Moving to Longford?

ZOLTAN28

As soon as we get our finaces together we are palnning on moving from Dublin - looking at distance from work and house prices we were drawn to Longford.

Edgeworthstown caught our eye but I know very little about the place.

Can any of you Longfordians enlighten me on the town?

We are thinking of leaving where we have lived for over 10 years as it our twins are approaching teenagehood and the area we are in do not readily accept teenagers that do not fit in - so I'm just wondering what Edgeworthstown or other Longford towns are like for bringing up kids?

THanks for any help

kerash

Wondering have you been to Edgeworthstown? What caught your eye? I would avoid it like the plague to be honest especially if you have teenagers.
i dont live there though so maybe there are some hidden qualities? and no offence to the people of the town!:eek:
Maybe you could have a look throught the towns and villages here for more info.
http://www.longford.ie/longford_content.aspx?id=350&linkidentifier=id&itemid=350

cherryghost

I used to live in Edgeworthstown

Steer clear of it. Its nothing as you expect it to be, as I found out. Moved just north of Longford town, love it there, great neighbours, great country life, cant complain. If you're considering Longford, I recommend the outskirts of Longford town, or else Ballinalee or Kenagh I suppose. I'm in Ennybegs in Killoe, its a really nice place, but teenagers are few and far between I guess

kerash

I would agree with the outskirts of any of the towns tbh (there aren't many towns tho!) but teenagers might be very bored moving from a city...
A Map! Distance may influence your decision if you're commuting to Dublin?

Actually you'll see Abbeyshrule there, a lovely village.

The chippers in Edge are nice, supersams - nommy

dermob

Stay well clear!!!

Don`t think there is a lotgoin on there especially for teenagers, maybe a look into good schools for the teenagers and cross that with where your working and you might come up with a better solution

cherryghost

ah yeah Abbeyshrule, how could I forget there!

Add Ardagh too, nice place, though a bit steep compared to other places

kerash

kerash says stay away from Ardagh!! You drive through there at any time apart from school time - A ghost town! not a sinner in the place You'd be better off moving to Westmeath than there

cherryghost

kerash wrote: »

kerash says stay away from Ardagh!! You drive through there at any time apart from school time - A ghost town! not a sinner in the place You'd be better off moving to Westmeath than there

Suppose you're right. forgot about the teenagers and whatnot.

ZOLTAN28

Thanks for all the replies - definite food for thought.

Interesting that no-one is bigging up Edgeworthstown - I have only ever driven through it to be honest - it was a house I spotted that drew me there but I will definitely be checking out the other towns and areas.

To be honest an absence of teenagers is an advantage in my eyes - would prefer my soon-to-be teenagers to be bored than having to face what they will face around here.

itsonlyme

Me thinks Drumlish a grand spot to be living. Anywhere in the longford countryside is grand. Oh for sure in Edgeworhstown there is alot of undesireables after getting houses in the the town from the county coucil in private estates. They have ruined a grand town to say the least.

superlamb

:)stay well clear of edgeworthstown nothing in it, i live on the outskirts of longford my neighbours moved here from dublin and they love it.

yawn

we moved from Dublin to Ballymahon there about 6 months ago. The commute to Dublin isn't too bad. Drive to mullingar then onto the N4 from there. Quiest town as well tho, not sure about teenagers. Plus it's 20 mins from mulingar, 15 mins from longford town, 15 from athlone. You can also get to Lanesborough to Roscommon.

It's a nice quiet spot as I said but I don't hold much in store for the Italian chipper, there's a new italian restaurant opening soon.

LuvSpudz

I moved from Limerick to Longford after 8 years of living there. I'm from Leitrim originally, like to say I'm trying out all the 'L' counties

I've been living in Longford town for the past 3 years now and I must say I've loved it. I hated the move initially, which was necessitated by a job offer, but I grew to like the place as things got on. Yes there are troubled areas like in any town these days, but there are decent facilities (lots of food places, shops, lots of supermarkets, cinema, bowling alley, train and bus services to most cities, even has an easons!), it's near enough for day trips to dublin or galway and currently the house and rent prices are dropping like a stone so you're sure to get a good deal.

From the teenager perspective I don't know to be honest. I do see lots of kids around, most seem to be normal enough. There's your usual metaller and gothic clans as you would see in most areas.

Someoen mentioned drumlish and I would imagine it would be a nice place to live - small and quiet but still fairly close to Longford.

I would point out that you should be careful buying a house. I know from personal experience of living in some that you need to be made aware of the quality of the build - it may be cheap to buy initially but if it isn't properly insulated or protected against damp it will really cost you in the long term.

anyway, best of luck

Milkey Bar Kid

Longford is a Dump . I lived there for a year . Couldn't wait to get out of there . Now I live in Kildare and loving it . I orginally from North County Dublin . Longford is the type of town you drive through and don't stop

kerash

Why didnt you just move out of the town? there are plenty of nice villages in the county.

cherryghost

Milkey Bar Kid wrote: »

Longford is a Dump . I lived there for a year . Couldn't wait to get out of there . Now I live in Kildare and loving it . I orginally from North County Dublin . Longford is the type of town you drive through and don't stop

nice to meet you too :mad:

LuvSpudz

Milkey Bar Kid wrote: »

Longford is a Dump . I lived there for a year . Couldn't wait to get out of there . Now I live in Kildare and loving it . I orginally from North County Dublin . Longford is the type of town you drive through and don't stop

Well I guess it depends on what you are looking for in a place to live. I imagine the person asking is interested in the facilities and schools available nearby. Calling a place a dump without any constructive reasons why that is your opinion is pointless.

What makes it a dump in your eyes? I agree it's not perfect, but where is? I believe you get out of a place what you put into it. As I mentioned before I lived in Limerick, which a lot of people would call a craphole, but it was my craphole and I had great times there, because I went out and found them.

SgtMurt

Hi,
Im also moving to Longford in a few months for a job. Was looking at renting places in and around the town. Just thought id run a few places by people to see what they thought. Im interested in a nice looking apartment in Prospect wood, another in Newtownforbes and one more in Lisbrack road near Battery road. Was just wondering what these areas are like or if they're to be avoided?
Thanks in advance.

cherryghost

Newtownforbes is the nicest of the 3 in my opinion. Its near the N4, its a nice local community, and its only a stones throw from the town.

How'd ya manage to get a job here!!? :P

Knit wit

Hi SgtMurt ... Both the Battery Road and Lisbrack are nice areas of the town. Good luck with your move. Plenty of rental properties around.

LuvSpudz

SgtMurt wrote: »

Hi,
Im interested in a nice looking apartment in Prospect wood, another in Newtownforbes and one more in Lisbrack road near Battery road. Was just wondering what these areas are like or if they're to be avoided?
Thanks in advance.

Whatever you do, do NOT go to the apartments in Prospect wood. I lived there myself for almost a year. Yes, the place looks nice, but there were major, major problems with dampness, mainly due to what I can only imagine was the complete lack of insulation: mould on most walls, so much so in the bathrooms that the paint was peeling off. Oh and if you don't like being frozen better prepare for a huge electricity bill, as they use those storage heaters. As soon as the heat enters the room it is sucked out through the walls. Oh and also the neighbours playing dance music til all hours of the morning on weekdays. However that was just my experience, take it or leave it

Newtownforbes looks lovely though I haven't lived there so I don't know. People I've met from there seem nice though. Battery road is a very nice area, nice and quiet, though I'm not sure where Lisbrack is on it.

Hope that helps

bergdorf

I moved to Edgeworthstown afew years ago and I think its a grand town, no more than anywhere else, everyone has there own opinions but as other posters have said you get out of it what you put in. I commute to Dublin city centre on the Train takes about 1hr 35mins. Theres a nice park in the town and theres always kids playing tennis, football there. Longford is 10 mins drive away, with the sports complex & swimming pool, bowling and cinema. I don't think Edgew has a secondary school though so if you have teenagers.. but all the other smaller towns in longford would be the same, I think most go into longford for secondary school anyway.
Its a central spot, nice houses for a good price, jobs wise either commute to Dublin its doable have bus or train to dublin, or longford 10 mins 13km, Athlone is about 40mins away 42km and Cavan town is 40 mins 40km.

Newtownforbes ilooks nice as well, its about 5km outside longford on the farside from dublin.

g-whizz

i was born and bred in the countryside of longford. st patricks day brought the true colour of longford and its not good. the towns is ravaged by knackers. i'm threading on a thin line saying that but you don't want to move to a place full of them. every second person is some breed of scumbag. the schools are ran by them, no expulsion for assualt with weapon in one secondary school, man with knife last month on school grounds looking to knife a student. you cant walk down the street without seeing one - they're everywhere! they're like air. no matter where you go its full of it. the town is just a blackspot. don't move into the town!
edgeworthstown is bad too.

however not the whole county is that bad. killoe, newtown, ardagh, moydow, moyne, drumlish, colmcille are all lovely quiet and clean areas.

Ger77

Avoid the midlands

kerash

Any experience of living in Clonbalt Woods?

Knit wit

We rented here for almost a year.

Plus
My kids loved the freedom of all the little roads with very little traffic. There are lovely big trees. It's very convenient for getting to the bypass - or into town.

Minus
Quality of houses is a bit dubious - our heating bill was astronomical - I don't think there was any insulation in the house.
Most of the estate is rented.

kerash

Knit wit wrote: »

We rented here for almost a year.

Plus
My kids loved the freedom of all the little roads with very little traffic. There are lovely big trees. It's very convenient for getting to the bypass - or into town.

Minus
Quality of houses is a bit dubious - our heating bill was astronomical - I don't think there was any insulation in the house.
Most of the estate is rented.

Thanks for the reply. Dont like the sound of the heating bill!

lindas

Zoltan if your moving to longford move to longford town i moved from dublin when i was 15 to roscommon hated it and am lovin longford town (now 21) there is not a lot in edgeworthstown u need somewhere your kids dont have to depend on you for a lift to town id suggest longford town cuz its much better than edgeworthstown

furjaka

Hi Zoltan,

Have you made the move to Longford? Might want to do the same thing and would be great to see what it is like to live and work over there?
Obviously, accommodation is way less expensive than in Dublin, but there might be a reason for it..
Anyway, it would be lovely if you could provide us with some information.

Thank you.

xjennyx

forget edgeworthstown dats crap! nothing there at all eh longford not much for teenagers to do apart from drink n do drugs,im sure u dont want ur kids ending up like dat,i honestly dont think theres much in longford for teens to do seriously like im 5 miles from longford town and i always head up 2 dublin,mullingar r athlone just to get away from it.

Casey_81

There is a serious amount of Longford bashing going on in this forum! It really isnt that bad. There are plenty of things to do. Have you looked at the schools? There are single sex schools in the town, and if you want your kids to go to mixed schools they will have to commute to Moyne (near drumlish) or Ballymahon. There is a lot of work currently being done to occupy teenagers with youth groups such as the Attic.

From a work-life balance aspect. I currently commute to dublin from longford and its painful. Door-to-door its about 2 1/2 hours. I leave my house in the mornings at 6am and I get back home at 8pm.
Personally its only a short term thing - hopefully not for more that 2 or 3 yrs. If I didnt own my house I would move to Mullingar or Athlone.

If you are going to drive to work then the N4 is grand from mullingar onwards, but is single carraige between longford and mullingar with not too many places to safely overtake. In summer months its full of tractors, and all year round theres a mix of speeding lorries and slow drivers.

The drive from Athlone to Dublin is much better, with motorway almost the entire way. But the town itself suffers from the same issues as Longford.