Move to Tullow in Carlow or Stay in Dublin?

sedohre

Hi there, I was wondering if I could get you thoughts. Should I move?

I am from Dublin, I live in Dublin city, 10mins walk from Grafton st. Gay 39yr old male. I'm unable to work due to longterm illness. I have been given the opportunity to move to Tullow in Carlow just today, not sure where yet. I have seen the pictures of the apt in Tullow and the apt itself looks great. Much better than the flat I'm living in now. I mostly live a quiet lifestyle. I go to cafés and hang out, I like good variety of food. When I do go out to pubs I like to go to the likes of Hogans pub in Georges St. That may give you a basic idea to work with.

Oh and I need to have broadband:), (not mobile broadband) I'm on the net 4-5hrs a day.

What are the good and bad points of Carlow, and could you make some comparisons with/to Dublin?


Cheers

Edit: I should have thought to say that I'm unable to drive! I would be moving on my own and I don't know anyone there. I have a relation in Castlebridge in Wexford.


Edit: Thanks for everyone's welcome and comments so far.

fits

I'm not sure about Tullow, but there are some cool things in Carlow town if you make the effort to go out and find them. Its not too bad at all really.

Total different kettle of fish to Dublin altogether, but thats not necessarily a bad thing.

Do you know anyone there?

Zeppi

I live in Tullow. If you live alone and you don't know no one you will be bored and make sure that you own a car because transport to Carlow is very limited. For me raising two young kids is the ideal world.

Zeppi

racso1975

Hey first off welcome to the Carlow board. Second off sorry to hear about your illness.

I made the move from dublin myself about 4 years ago to a very small village about 20 min drive from Tullow. There is a huge difference between Dublin City Centre and Tullow. First off everything you want is on your doorstep in Dublin not always the case in Tullow.

I would not even consider the move if you do not have your own transport. Coffee shop wise you wont be too bad during the day but you may forget it once 6pm comes.

Pubs there is a huge selection of in carlow town and lively during the week given it's a college town and also at weekends.A number of these have "gay nights". I cannot really comment on Tullow as i have never drank there.

Food Shops wise in Tullow you have tesco's and supervalu and aldi or lidl, local butchers etc etc.

Rathwood is a very nice place to go during the day time it is local enough with nice coffee shop and furniture store and plants/Garden forest trail.

Not really sure if any coffee shop to just people watch exisits in Tullow but i'm sure others will comment.

Thats all i can really think of for now but if you have any more questions ask here or feel free to pm.

Best of luck in your decision

Lillylilly

Hiya!

I'm a Dub and lived in Carlow for three years over college, between 2003 and 2006. I lived in the town but was with someone from Tullow. It's quite rural, beautiful scenery but quite isolated. Do you drive? Tullow is about twenty mins away from the town but you'll probably need to frequent the town a bit. There's a little village in Tullow but it's quite basic- it has a Supervalu but as far as I remember, it wasn't great.
Carlow town has a lovely buzzy vibe, but is very young, because of the two colleges down there. There are locally type pubs, but everywhere else is quite studenty.
My experience of the locals who remain quite "countryish" was that I was always an outsider and treated as a "blow in" (as they called it!). And I lived in the town, Tullow, as I remembered it, was quite rural and everyone knew everyone. If I was you, I would be concerned about the level of acceptance, especially since you seem to be doing this move alone.

Hope this helps, I hate being negative, but wanna keep it real
Good luck with your decision!!!

cantona1111

sedohre wrote: »

Thanks for everyone's welcome and comments. Thanks for being real.

I should have said that I'm unable to drive! I would be moving on my own and I don't know anyone there. I have a relation in Castlebridge in Wexford.

Hi, Im from Tullow, not having a car is a big problem, unless your happy enough to potter round the town. There are lots of "old man pubs" in the town, but the Tara arms is a nice spot with good food and you can get a coffee there at anytime, but after that theres not much, there are football, soccer and rugby clubs, and other non sporting clubs and activities.

Its a quiet town but if you need days or nites out, there are buses starting early in the morning going to dublin and wexford also to carlow town if memory serves.

Its not a bad old place and you wouldnt be alone in moving from dublin, loads of dubs around the area, you could set set up a "Dubs in Tullow group", Best way to get to know locals is join groups.

Best of luck with your decision

patrickc

as echoed by the others tullow is a lonely town, has a few bus services a day but not many and theyre too and from dublin

http://www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1202289438-5.pdf

for a person by themselves and not driving I'd imagine tullow to be a lonely place tbh.

KateF

Ok, so I voted move to Carlow. Because you sound like you would like/need a change of scenery. But, I wouldn't recomment moving to Tullow unless you already know people there. If you are not working it will be hard to get to know people any other way. Its a small town, not many societies or clubs or anything like that that I can think of to meet new people. Pubs are not as great, again, unless you are local, or get to know people, in which case, they are then great craic.
You said you like nice cafes and good pubs etc, well maybe Carlow town would be a good option? Bigger than Tullow, but not too big. Has nice pubs, cafes, shops, and I'd assume, more opportunities to get to know people.
Hope I didn't rant too much and was of some help

aynon

patrickc wrote: »

as echoed by the others tullow is a lonely town, has a few bus services a day but not many and theyre too and from dublin

http://www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1202289438-5.pdf

for a person by themselves and not driving I'd imagine tullow to be a lonely place tbh.

bus éireann is the only service in ireland!! or tullow! jj does a service to and from tullow carlow 2 in and 2 out a day.

sedohre

patrickc wrote: »

as echoed by the others tullow is a lonely town, has a few bus services a day but not many and theyre too and from dublin

http://www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1202289438-5.pdf

for a person by themselves and not driving I'd imagine tullow to be a lonely place tbh.

aynon wrote: »

bus éireann is the only service in ireland!! or tullow! jj does a service to and from tullow carlow 2 in and 2 out a day.

I'm not sure where in Tullow the apt is, so it may be a silly question but how long would it take to walk to Carlow town, is it easy to walk around, from Tullow to Carlow for instance, or how easy would it be to get to Wexford?

mickos

sedohre wrote: »

I not sure where in Tullow the apt is, so it may be a silly question but how long would it take to walk to Carlow town, is it easy to walk around, or how easy would it be to get to Wexford?

I'm not sure exactly someone else here would know better but I reckon its 10 miles to Carlow town:eek: So walking is not much of an option. The Waterford/Dublin bus will take you to Enniscorthy around mid day and again at 7 30 and you would have to change buses there to get to Wexford.

aynon

25-30mins in a car....so i'd guess 4hours in 4 hours out on foot?

patrickc

aynon wrote: »

bus éireann is the only service in ireland!! or tullow! jj does a service to and from tullow carlow 2 in and 2 out a day.

thats news to me, I only tend to drive to Tullow mind you

MsFifers

tbh - I think you'd find Tullow a huge culture shock. I keep meeting Dubs who have moved there who are telling me they are finding if v. difficult to get to know other Tullowites. For most of them, they are working or have friends/family nearby so aren't too bothered. But in your situation, without a car, I think you might find yourself very isolated there.

Maybe you should take a trip there for a weekend and see what its like?

sedohre

I will go down and have a look soon.

Any other things to say about Tullow itself?

HugoIrl

Hey welcome to the Carlow forum,

I know its not the same, but moved from Galway to Carlow town in the last 2 months. So can imagine the change from Dublin would be a big shock. Once your able to getting buses etc to Carlow easy enough I'd definitely make the move. :P

byhookorbycrook

The Supervalu in Tullow is excellent, it has a reasonably new owner and he has made a great hand of it.
Tara arms,already mentioned for food ,there is also a new restaurant opened down on the riverbank and it's plain, but nice.
Mount Wolseley is on the edge of the town, a big hotel, the bar there does food and there is a leisure centre. Rathwood has a lovely cafe, but it is about two miles outside the town. There is a good Indian in the town,good quality food. There are now THREE Chinese in the town.

kwalshe

Hiya doing, heres my tuppence worth, You have some good honest info to work from from these posters.
I'm from Dublin and moved to a town about 5 mins from Tullow 4 yrs ago. Carlow county is special in a lot of ways, the people are very friendly and approachable if you are willing to integrate and engage in smalltalk (I'm not being patronising with this by the way), this was the biggest culture shock for me. The countryside and villages of Carlow are lovely and full of character (for the most part) but I think not having a mode of transport.
In terms of Tullow, it's a busy town but , I find it hard to find it's true character, It has a busy road (n80) haemorraging through it. If you are having trouble with your mobility traffic and inconsiderate parking might be an issue. Here roughly what Tullow is about for me

• Really nice Library
• New 15 acre community park about to be built
• Nice river with some nice chillout spots along it
• Good shops , good diverse range of shops and Large Tesco, Supervalue and Aldi.
• Some nice pubs , but all are old country style.
• Not sure about eateries, Indian is nice, and there is a place beside the river that look impressive and cosmo

If I think of any more I'll post again. my last word is ....
Tullow will be massive culture shock from Dublin, but may offer rewards if you embrace the local community. Maybe if you could stay in Mt Wolesly and wander around the town it may give you a better feel, good luck to you

KateF

aynon wrote: »

25-30mins in a car....so i'd guess 4hours in 4 hours out on foot?

Nah, like 15-20 mins by car. But don't walk it!!! Seriously, bendy winding country roads like....not really a wise thing to do

sedohre

Hi, I paid a flying visit to look at the apt in Tullow today, Bus Eireann down, had sunday lunch in the Tara Arms with my brother from wexford, the food was grand, and much cheaper than Dublin I have to say. I didn't get a chance to walk around the town though, my brother had to get home and he was giving me a lift to wexford station. We drove to Tesco's and through the town. I will to go down during the week to see what its like during the day and have a proper walk around.

What are the Broadband options it Tullow does anyone know?

aynon

pretty much all options are AVAILABLE. but i dont know which ones are good or not. i know the 3g dongle thingies are crap out there. thats about it from what i know.

ShayK1

Personally, I'd suggest getting a phone line and then maybe an Irishbroadband DSL connection. I think it'd be the least hassle for a good quality connection.

aynon

ShayK1 wrote: »

Personally, I'd suggest getting a phone line and then maybe an Irishbroadband DSL connection. I think it'd be the least hassle for a good quality connection.

totally agree! you'll at least get a more stable connection.

sedohre

Thanks, that's good news. I would want a stable connection. I wouldn't go near the mobile broadband.

aynon

you/stick

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space

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mobile broadband

drunk_monk

Getting broadband over a phone line in Tullow depends on what exchange your connected to. If the apartment is in the centre you'll be fine but if it's out on the Rathoe rd where I am then you can't get it.

Good luck with your decision

crdunne88

Banned for 2 weeks!!

tombull82

crdunne88 wrote: »

Banned for 2 weeks!!

Seen that coming.:D

Carlow town maybe but I think Tullow surely would not suit someone who is moving down on their own without knowing anyone local, Also without a car your putting so much hassle on yourself.

ad1

My boyfriend is from tullow and i love it down there. The pubs are great craic and there's always a lock in somewhere... even on school nights! Everyone is really friendly. Not sure what the gay scene is like down there though. i think there's a gay hotel in Carlow town called cosmo browns but i've no idea what it's like...

loch garmen

hi there

looking to move to carlow and have a small baby. can any of ye recommend tullow. it looks like a nice town. any advice from anyone . just afraid ill be making a mistake.

any suggestions would be apprciated

thanks

Villain

It was a nice town and still has some nice bits, but in the main crime is an issue, drugs is a huge problem along with anti-social behaviour by teenagers and the Gardai seem helpless.

There are some good points, the forward steps resource centre, Soocer and GAA clubs are quite big and have good facilities. Scout groups etc offer some good activities for children but if I was moving to Tullow I would look to outside the town tbh