What's a good 'family' town in Meath within an hours commute of Dublin City centre?

zuluboy

I'm thinking of moving from London to ROI and would like to base myself somewhere north of Dublin within an hours commute of the city centre. We've got 2 children under 3 years so primary & secondary schools is going to be a huge factor.
Ideally I suppose being close to the sea would be desirable but I guess house prices are more expensive in seaside towns.
Want to spend 400k to 450k euros on a house preferably 4 bed but possibly 3, has to be in a nice safe area.

I'm really looking for suggestions of areas initially so I can have a look on the property websites but any advice would be appreciated?
Thanks

ps. How much can you expect to get off asking prices at the moment 10 - 20% or have asking prices dropped to a more realistic level?

meditraitor

Within an hour of dublin

Drogheda - You will find a house and schools to fit the bill. Lots of amenities but as for "family town" not sure what you really mean, closer to a city now anyway

Bettysown - Nice area, lovely beach. built up a lot over the past few years but still has a small town feel

Laytown - no no no


Not Meath but close

Balbriggan - Fits the profile and cheap.

Skerries - also fits the profile but a bit more expensive.

spadder

Trim is a good heritage town, bout an hour from Dublin( depending on traffic, sometimes more sometimes less), though the roads are improving.
Where will you be working? northside/southside

An abundance of houses for sale, approach a builder and name your price, he might be glad of the offer.

I'm not sure about schools, Trim has some good pubs, 2 or 3 good restaruants, butchers etc. Lidl and supervalue shops.

zuluboy

Thanks for that feedback.
I haven't got a job organised yet, it's more of a feasability study at the moment!
I'm not sure what a good family town is either to be honest. I suppose somewhere that has some amenities like playgrounds, parks suitable for kids. I suppose I worry about going to someplace that's too small moving from a big city.

zuluboy

Meditraitor, what's wrong with Laytown, I thought that was a very popular place?

Wile E. Coyote

Slane's less than an hour from Dublin City Centre. On the N2 and within easy reach of Navan and Drogheda but just far enough away from them as well.

meditraitor

zuluboy wrote: »

Meditraitor, what's wrong with Laytown, I thought that was a very popular place?

Its a bit of a kip in my opinion, its always had a bit of a reputation as a hole although maybe Im completely wrong as I never lived in the village.

jaycen

Navan's got everything a large town should have (traffic included lol).

kelle

Trim or athboy are nice, quietish friendly towns I would recommend to move into. They have good schools, there are playgrounds, and play centres in Navan which is 20 minutes drive away. Athboy have a parent/toddler group which meets up every Friday morning, and new parents to the area have found it a great stepping stone to getting to know other parents in the town.
Only one major problem - the nearest hospital is Our Lady's in Navan which does not cater for Paediatrics, the nearest being in Mullingar or Drogheda which are about one hour's drive from these towns. Something I find worrying. Navan was chosen as the town to build the Regional superhospital a few months ago but this idea has gone by the wayside as there isn't any money to build it!
So from a healthcare point of view, you're probably better off in east Meath as you're also nearer to the Dublin Hospitals.

dixiefly

spadder wrote: »

Trim is a good heritage town, bout an hour from Dublin( depending on traffic, sometimes more sometimes less), though the roads are improving.
Where will you be working? northside/southside

An abundance of houses for sale, approach a builder and name your price, he might be glad of the offer.

I'm not sure about schools, Trim has some good pubs, 2 or 3 good restaruants, butchers etc. Lidl and supervalue shops.

I ncant comment on the other towns but I would say that Trim is a great balance between size of town and a family feel to it. It is close enough to Navan but is nicer and quieter but like any town has its share of hooligan types around.

Schools are good. St Marys and St Michaels are good primary schools. I dont know much about Gaelscoil Na Boinne. Scoil Mhuire is well established girls secondary and I hear that the Community college has made great strides after a shakey start.

Good sports clubs - the GAA has a brand new facility and are always welcoming of new kids even if they havent played the games before. This is beside the new swimming pool and is across the road from the tennis. Trim Celtic have good underage structures as well. Drama,musicals etc. are all well catered for. All in all a good place to bring up kids.

If you ever have any specific questions pm me.

Stroke Politics

We live in Navan, so can't really say how good the other towns are. If you don't mind spending up to 2 hours a day commuting to and from work, it's a nice place to live. There's good value to be had when buying a house, and some of the estates are very family-focussed - my own one has a family day each year, when we get a bouncy caslte for the kids and get together with the neighbours for a BBQ. Trim currently does not have a playground, due to a spat between the local council and Meath Co Co. Navan does have a decent playground, good amenities such as the Aura leisure centre which is a nice pool. There is a lack of green space, however, and plans for a town park are currently being stymied by the legal threats of a big developer to the Local Area Plan.

You're an hour from Dublin Zoo, and 17 miles from the the beach, there are two very good Open/Pet farms, a host of soccer and GAA clubs, a rugby club and an athletic club. Navan also has a cinema, and a choice of primary schools catering for all deniminations and none. it lacks a decent family-friendly restaurant save the Eddie Rockets, the inevitable McFranchise is here also. There's also a Silver Band, a musical society, various choirs, but no Youth Orchestra (yet!).

I've lived in a number of provincial towns in my time before settling here, sadly most of the town's development is homogenously dictated by a coulpe of very large developers, leading to some very characterless and flaccid parts of the town. The natives are lovely, have a great sense of humour, you could be in worse spots....

Scottie99

Meath and an hour from the Dublin centre? On a good day I can reach M50(outskirts) in 40 mins(off peak) from Navan and I know Slane is the same and assume Trim would be similar. From the M50 to the city would be another 30/40 mins.(peak).
The East coast is for you purely because of the train line. Drogheda is for you!

zuluboy

Ah yes , I forgot about hospitals, that would be an important issue. is the pediatrics likely to stay in Drogheda and is it regarded as being a good hospital?
Is there an A&E in Navan and where else are there A&E's ? Thanks

Milo98

If commuting to Dublin is priority I would say Dunshaughlin, Ratoath, Ashbourne & Dunboyne are the only villages/towns that are within a realistic commute, especially if you need to cross the city to the southside.
All have a choice of schools which are pretty good. Parent/toddler groups & playgrounds are all present here too.
On the hospitals note I would always go towards Dublin & Blanchardstown A&E is as fast from these towns as Navan.
I would never recommend Navan for A&E or any other service as have had very very bad experiences in the past.

Typewriter

If you have no job waiting for you in Dublin why not try Ireland's other major city's like Cork, Limerick, Waterford or Galway. Within the next year all these city's will each have a motorway going all the way to Dublin and they're much cheaper to live in and there is a much better quality of life and community.
Otherwise you'll find yourself just being stuck in traffic most of the time and spending a fortune on nothing.

Edit: http://www.cometocork.com/

zuluboy

I would consider Galway , however I work in IT and the vast majority of the jobs are in Dublin (so I believe).

tweety76

I can recommend Laytown or Bettystown having lived in both.
Both have good public( & private) transport links to Dublin City Centre, Matthews coach is about to start operating a direct route to the IFSC.

Drogheda is 5/10 minutes drive. House prices are still very competitive compared to other parts of Meath and having the beach within walking distance is a very good bonus especially with young Children.
Scotch Hall shopping centre is 5 minutes drive and another new development is opening on the south of drogheda town that would be quite accessible. A new secondary school is online for the next 2 yrs( some planning issues) and is temporarily housed in a hotel in Bettystown. I think there are 3 primary schools in the area Laytown, Educate Together( multi demoninational) and an Irish school

If your job will be based in north Dublin, Blanchardstown cachement , or city centre area then yes I would highly recommend either Laytown or Bettystown. Bettystown property prices are still slightly more expensive than Laytown.

You dont mention work location? If your work location is anywhere south of blanchardstown or Naas Road/ Park West/Sandyford area I would not recommend these towns as the commute will wear you down eventually! Any of the work locations I have mentioned above are within 1 hrs commute either by car/rail or bus.

Good luck