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!

Primary education is underpinned by a play based framework, Aistear. They do phonics, writing, fine motor skills and PE. I've never heard of children changing clothes in the classroom here they just wear PE clothing in.

They will do Gaelige,Maths, Religious studies, the Learn Together Educate together program goes through the top six religions and usually involves them learning of the beliefs, festivals etc.

Best of luck

That's not correct. JI and SI are the only classes that finish an hour earlier. So they tend to be about 1/1.30 depending on whether they start at 8.30 or 9 (approx.) Then 1st to 6th will finish an hour later ... it could be as early as 2 depending on the school.

OP get onto the websites for the schools in the areas you are going to. Some will make clear they are full and not accepting any applications. Then get on the phone/make the applications if they have any spaces. Availability of places is likely to be a challenge for you.

Fee-paying primary schools are few and far between. I wouldn't consider them unless it is impossible to get a place in a state school. The education is no better - and they finish a month earlier in the summer (end of May).

Malahide or Sutton.

All schools follow the same curriculum. The only things that make a difference are the experience level of teachers and size of classes.

I’m considering moving to Dublin in the next 6 months, looking at similar places, I have some family in malahide, I also don’t have any friends there so could do a meet up if you wanted x

Donabate is a beautiful town. Close to the sea, the airport and Swords for shopping. We moved and were able to make really good friends and feel a part of the community very quickly. Couple of new primary schools built recently so should have availability.

Yes that’d be lovely! When would you move over?

Sorry that was to unaclare…

Ohh thank you for the suggestion!! I’ll have a look

General update: we are moving to Dublin, still narrowing down areas, going in Jan, excited and terrified!! Anyone who wants to meet up for coffee with a hectic and frazzled 40 year old please let me know…

We haven’t got anything sorted yet, need to sort out jobs etc! But let me know when you move, as I will be back and forth to see family anyways xx

Oh wow, that is exciting. I'd love to, but you'll be too far! With school age children and a more 'cosmopolitan' area you should hopefully make friends easily. I think all around Dublin suburbs there are lots of people not originally from the area which will greatly improve your chances of making friends.

ohhhhhhh donabate is so lovely! i grew up in swords and go back there a LOT to stay with family (now live in London!) i go for a walk on donabate beach most mornings with my mum when i visit all year round

And spent basically my whole childhood summers there :)

Donabate ( the part past Donabate Golf Club and down towards Corballis Golf Club and the Island Golf Club ) used to be a summer holiday destination for Dubliners. My Mum told me her aunt had a cottage there. Now it's a suburb of Dublin.

It really is a great spot. We have moved fir my husbands work but I'm still in touch with friends we made there and genuinely miss it. Especially the beautiful beaches!

I second Drumcondra / Glasnevin. Easy to airport (against traffic morning and evening), good community (get involved in GAA), lovely restaurants, coffee shops a plenty, near DART stop, walkable to city centre from Drumcondra. Some all boy's schools in the area. There are always free events in town like tomorrow for Halloween which makes it so much easier to get to and lots of places to bring three young boys to like the Dead Zoo. Phoenix Park on your doorstep too. Great for the Zoo, playground, coffee shop restaurant etc. Your lives will be based around entertaining your kids with things that they enjoy don't make it a big commute by being too far out. You won't have family to visit at weekends during the week etc so a lot of times to fill doing kid friendly activities. Speaking from experience!

I grew up in Malahide and went to St. Andrews
Then I went to secondary school in Sutton

Great place

A warning about Donabate - crèches are near impossible to get into. My cousin moved there over a year ago and one of their DC is still no. 150-something on the waiting list (we discussed this recently as she couldn't believe it). She's had to find alternative childcare in Swords which isn't very convenient.

Hello lovely Craicnetters! We’re just back from a school/house finding visit to Dublin prior to moving at Christmas. We saw 6 schools and I liked all of them, and I’m really excited for our new life out there!!

I have some questions for you all if that’s ok. Firstly, does anyone have any thoughts on John Scottus primary (the Dublin 4 one) vs Shellybanks educate together vs Howth primary school? Or Sutton park?

We loved Howth and also really like Sandymount (with the tunnel I think the commute would work) - any views to help us decide between the two?! or neither??

also, I don’t know what secondaries we should be aiming for longer term (boys or mixed, not girls). I’d prefer somewhere academic really as I think that will fit best, and preferably not too religious but that’s not a hard point. The secondaries that got mentioned were st Fintan’s, Sandymount, st Michaels, Belvedere, Gonzaga… any views?? Also, do these schools assess academically on entry or just postcode etc?

Thank you all so much for your help!

@whattodo235 I can't remember exactly but check the prices of the tunnel, it changes. Sometimes it's €10 that could add up to €100 a week on 1 toll.

I don't know any of those school, I'm not from Dublin.

Primary can still be fairly catholic leaning but there are more diversity. But the children will go through communion/ confirmation as part of the school year. If they aren't Catholic they just sit out.

Have you had a look on boards.ie there might be more on there.

Where exactly are you commuting from/to? As another poster said the tunnel is priced to dissuade cars from using it during rush hour - if you’re going towards the city centre in the morning it costs €10 per trip, and the same when leaving the city after 4pm. You’d also need to add the east link bridge tolls to that if going to Sandymount. So you could be looking at €120+ per week in tolls if using it Monday-Friday.

The schools you mention are all good schools and pretty equivalent academically but each have their own vibe - you really should try to attend open days for the senior schools to assess the fit. In the southside areas you’re looking at I would also consider Sandford Park and St Conleth’s - they’re mixed, academic and not quite as heavy on religion as some of the others.

As to whether schools screen for academics - some used to but the admission rules for all senior schools changed this year and it is now illegal to use academic ability as a selection criterion.

@Blogdog I think she'd be OK then. She said dh works near the airport so would be going north. I've only gone through the tunnel a handful of times. It is handy but if paying the premium not worth it IMO

Just re-read your thread from the start and realised your children are all under six. Honestly at this point I wouldn’t think about senior schools and would just focus on getting them into a decent primary near where you live. Living a long way from your children’s school makes life difficult in lots of ways - the commute is extra stressful, play dates are nearly impossible and you don’t put down roots in the community in the same way. My children are older but pretty much anyone they’ve been in primary school with who has lived more than a 20 minute drive away has eventually moved to a school closer to home.

@pontipinemum that makes more sense - I picked it up that they could be doing a school run from Donabate to Sandymount, which I woukd find tortuous. If it’s a work commute from Sandymount to the airport that would be easier (although the East Link can be a nightmare to get across in the morning).

I agree to find a place you like (and can afford a house) with a primary school you like and sort out secondary later. There are lots of good local secondaries and generally not a need to travel far for specific private secondaries.