moving to kerry??

luppy

Hi all,i have this idea bout moving down to kerry,somewhere near the sea, a place to rear kids and a nice community feel to it. house prices aren't too bad down there compared to kildare. any ideas/suggestions? would love to hear positive and negatives!

yellowfish

We moved to N kerry around eight years ago, great communities. -Try and get a Hurling village rather than just football, it will be better for the kids. house prices in the north of the county are good, dont live in tralee, try and get within 3-4 miles at least of Banna beach

luppy

Thanks yellowfish
did it take long to settle in?are you glad you made the move?do you think you'll ever move from there now?

uote=yellowfish;75686007]We moved to N kerry around eight years ago, great communities. -Try and get a Hurling village rather than just football, it will be better for the kids. house prices in the north of the county are good, dont live in tralee, try and get within 3-4 miles at least of Banna beach[/Quote]

L1ghtbulb

I'm originally from Kerry, working and living in Meath for the past 5 years and I miss it so so much! However job opportunities don't allow for me to head back home any time soon!!

There are so many beautiful places to pick from! The further south you go in Kerry the more remote it will be. As suggested above North Kerry is a good spot and there are lots of villages and towns dotted along the coast. And Banna is amazing, I spent hours every summer playing on the beach with my brothers and sisters...my parents had to drag us to the car to get us to go home!

Personally, I love Killarney and the surrounding towns. Not sure what house prices are like in the area but Daft would give you a good idea. Killorglin is lovely and Kenmare is one of my favourite places. Nice country towns but you still have a little buzz and all the amenities you need.

I'm probably biased being from Kerry but the country folk are very friendly and wont be long inviting you into a new community. Make sure your children join a GAA club,its a great way of getting to know people and there's plenty to pick and choose from in the Kingdom!! Schools are much smaller than that in Kildare so getting your children enrolled should not be a problem!

Best of luck!

yellowfish

luppy wrote: »

Thanks yellowfish
did it take long to settle in?are you glad you made the move?do you think you'll ever move from there now?

[/QUOTE]

Sorry about the delay, i was called to work.

Yes we are glad we chose Kerry, (We are foreign devils, so we did not know much about any of the country when we were 1st here )

I don't see us moving, Unless we return "Home" But our child is born and raised here so we would have to consider his feelings about going somewhere "Foreign". I would not move within Ireland now, or even within Kerry, we are a part of a community and that takes a good few years- Having children in school helps immensely. If you move anywhere just know that you still have to work, bills come in, all life's troubles are about the same. You just get to do it all somewhere nice!!

ongarboy

luppy wrote: »

Hi all,i have this idea bout moving down to kerry,somewhere near the sea, a place to rear kids and a nice community feel to it. house prices aren't too bad down there compared to kildare. any ideas/suggestions? would love to hear positive and negatives!

I'm also going to be biased and highly recommend Kerry also. It really has everything to offer for a superior quality of life....except...the guarantee of fulltime well paid jobs (I know this is the same everywhere). OP, do you have a job to move to down here or is that not a necessity for you financially? The reason I say that is if you need to rely on a weekly wage, then before you start considering Kerry or anywhere, you'd need to ensure you have a job awaiting you.

Sorry if this sounds like stating the obvious but I didnt' get from your post whether a job would be a requirement or not.

xxyyzz

I'd echo exactly what was said already. If you want to be near the coast, Castlegregory is in walking distance of the longest and best beaches in the country. Its real surfing and GAA country also so great for the kids. If boats are your thing then Fenit is the place for you. 7 miles from Tralee and it has a gorgeous marina and good blue-flag swimming beaches.

Robxxx7

luppy wrote: »

Thanks yellowfish
did it take long to settle in?are you glad you made the move?do you think you'll ever move from there now?

uote=yellowfish;75686007]We moved to N kerry around eight years ago, great communities. -Try and get a Hurling village rather than just football, it will be better for the kids. house prices in the north of the county are good, dont live in tralee, try and get within 3-4 miles at least of Banna beach

Why ?

yellowfish

Robxxx7 wrote: »

Why ?

Because Hurling is better!!! I thought everyone knew that.
No its just that Hurling is such a great sport it would be a shame for them to be stuck with just football, My lad travels for his soccer, rugby, football etc, But hurling is in the village and he got in to the club as soon as he started school. I don't know if he would have been attracted if it had meant traveling, the other sports get much higher exposure.
Which is a shame because its such a fantastic game.

Robxxx7

Fair enough ... i'll agree to disagree

coming from a solely football village

luppy

Thanks to everyone that replied.work is definitely an issue for us, im a nurse and my husband works in the technical industry. we both have good permanent jobs but moving down the country would be my dream. sometimes i think just because we were brought up a certain way does not mean its necessarily the best way and that's the reason id like to try something different. do you think your quality of life is better downing Kerry than somewhere like Dublin/Kerry? r even a better place to raise kids?

RiderOnTheStorm

Is life better in Kerry than Dublin? a definite 110% YES!

We lived in Dublin for 10 years, and then moved to Cork, then Kerry. Living in Ballybunion for 7 years now, and its the best thing we ever did. There are many differences of course, and a few small disadvantages, but on the whole, I would not have done it any differently.

Or kids are settled in the local schools (primary & secondary schools here). The schools are small, but that means the class size is small. My oldest was one of 2 students in the leaving cert hons irish! Thats like getting a grind per day! We didnt have the full choice of usual subjects for the Leaving Cert , ie either Biology or Chemestry (no Physics) and there was German but no French, so its only a small price to pay.

If you do move, then you do need to get out and make the effort to integrate into the community. Small towns can be quite insular and its up to you to make the moves. Join something, or get the kids to join, or both. I have mixed feelings twoards the GAA as my son went training with then one year, and wasnt picked for any matches, so he gave up. You need to be 'in' with the whole GAA thing before your kids get to play (ie fund raising, meetings, outings, etc)

Another great thing about a small town, is that everyone you meet is a local, and you can chat and find out all the local news. Here in Ballybunion thats what happens in winter. In summer there is such an influx of tourists (well, usually ... not so much anymore) that the locals prefer the winter so that they can 'get their town back'. Its swings & roundabouts. I love the summer & winter. There is a lot of life & craic about in summer (sometimes too much!) but the peace & quiet and easygoing nature of winter is fab too. Nothing like walking down to the shop on a morning to get the paper and being saluted by everyone, and actually knowing all their names!

Lia_lia

What's all this GAA stuff about? Did I miss out on a proper Kerry childhood because I never joined a GAA club? What?

Anyway, I spent most of my older childhood years in Killarney (moved from London/France). Great place! Nothing bad to say about it really. It wouldn't exactly be remote though. If I was to choose somewhere I would say a coastal area. But that's just me! Love Castlegregory.

ejmaztec

Lia_lia wrote: »

What's all this GAA stuff about? Did I miss out on a proper Kerry childhood because I never joined a GAA club? What?

Anyway, I spent most of my older childhood years in Killarney (moved from London/France). Great place! Nothing bad to say about it really. It wouldn't exactly be remote though. If I was to choose somewhere I would say a coastal area. But that's just me! Love Castlegregory.

I don't think everyone is obssessed with the GAA, only about 95% of them:pac:

gerocks

yellowfish wrote: »

dont live in tralee

Oi, that's a bit cheeky! From Tralee but live in Dublin. A job would be tough to get in Tralee I would imagine. I'd love to move somewhere back West.

boomkatalog

From Ballybunion and living in Dublin the past 8 months, I miss it terribly!

It was a great spot to grow up, I'm so homesick for the sea up hear and its so easy to make friends in a small community. I'd definitely recommend it as a place to live and grow up, the only negative for me is the lack of work. Unless you own a pub or tourist industry, you're looking at commuting for work.

rocketman2010

I see lots of people have recommended North Kerry, Killarney etc. One of the nicest parts of Kerry would be back west around the Dingle area. A very friendly area, fantastic beaches like Ventry,Castlegreogory,Inch. Most people who have moved there for a while tend to stay there.Like Ballybunion, it would be very busy from May through to October, with festivals like Other Voices keeping the town ticking over during the winter. A fantastic place to raise children, however house prices don't seem to have fallen there like other parts of Kerry.

byhookorbycrook

Dingle and back west are lovely areas, but property is by no means cheap. It can also be bleak over the winter and your nearest big town in Tralee.

rocketman2010

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Dingle and back west are lovely areas, but property is by no means cheap. It can also be bleak over the winter and your nearest big town in Tralee.

Prices of property in places like Kenmare are far more reasonable and it is also a very nice town.Prices on auctioneer sites may be a bit misleading re Dingle as many places have gone for a lot less than advertised. Prices may drop over the next couple of years with a lot of the Section 23 properties nearing the end of their 10=year term