possible but rental prices seem v high - I guess around 4k a month would be our budget

I only lived in Dublin when I was in a very different situation. Trainee professional going to Dicey's every 2nd night!!

Do you both have family in Ireland? Will they be near you?

Yes Dublin (even the rest of Ireland) has gone ridiculous for rent and it is so hard to buy right now. Although I know that isn't an Ireland specific problem.

Do you drive? Do you need to be near public transport?

No family or connections there at all! Yes we both drive :)

Sorry I read your OP as you are living over seas but originally from Ireland. I see now that you said you posted in living over seas.

Like London some area's are nice, some not so nice. Don't move to Ballymun. IMO the south of the city around D4/ D6 is nicer Ranelagh etc. But that's a PITA to get to the airport. Some of the bigger purpose build suburbs have no town in them as such it's just a place to live so that'd be very lonely for you.

Try boards.ie see if you can do a search there. Sorry not much help I haven't lived in Dublin for 8ish years.

There are some lovely suburbs that are relatively commutable to the airport. Malahide, Clontarf, Castleknock, Howth, all are northside, and all would have good options for schools and activities, but you may not get a school place until you have an address. A quick look on daft.ie throws up a couple of properties within your budget, but as you said, the rental market is insane at the moment.

Is there any chance you could come over for a few days and just drive around and see where you might like, it would give you a starting point.

I've lived and worked and the northside of Dublin my whole life and I have four children who are very happy and settled here. It is expensive here at the moment, but as another poster has said, that's not unique to Dublin. If you have any questions, please just ask!

Everyone seems to suggest Malahide, Howth.... when asked for advice for living in North Dublin. My suggestion is Skerries, beautiful coastal town with lots to do & close enough to the airport.
Had a quick look on daft.ie and can't see much available to rent right now, but do keep an eye out. Very accessible on the train into Dublin City too.
Best of luck with the move.

as a bucket list of things that would be amazing to have:

• strong sense of community
• great primaries and secondary options
• good access to outdoors and kid friendly activities
• Easy walking distance to overpriced coffee shops and lots of restaurants (preferably less overpriced)
• a Georgian rectory

I believe it’s very difficult to get rental properties at the moment. So you might need to be quite flexible about areas, depending how quickly you need to move. Also, if it’s not too late, check out rents before making the decision to move, as you may find the salary doesn’t go as far as expo.

I'd look at swords - so handy for the airport!

Donabate & Skerries as another poster suggested too - beside the sea - its bloody lovely

@whattodo235 I'd also ideally look for one that is close to the bus route that goes to the airport so that when you want to fly home you don't have to pay for parking. I've just paid €120 for a week!! A flight to London is only an hour so you might be making trips home reasonably often.

Depending on what sort of commute DH wants you could look at Trim in Meath. Skerries looks nice

For community look into joining the kids to the local GAA clubs. Really the only thing for it though is to come over for a day hire a car and drive around different areas. Maybe do some viewings.

I wouldn't go too rural, it might look/ seem lovely and idyllic and that everyone is friendly. Not saying they are not, but it is very difficult to make friends as a 'blow in' in those small areas. Somewhere with 10k + residents should give a nice size to make friends. Also look up baby groups/ activities etc. As I said some places are just where people sleep. I can't think of the name of the area but a friend bought a house in north Dublin as a starter house. Lovely house but all it was, was houses. 2km to the shop, no community, good link to the city since that was all it was for ppl to commute. They moved after a short enough while.

@Fupoffyagrasshole is Swords a nice place to live though? I'm not saying there is anything bad about it but I had a friend living there and she never went out there. She worked close by and was just there to work.

@pontipinemum i grew up there and used to really hate it - but returning as an adult now with my own kid regularly to stay with family - i love it now! it's massive and has loads of nice cafe's places to eat, pubs cinema, shopping centers etc

Id consider moving back there - its improved massively!

i wouldn't bother with nights out there- i go into the city for that on the bus - but suburbia life is just like that - nightlife a bit shit. But to meet a friend for a drink of dinner in the pub i find it lovely and people are friendly.

Malahide, Clontarf, Castleknock, Donabate, Sutton, Carpenterstown, Saggart, Drumcondra, Skerries, Marino, Swords, Lusk, Rush, Glasnevin, parts of Phibsborough, and many parts of Clonsilla might fit the bill.

The Meath suburbs are commutable.

I think Drumcondra/Glasnevin would suit if you can find a rental property there in budget. There's a good sense of community, lots of coffee shops, restaurants etc. Plenty schools around and in an area whose population is ageing so there should be places in the local primary schools. As a pp suggested, join your children in the local GAA club as this is a great way to meet people and integrate locally. It's on the route into town from the airport.

@Fupoffyagrasshole Ah fair enough so, when my friend lived there I was in Rahtmines. Living a life I would probably hate now 😂stones throw from Diceys and Coppers need I say more 😂

Nurseries in Dublin can have waiting lists that are years long so you should contact some local ones if/when you settle on an area.

Hi all, thanks so much for your help so far. So we’ve visited Dublin, looked at a few of the areas you’ve recommended (skerries, malahide, howth, marino, clontarf, swords) and so far I like howth a lot but it’s too long a commute to the airport I think? And I also liked Clontarf. We want to look around Dublin 20 also and also maybe a bit closer to the centre of town. Anyway - we’re making the move!! Arghhhh I’m terrified. Have no friends or family there! But looking forward to the adventure. My question now is: any recommended schools or crèches? (In the whole Dublin north area but specifically near to Clontarf, or maybe Dublin 20, or around glasnevin or swords…)? Private or state. I’ve got boys!

Dublin 20 isn't a great area for commuting to the airport (it's south Dublin), the other areas you mentioned would generally fit your criteria better. Most primary schools are public, but you really need to see where you'll live first as they won't let you register without a close address.

Primary aka national schools are all fairly good, most kids will go to the local school. Educationally solid, but they go at much slower pace than English schools so it may come as a shock initially. Dc will also be expected to learn Irish from Day 1.
Primary schools come in a few flavours. The standard technically owned by Catholic Church but very not religious by UK state school standards are the most common. May be single sex, most are coed.
The no uniform call your teacher by their first name, Educate Togethers and the Irish Medium ones are very popular too.
There are a small number of private primaries, but unless you want them as a feeder for a specific secondary, they aren't really worth it.

And I second or third everyone saying don't commute from South Dublin to the airport. The M50 is a nightmare.

https://www.gov.ie/en/service/find-a-school/?referrer=www.education.ie/en/Find-a-School/#

This maybe handy, but won't tell you which schools have spaces. You'll need to call each school direct as there is no central admissions service like in the UK.

This is so helpful, thank you so much! In terms of pace, are children learning to read in junior infants already? And do private schools move faster/push a bit more? We may move back to the UK later on so I guess I’m concerned that they might not be tracking at the same pace…?

All schools, state and private, teach the same national curriculum so there isn't a difference in terms of what the children are learning.

I have family living in Drumcondra and they're getting on great. Close to town and on route to airport. Good schools, great amenities. Only downside is traffic, but you could try renting there and see how you go. Gives you more options job-wise for you, being not far from town.

And do not waste your money on private primary school, the public schools are where everyone goes.

Oh and in most schools Junior and Senior Infants are not full days. Full 9 to 3 days don't start til 3rd class in most schools.
Your DC will be well able to fit back into English schools though, I won't worry about that.