Moving to Ireland (Recommendations please)

[RoseJasmin]

Hi everyone!

Our family (with three young kids) is moving to Ireland soon from London, and we’d love some advice. We’re looking for a family-friendly area within a 30-40 minute drive from Dublin Airport, preferably with affordable rent and access to Catholic schools.

If you have any recommendations on good neighborhoods, schools, or general tips for settling in, we’d really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance for your help.

Look at Meath..Navan, Trim maybe. That’s less than an hour from the airport. Dublin is unrealistic for your budget. My dd and her bf are paying 1850 for a one bed shoebox.

But more hopeful than D4 and Southside surely? Sounds like she can up the budget and has taken on board that she'll maybe need to go with an apartment. Don't get me wrong I know the rents are stratospheric, I was just giving my preference in terms of area, I agree the with you tho that the budget may not stretch. OP may be better buying, if she can do that.
Personally, I wouldn't choose Balbriggan and would go outside of County Dublin if the budget didn't stretch to the more nearby to the airport places.

There are lovely towns/villages in county Cavan, bailleborough, Virginia, Bally James Duff, it's about 30/40 minutes drive to the airport and Dublin centre

I used to live on this estate, lovely area www.daft.ie/for-rent/house-71-rampart-view-virginia-co-cavan/6016845

D4 is many times out of budget. Malahide is still hugely out of budget! There is no hope at all
No point preferring an area when there's no possibility of affording it.

I think what we are all saying in various ways on this thread, is that the OP should seriously reconsider this move if the housing budget is 2,600. The DH’s salary might look good, but the costs in Ireland are staggering and really, I would stay in the UK unless the salary made a rental of 5,000 affordable (which it is not, for most people) - this will indicate how far out of line the salary is.

Louth and meath are 20-30 minutes to airport depending on place. Im not sure the speed you'd need to do to get from places in cavan to the airport in 30!
Places like dunleer and duleek, trim, kells could be closer to your budget.

I think most of us are saying don't bother looking at Dublin. You don't need 5k a month to rent in Meath or Cavan or Louth

@RoseJasmin I wonder if it's possible that your DH accepted a job on what seemed like a good salary until, well, today? I've seen jobs advertised in Dublin that seem so much better paid than the equivalent in England (outside London) but the reality is that you'd be worse off after housing.

Dublin is absolutely brilliant. I can't say enough good things about it. But even more so than London, I'd say, you need a REALLY good job (or as someone upthread said, inherit a house!) for it to be worth the move.

You could try the border area of NI and husband could commute by train. Might be more in budget and public grammar schools rival private schools in results

And tbh you may just be looking for a school that will have a place in senior infants and second class for your children in September rather than being able to actually choose a school

My dh works near there op and we moved over last year. We moved near Newry as housing so so much cheaper here plus school system is more similar to England. He only commutes 2/3 times a week though.

Coastal areas on the Northside are lovely, Donabate, Malahide, Portmarnock, Clontarf but you need up up your budget if you want a house. Glasnevin, Drumcondra are great and would suit your needs as well.

Forget about Dublin Bay South or Dublin 6 though or be prepared to double your budget. These are very wealthy postcodes. You could try somewhere like Bray if you can find something suitable. Rathfarnham, Templeogue would be half an hour to the airport via m50 but €2,600 will only get you a 2 bed apartment. Both old, settled areas and great for families.

How often do you need to go to the airport? if it's a weekly commute, fair enough, you want to be close. Maybe somewhere like Navan would suit instead?

Catholic schools are everywhere. Every small village will have one. If you were looking for non-religious or CoI you'd be in a bit of a pickle. Your eldest (about to turn 9) would be either going into third or fourth class in September (My 9 year old is in 3rd class with a couple of Feb/March kids and they're a bit baby-ish in comparison with the rest of the class), your 6 year old, into first class.

Dublin traffic is sh*t and there are very few public transport options that take you to the airport area that aren't a bus so stuck in traffic too. You need to look at towns and villages north and north west of Dublin only unless you only want to see him on weekends.

I did a quick search on Daft.ie but I left Ireland 20 odd years ago and I'm not familiar with the area at all. I found 18 houses 3 bed and above to rent across Maynooth, Navan and Drogheda and their surrounding areas under E3000 per month. Most are also furnished so you may also have storage costs for your possessions in the UK.

I don't want to rain on your parade but I would strongly recommend doing really detailed costings on what this move means financially. Tax rates, local costs, healthcare etc. Can you even get a mortgage without being resident for a period of time?

Hi everyone,

We're planning a move from the UK to Kildare and would love some honest feedback from those living there or familiar with the area.

• What’s the general vibe of the town and community?
• Are there good Catholic schools (primary and secondary)?
• How’s access to hospitals or GP clinics?
• Any decent shopping centres or supermarkets nearby?
• What’s public transport like for commuting (especially to Dublin)?
• How are rental prices for a 4bedroom house?
• And most importantly — is it safe and family-friendly?

Any advice, tips, or even things to look out for would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you! 😊

Hi OP without being nosy is your husband moving for an airline job or what’s the reason for Dublin airport as a focal point? If he is crew he will mostly travel off peak which makes a difference in the commute… I would personally avoid south of Dublin or anything requiring the M50.
I would go north of the airport if so - Laytown Bettystown Stamullen Duleek Collon. I wouldn’t do Drogheda itself.

• What’s the general vibe of the town and community? Are you looking to move to Kildare town or just Kildare the county? There are several towns in Kildare…Naas, Newbridge, Celbridge, Maynooth, Leixlip, Athy, Kildare Town, Kilcock etc
• Are there good Catholic schools (primary and secondary)? Most schools in Ireland will be predominantly catholic based schools. They don’t have Ofsted rating like they do so it’s largely based on reputation but if you google best Catholic schools in Kildare, it will tell you.
• How’s access to hospitals or GP clinics? The medical system in Ireland is too tiered so we have our public system like the NHS and then we have our private system. If you have private healthcare through your work, then you can still access the public system. You’ll just claim back whatever you need to claim back. GP visits and access is largely dependent on the area you’re in. Some places have no problems with appointments others you may have to wait a couple of days again. A GP visit card is largely based on your income versus your outgoings but a lot of people are actually entitled to them which means you don’t need to pay for a GP.
• Any decent shopping centres or supermarkets nearby? Lots of decent shopping centres again just google that Kildare Village and nearby shopping centres
• What’s public transport like for commuting (especially to Dublin)? Bus train I don’t know about the Luas and how far that goes but I think it goes to Kildare village (which is a shopping centre)
• How are rental prices for a 4bedroom house? This I have no idea on you’ll have to check daft.ie and filter for the area you want.
• And most importantly — is it safe and family-friendly. I’m guessing you could Google this depending on the town you want I would just google it.

A quick check on daft.ie shows that there are not currently any houses with 4 bedrooms for rent in Kildare Town. If you widen this out to the whole county it varies from €2160-€5000 a month for a 4 bed home. There are only 23 4 bed homes for rent in Co. Kildare on daft.ie.

Kildare is generally a nice place and I personally would be happy enough to move there to raise a family. There is certainly more space than in London and crime levels are lower. I can't say that there are as many options available to access extra curricular activities as in London though so you may feel somewhat limited if you're used to having a lot of choice.

Private schools are not "very popular" in Dublin. At secondary level, only 7% of students attend private schools. Far fewer at primary level.

Those stats are countrywide though. There are higher numbers attending private schools in Dublin. Large swathes of the country have no access to private schools.

No, there are more private schools in Dublin but the percentage of pupils who attend them is the same as nationwide. Public schools are just far bigger.

@wholeeverything If there are no private schools for miles and miles then the percentage of students attending private schools in that area will be very low, though some may travel. This is the case for much of the country.

The 7% is a national figure. The percentage of students in Dublin attending private schools will be higher than the national average as it’s logistically a more realistic option there.

It's still very much the minority though.

Yes, still a minority.

Big difference between Ireland and Britain when it comes to private schools. My nieces and nephews are in a private school in UK and pay about £15,000 each a term!! Most Irish fee paying schools are average €5 to €10k a year, the state pays the teachers salary in Ireland which I think makes a difference with fees