Skerries commute by car

sleepyholland

Could anyone advise me on the driving commute from Skerries to the city centre? If I needed to be at Merrion Square for 8.45 what time should I be leaving Kelly's Bay at? I suspect it changes with the seasons, but any advice from experienced commuters would be most welcome. I just need to drive in and out for a couple of months from january before returning to the train/bus, but am worried about the journey time both directions.

slinky2000

What route are you plannign to take once on the m1? tunnel? Malahide road? m50?

The tunnel is the quickest by far, it'll cost you a tenner though. I can get from the airport junction to O'Connell bridge in about 15 minutes.

The malahide road and m50 can take about 60 minutes if not more.

sleepyholland

Thanks for the reply.
The tunnel is great but I don't think I could afford to take it twice a day, at peak prices for 2 months.

I hadn't considered the M50 and Malahide road as I've never driven that route. Any driving I've done has been at weekends and then I'd always take the M1, through Drumcondra and then the North Circular Road. Takes 40 mins with no traffic. I suspect it's hell at 8am?

slinky2000

Even before. 7:30 is a struggle some times.

Anytime I've gone Drumcondra way it's been about 50-60 minutes too. I honestly don't think there's an easy way, but maybe someone else has some secret way?

Personally I'd take the hit and get the train/bus in and a brisk walk. What I've done sometimes is drive from Lusk to Clongriffin (free parking!) and get the Dart into town.

Stheno

sleepyholland wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.
The tunnel is great but I don't think I could afford to take it twice a day, at peak prices for 2 months.

I hadn't considered the M50 and Malahide road as I've never driven that route. Any driving I've done has been at weekends and then I'd always take the M1, through Drumcondra and then the North Circular Road. Takes 40 mins with no traffic. I suspect it's hell at 8am?

I drive from Swords to Merrion Square and leaving at 7 has me in in 45 minutes or so.

Leaving any later means Whitehall/Drumcondra is a nightmare

You could aim to get in early and go have a nice coffee?

sleepyholland

Would love to go early but for these 2 months I'll have a toddler to deliver to town for 8.30am. It's only 3 days a week for 2 months so it might be worth forking out for the port tunnel in the mornings and dealing with traffic in the evening.

quad_red

I do basically the same commute (Kelly's Bay to Baggot St).

I take the train 95% of the time but the odd time I have to take the car.

Tunnel is obviously the best way but it's too expensive. I've found the fastest way is avoid Drumcondra completely. I go M1/M50/Ballymun.

Turn left at Phibs onto NCR. Straight through Dorset st, turning right onto Belvedere place onto Mountjoy sq then through that onto Gardiner St, past bus aras, across the bridge then up Lombard Street.

That's after allot of trial and error.

But you're screwed for times. If I leave Kelly's Bay at 6:30am. I'll definitely be at Baggot street before 7:30am. If I leave at 6:50am I'll be doing well to be there for 8:05am. Anything after 7:00am and you may not be definitively be at Merrion's Square for 8:30am (will some days, won't others).

My advice? Take the train. Seriously. Merrion Sq is 5 mins walk from Pearse. And esp with kids. We moved to Skerries last year and for the first two months I drove. It wore me down. And the evening is worse.

sleepyholland

Thank you quad_red, that is extremely helpful.
I love your zigzag way of avoiding Drumcondra.

We're just moving out to Skerries in January and have this tricky overlap period after which we'll be taking the train 99% of the time.

We may need to re-plan the driving the baby to town idea though. Our of interest can you remember how long the port tunnel route takes you to Baggot Street at that time of morning? I imagine it varies a bit depending on the traffic at the town end.

Thanks again.

quad_red

sleepyholland wrote: »

Thank you quad_red, that is extremely helpful.
I love your zigzag way of avoiding Drumcondra.

We're just moving out to Skerries in January and have this tricky overlap period after which we'll be taking the train 99% of the time.

We may need to re-plan the driving the baby to town idea though. Our of interest can you remember how long the port tunnel route takes you to Baggot Street at that time of morning? I imagine it varies a bit depending on the traffic at the town end.

Thanks again.

Have only take the tunnel 2/3 times and it was v early so no traffic at all (work paid cos was mega early start).

So can't help ye there.

Have you tried scoping out creches in Skerries? We did some planning to keep using our creche in town which we dearly dearly loved. But that plan went to the wayside when it closed (it was in a Georgian house and the owners want to renovate it).

But the logistics in the morning ain't everything. Unless ye are on the road at four at the latest ye are gonna get sucked into rush hour traffic. And kids at the end of the day, tired from creche either pissed off in a car in the dark or falling asleep and then having to be woken up on the other end...

Nope.

sleepyholland

yeah we may need to do what you did and just make the clean break.
Now we just need a place to free up in a Skerries creche!

quad_red

sleepyholland wrote: »

yeah we may need to do what you did and just make the clean break.
Now we just need a place to free up in a Skerries creche!

Gotta do what works for you and depends what ages your kid(s) are.

Myself and my wife did the both working full time in Dublin city with kids in Skerries and found it very intense. I would start work late (dropping kids in creche for 7:50am) and she would leave work early (after starting early).

Allot of people use au pairs (as you will see loads of them in Kelly's Bay) because there can be a big strain getting them to creche, busting your ass to get into town and then busting your ass to get out to Skerries to collect them.

Not to put you off Skerries - it's really fantastic. Quality of life is awesome and it's gotta be one of the most beautiful towns in Ireland. People are great as well.

But we definitely had a period of changing our lives to suit our new circumstances and my wife changed jobs to something that worked better.

quad_red

@SleepyHolland

For reference: drove today. Left Kelly's Bay at 6:49am and was on baggot street at 7:46am. Which I would consider a very fast commute given how late I left.

sleepyholland

Thanks! I appreciate the first-hand research!