Is Newcastle West one of the most depressing towns in Ireland?.

Jimmy Garlic

I have yet to come across a place that is more gloomy and depressing. I have been to a lot of towns of similar size but none of them were as grim and miserable as Newcastle West. One of the most unfriendly places in the country, no atmosphere in the pubs, streets crawling with undesirables. What went wrong in Newcastle West?.

limklad

Jimmy Garlic wrote: »

I have yet to come across a place that is more gloomy and depressing. I have been to a lot of towns of similar size but none of them were as grim and miserable as Newcastle West. One of the most unfriendly places in the country, no atmosphere in the pubs, streets crawling with undesirables. What went wrong in Newcastle West?.

The Limerick city gangs and associates spreading their influence and have arrived in the area where there is less Garda presence in their face.

johndaman66

Speaking from the point of view of having grown up with Newcastle West being my local town I must say it has taken a nose dive in recent years. Suppose you could almost argue that what was once a vibrant and thriving market town is now a bit of a sorry place. There is an obvious lack of industry to support a town of the size. Many occupants commute to Limerick or further afield for works. Don't think the abundance of vacant commercial and residental properties are doing Newcastle West any favours either....Is this overall picture much different to other towns throughout the country at the moment though to be fair?

Also people say such and such a town is a rough town but is there any such thing as a non rough town if you are looking at this way? All towns do have their bad elements....fair enough some moreso than others though. Its just I'm sure that it has being genuinely said by someone at sometime that every town in the country is a rough town.

Jimmy Garlic

johndaman66 wrote: »

Speaking from the point of view of having grown up with Newcastle West being my local town I must say it has taken a nose dive in recent years. Suppose you could almost argue that what was once a vibrant and thriving market town is now a bit of a sorry place. There is an obvious lack of industry to support a town of the size. Many occupants commute to Limerick or further afield for works. Don't think the abundance of vacant commercial and residental properties are doing Newcastle West any favours either....Is this overall picture much different to other towns throughout the country at the moment though to be fair?

Compare it with Charleville. Charleville can be rough but at least there are positives to balance that out. There is good nightlife there for a rural town of less than 10000, there is pretty good atmosphere in most of the pubs and there is always something interesting going on.. Charleville is also a pretty good business town, there is a good variety of shops and business seems to be doing relatively well there. It has its fair share of problems but they are balanced out.

I got a really bad vibe in some of the pubs in NCW, The Central Bar in particular. Business wise NCW seems to be on its knees and dominated by one or two supermarkets.

munsterdevil

Jimmy Garlic wrote: »

Compare it with Charleville. Charleville can be rough but at least there are positives to balance that out. There is good nightlife there for a rural town of less than 10000, there is pretty good atmosphere in most of the pubs and there is always something interesting going on.. Charleville is also a pretty good business town, there is a good variety of shops and business seems to be doing relatively well there. It has its fair share of problems but they are balanced out.

I got a really bad vibe in some of the pubs in NCW, The Central Bar in particular. Business wise NCW seems to be on its knees and dominated by one or two supermarkets.

There is also a good variety of shops in NCW who all do fairly well.

There are three large supermarkets in NCW, Tescos , Garveys' Super Valu and Lidl, these also do very well. There are also three small super markets, the Centra filling station, Sheahans and Dooleys' Super Valu (not that small mind you) and each of these also do a good trade, so your claim here is a little bit unfounded.

As for the Nite Life I regularly travel to NCW on a Friday or Saturday night and find it grand, nothing spectacular, but fine, the one of two Nite clubs, Fireworks, is usually fairly busy. Admittedly the other one, Club Mission, is finding it hard to attract the punters.

By the way, what are the "interesting" things, that always go on in Charleville that make it so great?

Finally, rest assured that there is nothing wrong with the Central Bar, it is very very rare, if at all, you will get trouble there, everyone that goes there know that it will not be tolerated by the owner.

Jimmy Garlic

munsterdevil wrote: »

There is also a good variety of shops in NCW who all do fairly well.

There are three large supermarkets in NCW, Tescos , Garveys' Super Valu and Lidl, these also do very well. There are also three small super markets, the Centra filling station, Sheahans and Dooleys' Super Valu (not that small mind you) and each of these also do a good trade, so your claim here is a little bit unfounded.

As for the Nite Life I regularly travel to NCW on a Friday or Saturday night and find it grand, nothing spectacular, but fine, the one of two Nite clubs, Fireworks, is usually fairly busy. Admittedly the other one, Club Mission, is finding it hard to attract the punters.

By the way, what are the "interesting" things, that always go on in Charleville that make it so great?

Finally, rest assured that there is nothing wrong with the Central Bar, it is very very rare, if at all, you will get trouble there, everyone that goes there know that it will not be tolerated by the owner.

I am not from the area, I am just posting it as i see it. I am from Lifford Co Donegal. A dump in a lot of ways but at least Strabane is only a minute away. All I can say is Charleville seems to be alive as a town, NCW seems dead on its feet. Just my observation.

johndaman66

I'm not particularly in a position to draw comparisons between Newcastle West and Charleville. Had one or two drinks ever in Charleville ever and that was some time back. Other than that only ever drove through the town a handful of times.

I would only drink in Newcastle West the very very odd time these days but would have quite a lot when I was going to college. Must say I always found the Cental Bar a bit of a sorry place but my friends always seemed to like it. Although most of the clientelle would have being alright you would have always seen a couple of undesireables in there too. I didn't particularly like the pub as its very makeshift and devoid of any real atmosphere for the most part. Having said that I cant say I ever saw any trouble in there, certainly nothing serious if I ever did. Last time I was in there was a Friday night and there was just me, my two friends and the guy behind the bar...he was going bored out of his mind! Would agree that a lot of the pubs aren't fantastic in Newcastle West but there are a couple that ain't too bad or at least have their moments such as Cronins and the Bridge House....Not knock out but not bad either.

Regarding shops and even throw pubs and Restuarnts into the equation, I'd imagine many of the smaller businesses are struggling. As Munsterdevil points out there seems to be little fear of the likes of Tesco, Garveys Supervalu, Lidl, Centra, Dooleys and maybe a few more I'm overlooking. Would think the outlook and business for smaller shops and resturants is much poorer though. The town is a bit unbalanced perhaps...a raft of clothes and shoe shops and even more popping up in recent years...All these can't be doing well. Murphys mens clothes shop closed its doors for the last time a few weeks back and it was over 110 years establised if I recall correctly. Also don't understand whats with all the chippers popping up lately. In nearby Abbeyfeale they seem to be gone to town altogether with all the chippers opened of late. Take electrical retailers in Newcastle West then...just to throw out one example... Only one real player who ain't fantastic and a bit of a con artist I reckon anyway. There is another guy selling white appliances but he is more into repairs. Doubt a lot of people know he exist. I reckon thats another problem for some businesses in Newcastle West, their location. Take for example the cafe and few clothes shops up the laneway behind Goggins EBS....Would imagine there are some town inhabitants that don't even know theyre there.

Rachel Breen

In relation to the last comment about the Laneway behind Goggins being hidden. It must be difficult for the Business owners Location wise but a massive plus is the carpark..it is an ideal location for parking and so central to town and is FREE on Saturdays!! This is a massive plus for me.

There is fantastic shops on the Laneway...ELLE Boutique is a fab shop with great clothes and shoes...it is a very big store and has a great variety!!
Kaprini is a great shoe shop and Lola Lingerie has a wide variety of underwear and shapewear!!!

We have fantastic shops and bars in NCW and we need to Support Local Business x

panda100

One of my favourite things about coming home for Christmas is heading to Margurites for some yummy buns.Its one of the best bakerys in Ireland!

toothie

Completely agree panda!!! They do amazing gingerbread men!!!

PJTierney

Back a few years ago I used to work in a niteclub there (Whispers) and it was depressing enough for me to want to take shots while working.

PJTierney

munsterdevil wrote: »

Admittedly the other one, Club Mission, is finding it hard to attract the punters.

It's the location that hurts it most, as it's leaving the Square on the wrong street. For years the pub crawl has been Cronins > Central > Bridge > Fireworks/Whispers and Mission is on the wrong side of town by the time you want to go to a club.

panda100

PJTierney wrote: »

Back a few years ago I used to work in a niteclub there (Whispers) and it was depressing enough for me to want to take shots while working.

Ah Whispers was great Craic!

Heading home now for the Christmas,cant wait to see West Limerick again

FloatingVoter

I used to live in NCW until the mid 90s. Without doubt, the best feature of the town is the Dublin road.

johndaman66

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Without doubt, the best feature of the town is the Dublin road.

Oh right, and like Dublins a fantastic place altogether?

panda100 wrote: »

One of my favourite things about coming home for Christmas is heading to Margurites for some yummy buns.Its one of the best bakerys in Ireland!

Have to agree there, you'll go a long way before you find a match for their cream and jam doughnuts or black forest gateau's...irrestiable food!

FloatingVoter

johndaman66 wrote: »

Oh right, and like Dublins a fantastic place altogether?

True, you can also use it to get to Tralee which is smaller and more to my point not Newcastle West.

johndaman66

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Tralee which is smaller

I suggest you recheck that one again.

Suppose the overall argument is a subjective one but I fail to see why you would be in a serious hurry to get to Dublin from almost any other part of the country, Newcastle West included.

Mperrozzi

Jimmy Garlic wrote: »

I have yet to come across a place that is more gloomy and depressing. I have been to a lot of towns of similar size but none of them were as grim and miserable as Newcastle West. One of the most unfriendly places in the country, no atmosphere in the pubs, streets crawling with undesirables. What went wrong in Newcastle West?.

I think it is very unfair if one persons opinion ( your opinion ) should undermine an entire town .

Yes some of your views are valid But others not so much ,

There is a great atmosphere in cronins , i will agree that there alot of ' undesirables ' but there are also plenty of friendly people .

i would suggest you read backover your initial statement

Silentcorner

Folks, the OP is winding you all up I'm afraid ( if you've been to Strabane like I have you'll understand why )..don't worry bout it, as for the Dub...what else would you expect...he lives in the utopia we all crave to live in.....

grenache

Mperrozzi wrote: »

I think it is very unfair if one persons opinion ( your opinion ) should undermine an entire town .

Yes some of your views are valid But others not so much ,

There is a great atmosphere in cronins , i will agree that there alot of ' undesirables ' but there are also plenty of friendly people .

i would suggest you read backover your initial statement

Of course there are lots of decent people in Newcastle, i dealt with them on a daily basis when i worked in the town a few years back. But as someone who lives ten miles away and who goes there most weeks, i must admit the town has gone steadily downhill in the last twenty years. For all the new houses and developments that have gone up, Newcastle has become a hive of anti social activity. So much so that my visits are now restricted to shopping ones (which i'm freely willing to admit there is a very good choice of shops for a town its size). Going back a few years when i used to frequent Newcastle on a Saturday night, i was accosted by scumbags in the square on three different occasions in the space of a year. For the simple crime of minding my own business. Sure you can say this might happen in any town but it happens in Newcastle a lot! My friends received plenty of special attention too on numerous occasions from the local tracksuit heads. If the shops in the town are very good, then the pubs are very, very poor. Cronin's is a total dive and dont even get me started on the Central Bar. Fireworks is the only decent pub/club in the town. How the cow shed that was Whispers managed to stay open for so long i'll never know.

munsterdevil

grenache wrote: »

Of course there are lots of decent people in Newcastle, i dealt with them on a daily basis when i worked in the town a few years back. But as someone who lives ten miles away and who goes there most weeks, i must admit the town has gone steadily downhill in the last twenty years. For all the new houses and developments that have gone up, Newcastle has become a hive of anti social activity. So much so that my visits are now restricted to shopping ones (which i'm freely willing to admit there is a very good choice of shops for a town its size). Going back a few years when i used to frequent Newcastle on a Saturday night, i was accosted by scumbags in the square on three different occasions in the space of a year. For the simple crime of minding my own business. Sure you can say this might happen in any town but it happens in Newcastle a lot! My friends received plenty of special attention too on numerous occasions from the local tracksuit heads. If the shops in the town are very good, then the pubs are very, very poor. Cronin's is a total dive and dont even get me started on the Central Bar. Fireworks is the only decent pub/club in the town. How the cow shed that was Whispers managed to stay open for so long i'll never know.

Whispers has been closed for the last 2 years, so I'm a little confused on that comment, perhaps if you did better research before commenting it would be best. :rolleyes:

Cronins was renovated last year and is far from a "dive"

The rest of the pubs in NCW are grand, each to their own I suppose :rolleyes:

AS for being accosted by the local tracksuitheads, weel you and your friends must be very unlucky, I live a number of miles from the place and often travel there on a night out and have never once got a bit of trouble there.

By the way, what's wrong with the Central Bar? I mean there's never any trouble there and the pint is good...

johndaman66

munsterdevil wrote: »

Whispers has been closed for the last 2 years, so I'm a little confused on that comment, perhaps if you did better research before commenting it would be best. :rolleyes:

My understanding of grenaches comment is that he/ she acknowledges that Whispers is now closed down but perhaps I could be reading it wrong too.

grenache wrote: »

How the cow shed that was Whispers managed to stay open for so long i'll never know.

Am in general agreement with the rest of your comments apart from liking the Central which I myself was never a fan off. It is a matter of personal taste and opinion. As I said early although it would seem to draw a few dodgy characters I must acknowledge I never saw any trouble any time I went in there with friends.

charlemont

Ill be passing through in the next few weeks, im looking forward to seeing this town, iv never been there, my mate was banging a traveller girl (lovely woman) from there, yet she still said Clonmel was worse and I trust her opinion ...

munsterdevil

Yes, you are correct johndaman, I was rash and did not read it properly. However, I would like to put it to grenache why he calls it a cowshed? I mean when it was open what other niteclubs was he/she comparing it to? I mean what did they expect, the Ritz?

johndaman66

charlemont wrote: »

Ill be passing through in the next few weeks, im looking forward to seeing this town, iv never been there, my mate was banging a traveller girl (lovely woman) from there, yet she still said Clonmel was worse and I trust her opinion ...

Assuming you are travelling along the N21 from the Limerick city to Co Kerry direction you wont see a hell of a lot of the town. If you want to see around the centre of the town you will need to swing right after the Church and off up to the square and market yard with ya! Be careful to follow road signs though as there are some one way streets around the town. I wouldn't be in a position to draw any comparisons between Clonmel and Newcastle West myself either though. Love your say it as it is sort approach by the way;)

grenache

munsterdevil wrote: »

Whispers has been closed for the last 2 years, so I'm a little confused on that comment, perhaps if you did better research before commenting it would be best.

thanks for patronising me, but i'm very much aware it is closed. Read what i said again. I stated that its a miracle it managed to stay open for as long as it did

Cronins was renovated last year and is far from a "dive"

Its clientele hasn't been renovated though, which on an average Saturday night is 18 year old teeny boppers acting the 'big man'.

AS for being accosted by the local tracksuitheads, weel you and your friends must be very unlucky, I live a number of miles from the place and often travel there on a night out and have never once got a bit of trouble there.

Or maybe you've just be very lucky? I've spoken with many people, both from the town and outside it, who've had hassle in the Square, Maiden St and even Bridge St. There are a few troubled housing estates in Newcastle and there's no denying that.

munsterdevil

grenache wrote: »

thanks for patronising me, but i'm very much aware it is closed. Read what i said again. I stated that its a miracle it managed to stay open for as long as it did

If you had bothered to read post #24 you would have read that I acknowledged this mistake on my behalf . Could you answer my question in my last post as to why it was a cowshed, and what exactly you expected from a West Limerick town?

Its clientele hasn't been renovated though, which on an average Saturday night is 18 year old teeny boppers acting the 'big man'.

To me there is a good mixture of ages there, and just because some of the customers are young it doesn't make the pub a kip

Or maybe you've just be very lucky? I've spoken with many people, both from the town and outside it, who've had hassle in the Square, Maiden St and even Bridge St. There are a few troubled housing estates in Newcastle and there's no denying that.

I never denied it, but there is troubling housing estates in a lot of towns and even villages, I still say you and you're friends are in the unlucky bracket.

grenache

munsterdevil wrote: »

Yes, you are correct johndaman, I was rash and did not read it properly. However, I would like to put it to grenache why he calls it a cowshed? I mean when it was open what other niteclubs was he/she comparing it to? I mean what did they expect, the Ritz?

No, not the Ritz, just a semi decent night club perhaps. The interior resembled that of something you'd expect to see in one of those 1970s 'Carry On' films. It used to be absolutely freezing in the there some nights during the winter months, as we were constantly told the heating was "broken". Even the layout of the place suggested it was more of a glorified dance hall than a proper niteclub. It reminded me of those old fashioned halls my parents would frequent back in the day. Terrible music, filthy broken toilets, awful pints, pig ignorant bouncers and a guaranteed fight outside at the end of most nights. Like i said, its amazing that people kept returning for more.

munsterdevil

grenache wrote: »

Terrible music, filthy broken toilets, awful pints, pig ignorant bouncers and a guaranteed fight outside at the end of most nights. Like i said, its amazing that people kept returning for more.

I'll agree with you on the toilets, awful pints, and bouncers! But the latter two are common in a lot of niteclubs. As for a fight outside most nights, well yes that was sadly true. However, from what I saw, the majority of the times the ones that were fighting were not from NCW, and I'm not from NCW either by the way!

Why did people return for more? Because there was no other real alternative. It goes back to the fighting thing, basically you had a sizeable population descending on one niteclub half hammered with no place else to go. It was likely that the majority of people in Whispers at any time were NOT from NCW.

Whispers was a kip, but would I change my years going there, HELL NO!

Clareboy

I worked in Newcastle West some years ago and I have to say that I found the place to be quite pleasant. NCW has one of the finest public parks in the country - The Demesne. The Desmond Hall and The Square are an impressive centrepiece. There is a good selection of shops, restaurants and pubs. I would consider NCW to be one of the most attractive towns in Ireland.