What's Mervue like?

cooperguy

I had a similar thread to this up a while ago about another area and im hoping to repeat it! I am looking at a house in Mervue (near the Dublin Road) and the area seems pretty nice, central and quiet. What do the people of Boards think of Mervue? Would you live there?

Mrs OBumble

Good bus service.

Yes, I'd live there - provided it wasn't in a student estate.

folbotcar

I have lived there, no complaints. Very settled area no problems. Even still retains a lot of the old fashioned community feel.

Paddyfield

Mervue when translated to Irish means Radharc Na Mara which basically means View Of The Sea or 'sea view'. You'd need a telescopic ladder and binoculars to see the sea from here.

When I was a kid, a school friend convinced me that Mervue was from the French language. "Merde" is French for $h!t and "vue" means view.
It was called Sh!t-View" because it looks at Renmore.

Back on topic.....

Mervue is great. It is central and has a great community spirit because of the 2 brilliant sporting clubs. Mervue United FC and St James' GAA Club. It's well served by buses too.

antoobrien

cooperguy wrote: »

I had a similar thread to this up a while ago about another area and im hoping to repeat it! I am looking at a house in Mervue (near the Dublin Road) and the area seems pretty nice, central and quiet. What do the people of Boards think of Mervue? Would you live there?

That sounds like the Glenina/New Mervue area (yes it does make a difference).

I know people dotted all over both Mervues and Glenina who like it.

cooperguy

antoobrien wrote: »

That sounds like the Glenina/New Mervue area (yes it does make a difference).

I know people dotted all over both Mervues and Glenina who like it.

Yes that is the area I'm thinking of. I wouldn't mind if you went in to a little more detail though. The other areas wouldn't be as nice?

antoobrien

cooperguy wrote: »

Yes that is the area I'm thinking of. I wouldn't mind if you went in to a little more detail though. The other areas wouldn't be as nice?

"New" Mervue has a reputation as being a bit rougher, same as parts of Ballybane but I'll be perfectly honest I don't know how deserved it is. Glenina (despite the fact that it's right beside it, I'm not even sure where the boundry is) doesn't have the same bad rep.

Personally I think it might be to do with the fact that the Mervue area in general was originally corporation housing (and largely bought out by the families over 10 years ago), where afaik Glenina was privately built (open to correction on this point).

Take a look at the property price register & daft, in general higher prices tends to mean better areas to live.

Mrs OBumble

cooperguy wrote: »

Yes that is the area I'm thinking of. I wouldn't mind if you went in to a little more detail though. The other areas wouldn't be as nice?

The fact that they make such a distinction between "new" and "old" tells you a little about the mentality of some of the people who live there. Not all of them, mind, but some.

Ditto the snarky comment a few posts ago about having to look at Renmore meant it was a "**** view".

antoobrien

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

The fact that they make such a distinction between "new" and "old" tells you a little about the mentality of some of the people who live there. Not all of them, mind, but some.

Ditto the snarky comment a few posts ago about having to look at Renmore meant it was a "**** view".

It's nothing to do with the "mentality" it's to do with the relative ages of the two areas, new mervue is a decade or two younger.

Hell when "old" Mervue was built, Castlegar was still the parish church.

Mrs OBumble

antoobrien wrote: »

It's nothing to do with the "mentality" it's to do with the relative ages of the two areas, new mervue is a decade or two younger.

Hell when "old" Mervue was built, Castlegar was still the parish church.

The church in "New Mervue" was opening in 1968 according to my contacts. You'd have thought that the two would have blended by now ...

mike kelly

Gerry Barry, the rapist and murderer, is from New Mervue.

sgthighway

Hi OP. To answer your question I would consider Mervue as a great place to live especially over near the Dublin Rd. It is well serviced with shops and bus routes. It is a quiet area traffic wise. The majority of the residents are retired but I have noticed a lot of people who were born there are moving back to their parents houses. It is safe to walk there at night. The area is well looked after. Having a few City Councillors from the area helps. There are good green areas too. The only fault would be that the houses are old and not well insulated but some have small rooms which makes them easy too heat.
If I was buying a property there I would secure it with a monitored alarm, cut back unnecessary hedges and get to know the neighbours because it is so quiet up there the houses can be broken into.
I wouldn't worry about mike kelly's comment about Gerry Barry. You won't be seeing him around.

sword of light

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

The church in "New Mervue" was opening in 1968 according to my contacts. You'd have thought that the two would have blended by now ...

Mrs O'Bumble I sometimes wonder if you live in some sort of bubble. Yes they've blended, but people still make the difference. Because that's how we're bred in parochial Ireland. It's actually nothing more than an imaginary geographical line. Plus,Google doesn't actually count as a contact.

You CAN see the sea from the top of Michael Collins Rd which is the border between Old and New, so the name is well merited. (Ditto the Mervue industrial estate btw) When you divide the population of Mervue (Census) versus it's position in the footballing world it is unrivalled in the island of Ireland and probably even Europe(Not withstanding the recent success of Iceland on the world stage) Quentin Tarrintino based Django Unchanged on a story he heard from Mervue. Russell Brand partied here 3 or 4 times before he hit the big time and while he was playing comedy clubs. All of these are 100% true factual points , however the main thing about Mervue is that it has a strong sense of community. It's a place where houses have rarely left families for the last 3 generations making it a truly Galweigan place to live.

folbotcar

I was under the impression Mervue or Merview was the name of the Joyce estate. Tara Hall being their mansion. I would imagine that you probably had a view of the sea before they built all those houses and hotels in between and as mention the can still be seen from part of the area.

I think I should mention one thing though. When I first moved there. I was having a lie in with the window open. (Ah those were the days!) When I heard the unmistakeable sound of sustained gunfire nearby. Had the revolution started? Were the Mervue drug gangs fighting it out on the streets?

No it was just the sound of the army using their range over in Renmore. So if you do hear gunfire don't worry it's just the army. On the other hand if you hear bullets zinging over your head. You might consider ducking.

Das Kitty

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

The fact that they make such a distinction between "new" and "old" tells you a little about the mentality of some of the people who live there.

THOSE MONSTERS!

2rkehij30qtza5

My friend is a teacher in the primary school in Mervue. It's still a socially disadvantaged area. Some of the stories she tells me about her class are just heartbreaking. I wouldn't live in Mervue (other than Glenina) because it is quite a disadvantaged area and some parts are still quite rough. Renmore, in my opinion, would be a better bet if you are to consider living in that general area.

MadYaker

Its probably grand. Its a working class area and there are probably some social issues but it isn't dangerous. As people have already said it has good transport links to the city centre which can't be said for most places. The areas that house GMIT students are probably rowdy enough though, noise late at night etc, id avoid them if you can.

sword of light

Vincenzo Witty Swatter wrote: »

My friend is a teacher in the primary school in Mervue. It's still a socially disadvantaged area. Some of the stories she tells me about her class are just heartbreaking. I wouldn't live in Mervue (other than Glenina) because it is quite a disadvantaged area and some parts are still quite rough. Renmore, in my opinion, would be a better bet if you are to consider living in that general area.

I went to school in Mervue. They taught me many things.(Like avoiding repetition)
I can tell you one thing for sure, and that is that it's not socially dis-advantaged.Lot's of people went to Mervue school and turned out more than fine.
The OP hasn't really questioned the education system in Mervue at any stage so I'm not sure what the school has to do with it. Let's just hear from people who have actually lived there, and know what they're talking about, and not just pedalling second hand hearsay.

cooperguy

This thread seems to have sparked a bit of debate! The general leaning seems to be that Glenina and the parts closest to the Dublin road are fine and as you move a bit deeper it gets slightly more disadvantaged.

Mrs OBumble

Not disadvantaged?

It's got huge blocks of flats for the elderly in the middle of it. Cope have a day centre there. There's a credit union office there. And a HSE health centre.

These folks don't set up shop in areas where there is no disadvantage.

Now, it's by no means the poorest or most disadvantaged part of town - but that's because of all the supports that were put into place.

sword of light

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Not disadvantaged?

It's got huge blocks of flats for the elderly in the middle of it. Cope have a day centre there. There's a credit union office there. And a HSE health centre.

These folks don't set up shop in areas where there is no disadvantage.

Now, it's by no means the poorest or most disadvantaged part of town - but that's because of all the supports that were put into place.

You possibly may want to have a look at the definition of being socially disadvantaged.
The presence of flats isn't an indicator. Neither is having a health services or a Credit Union. The opposite in fact, it just shows that there is a level of social infrastructure in place, and it just reinforces the idea that the area is community focused.

The buzzwords like "socially disadvantaged" and even the whole idea of the class system doesn't really translate well to Ireland. But then I struggle to see that what is being said here remotely relates in any way to Mervue.

Doesn't anyone want to ask about the Django Unchained link?

coleria

sword of light wrote: »

Doesn't anyone want to ask about the Django Unchained link?

Yes please?

sword of light

Apparently, QT was at lunch in L.A. a couple of years back with the lesser famous Connemara McDonagh brother John (The Guard etc) There he floated the idea of the Django plot over a salad in some screenwriter hang out. John mentioned a famous boxer who won his freedom and was an expert Mandingo fighter that was buried in his native Galway. Basically the story of a guy by the name Tom Molineux and the "story" goes the character is based roughly on him. I know, it's tenuous at best but still......

The guy ended up coming to the UK and fought for the bare fist world championship and was robbed! He ended up in a travelling circus type thing, and when he got to Galway drank himself to death after the circus left him behind. They buried him in Mervue cemetry.

No way of verifying all this obviously, but it's a damn good tale for the pub and the Molineux part is at least true! (Sorry I can't link, but it's googlable)

folbotcar

Vincenzo Witty Swatter wrote: »

My friend is a teacher in the primary school in Mervue. It's still a socially disadvantaged area. Some of the stories she tells me about her class are just heartbreaking. I wouldn't live in Mervue (other than Glenina) because it is quite a disadvantaged area and some parts are still quite rough. Renmore, in my opinion, would be a better bet if you are to consider living in that general area.

I have been in and around Mervue for nearly including living there and I would be obliged if you could point out the 'quite rough' areas to me because frankly I never came across them. In fact if anything the place is astonishingly quiet considering. This is recent experience too, wandering around at night. No sign of gangs of roaming teenagers, no muggings, nothing. I speak as someone who grew up in Dublin and knows exactly what a rough area is.

Certainly there is 'social disadvantage' but that doesn't translate into crime and roughness. It's also worth noting that Mervue school does take pupils from nearby Ballybane which almost certainly is a poorer area than Mervue.

Clearly you have no clue what you're talking about, nor has your teacher friend.

antoobrien

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Not disadvantaged?

It's got huge blocks of flats for the elderly in the middle of it.

Yeah the flats were built in the late 60s early 70s, but they were redeveloped about 10 years ago and are palatial compared to what they used to be. As for "huge" they're nothing on the now demolished flats in Rahoon.

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Cope have a day centre there.

You might want to read up on what cope do.

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

There's a credit union office there.

I suppose Eyre Square (where Naomh Padraigh credit union) or the Claddagh (St Amnmthony & Claddagh) are also disadvantaged?

The credit union in Mervue was Galway's first credit union and was created as an alternative to banks, who didn't want to know about ordinary people at the time.

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

And a HSE health centre.

These folks don't set up shop in areas where there is no disadvantage.

You haven't been paying attention to the news for the past couple of years, the plan for the health system is to move towards providing community care.

kippy

As others have said Mervue as an area is grand. Shops, bus links - jaysus you could walk to town from most parts of it in less than a half hour if you wanted to.
There are a few pubs, a couple of gyms/pools and plenty open spaces in or around it.
The people are sound, generally older in most parts of mervue - which isnt a bad thing.

I'd echo the part said about the houses, some of them are pretty old and if they haven't been renovated they can be colder and difficult to heat but that is dependant on the house.
It's a safe area but there'd be the odd robbery - no different to any other city suburb in the country.

Mrs OBumble

antoobrien wrote: »

You haven't been paying attention to the news for the past couple of years, the plan for the health system is to move towards providing community care.

I'll look forward to them opening a health-centre in Taylors Hill, then.

And a social inclusion service.


Seriously lads, it's an area I'd be happy to live in (unlike some parts of Galway). But don't pretend it's without problems, or at least the potential for problems if the strong supports weren't there.

kippy

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

I'll look forward to them opening a health-centre in Taylors Hill, then.

And a social inclusion service.


Seriously lads, it's an area I'd be happy to live in (unlike some parts of Galway). But don't pretend it's without problems, or at least the potential for problems if the strong supports weren't there.

EVERY area has it's problems.
To think they don't is naive.

In comparison to many other cities in this country, Galway, is a great place to live.

sword of light

cooperguy wrote: »

This thread seems to have sparked a bit of debate! The general leaning seems to be that Glenina and the parts closest to the Dublin road are fine and as you move a bit deeper it gets slightly more disadvantaged.

I'm from Mervue(the furthest part away from Glenina) I know everyone in every house on my street by their first names. (40 houses approx) The people I grew up with all speak fluent Irish because they went to school in Scoil Dara. High majority of them University educated to at least degree level.
Basically, the only difference between me and someone raised in Taylor's Hill is that I know how to kick a football properly, I have a credit union account and I have the good taste not to fill my house with crap Graham Knuttel paintings.

What this thread shows is that there seems to be a massive difference between perception and experience on here. Also, that Mervue people seem to be active in Boardsies land:). I guess you have to make your own decision based on what locals are saying and what other people seem to think.

Das Kitty

sword of light wrote: »

I'm from Mervue(the furthest part away from Glenina) I know everyone in every house on my street by their first names. (40 houses approx) The people I grew up with all speak fluent Irish because they went to school in Scoil Dara. High majority of them University educated to at least degree level.

*wondering who you are*

cytop

Am also from Mervue, and as far away from Glenina as you can get...

It's been some time since I moved out, but there is one thing that still strikes me on my (occasional) visits back - there's still a very strong sense of community among the long term residents (ignoring students and other 'temporary' residents for a moment). I'm not saying it doesn't have problems, every place has, but are they really that bad??

Bear in mind that Mervue is actually a very small area, the 13 or so original 'patriotically' named avenues - Pearse, McDonagh, Connolly, Clarke, Parnell, Plunkett, McDermot, Tone, Barry, Emmett, McBride, Mallin & McHugh (Did I miss any?). Originally it was surrounded by fields and Micheal Collins Road did not exist (There was a rusty chain link fence closing it off) so the only ways in were along Connolly/Pearse Avenue towards Monivea Road and McDonagh/Clarke Avenue, again towards Monivea Road.

None of the factories were there, neither was the industrial estate so it was like a small, closed community and, to my mind, it still has much the same 'atmosphere' now even though it is surrounded on all sides by other developments.

Ballybane, 'New' Mervue and Glenina are their own areas - nothing to do with the real Mervue, in my opinion...