Moving to Kilcock

Ushm

Hi, my wife and I are currently looking at a house in Abbeyfield in Kilcock. The house is perfect for us, my wife is pregnant with our first child so we mostly looked at houses in Celbridge, Maynooth, Kilcock and Naas because we wanted a nice bit of space and once you cross the border into Dublin everything in our price range is either tiny or in a kip of an estate!
I think Kilcock seems like a lovely place and I know there are new amenities due for development. I just worry about what the place is like for kids growing up so if anybody could answer these questions that would be amazing!
-what are the schools like?
-would we be better off sending them to a school in a nearby town?
-are enough things to do so that they're not just hanging around which usually leads to acting the maggot?
-are there many young families in the town?
-what are the local sports clubs like?
I realise some of these questions are difficult to answer but any advice would be greatly appreciated!

athtrasna

Have you tried posting in the local forum on here? We have them for every county.

POKERKING

Kilcock is nice, abbey field is one of the nicest there. Scoil Dara the secondary school is one of the best around apparently.

You will get more help if this is moved to Kildare forum, the above is all I know!

Sparky85

Kilcock is full of young families.
There is a GAA Club, football club, running track, north Kildare rugby club which also has American football & hocky, there's scouts and drama societies, the canoe club at the harbour which has kids training some evenings.

Be aware the only facilities due to be developed is a Supermarket in the square.
It will totally depend on your kids interests as to whether they get involved in any of these activities.

If you can afford Celbridge or Leixlip it would trump Kilcock on everything a family needs like better schools with bigger budgets for after school activities, bigger, better and more successful sports clubs.

They also have much easier access to commuter services.
The Train & bus services in Kilcock are not even close to what's available in Celbridge and Leixlip. I'm currently trying to move closer to these commuting facilities as getting from Kilcock to City centre isn't great on public transport.... The current services in Kilcock don't suit my hours and are also very expensive compared to those from Leixlip.

There would also be much better facilities in Celbridge & Leixlip for your wife while on maternity leave or if she isn't planning on working full time.

I have been looking at what's available on the market though and can see why the house in Abbeyfield appeals.

Ushm

Sparky85 wrote: »

Kilcock is full of young families.
There is a GAA Club, football club, running track, north Kildare rugby club which also has American football & hocky, there's scouts and drama societies, the canoe club at the harbour which has kids training some evenings.

Be aware the only facilities due to be developed is a Supermarket in the square.
It will totally depend on your kids interests as to whether they get involved in any of these activities.

If you can afford Celbridge or Leixlip it would trump Kilcock on everything a family needs like better schools with bigger budgets for after school activities, bigger, better and more successful sports clubs.

They also have much easier access to commuter services.
The Train & bus services in Kilcock are not even close to what's available in Celbridge and Leixlip. I'm currently trying to move closer to these commuting facilities as getting from Kilcock to City centre isn't great on public transport.... The current services in Kilcock don't suit my hours and are also very expensive compared to those from Leixlip.

There would also be much better facilities in Celbridge & Leixlip for your wife while on maternity leave or if she isn't planning on working full time.

I have been looking at what's available on the market though and can see why the house in Abbeyfield appeals.

That's all great stuff thanks very much for the reply. We're actually currently renting in Celbridge and while it does have a lot of facilities and is closer to Dublin, I can't help noticing the area has its downfalls. There is a rough element here, I grew up in Lucan so I'm all too aware of what Celbridge is really like and I don't think it's a great place to grow up. A few of the schools have a bad rep too. Kilcock just seems like a nicer place to me and there is a big difference in the prices as I'm sure you know!

Sparky85

There is a rough element in every town. You can't avoid it. I've lived in Celbridge, Leixlip and Kilcock, they all have the same small rough element.

Just trust you'll raise your kids better than that. Having easily accessible facilities for after school that your kids will want to be involved in will help.

To me there is not much between the towns as far as raising a family goes.... Leixlip would always be my preference as it is has much more established schools with better reputations and also more successful sports clubs and facilities for both kids and adults.
But then it's always going to come down to affability for the space you want. If you can see Abbeyfield being a home for 15-20 years, the 1 + hour commute into the city is ok for you then it's a good bet.

Ushm

Sparky85 wrote: »

There is a rough element in every town. You can't avoid it. I've lived in Celbridge, Leixlip and Kilcock, they all have the same small rough element.

Just trust you'll raise your kids better than that. Having easily accessible facilities for after school that your kids will want to be involved in will help.

To me there is not much between the towns as far as raising a family goes.... Leixlip would always be my preference as it is has much more established schools with better reputations and also more successful sports clubs and facilities for both kids and adults.
But then it's always going to come down to affability for the space you want. If you can see Abbeyfield being a home for 15-20 years, the 1 + hour commute into the city is ok for you then it's a good bet.

That's very true about there being a rough element in every town in fairness, I know myself it's a silly thing to be worrying about really. I guess the main thing really is the kind of house we want and while I've seen some very nice houses in Celbridge, none of them compare to the one we want in Kilcock. Also it seems like a lot of the nicer houses in Celbridge are going for 20 or 30 grand more than the asking price which is very disheartening when you're constantly being out-bid.
Also the commute is not an issue for me since I work shift so I'm driving in at 6 in the morning or 9 at night when there's no traffic whatsoever.

Eric Cartman

Ushm wrote: »

That's all great stuff thanks very much for the reply. We're actually currently renting in Celbridge and while it does have a lot of facilities and is closer to Dublin, I can't help noticing the area has its downfalls. There is a rough element here, I grew up in Lucan so I'm all too aware of what Celbridge is really like and I don't think it's a great place to grow up. A few of the schools have a bad rep too. Kilcock just seems like a nicer place to me and there is a big difference in the prices as I'm sure you know!

unfortunately different time periods.

Celbridge was always rougher than leixlip / maynooth , but the population is ageing , not as many young families, and they haven't built any more social housing, its not the roughest and luckily getting better with time.

Kilcock while fine now, is the rent allowance capitol of kildare at the moment and is getting rougher. There is also talk of social housing to be built in kilcock, now there are nice areas in kilcock and those will likely remain, but a lot of single parents and young families are moving from clondalkin and celbridge to RA / social housing in kilcock. When those kids get older (next 10 years or so) id be wagering that you will have a rough area on your hands.

(before anyone kicks off, I am not saying everyone on RA/ in social housings kids turn out to be involved in anti-social behaviour , but the incidents of it happening are a lot higher in those demographics. Its a rare time that the local hooligan / drug dealer / 'hard man' grew up in a private estate with 2 employed parents)

The Mulk

I have to say I find Celbridge very safe and a nice place to raise a young family.Our local primary school is excellent and anyone I talk to with kids in the school agrees. The sports clubs are also really good, only thing missing is a swimming pool.
I grew up in Dublin and when i moved out (12 years ago)people had said to watch out for 'x' estate and the night club in the Setanta was dodgy, but that's all changed.
The village has changed for the better too and looks very well these days.
If i was to move out of Celbridge, i'd be moving to somewhere with better facilities, not less. It's not until the kids come along you realise how much you depend on stuff locally.

Graham

Eric Cartman wrote: »

Kilcock while fine now, is the rent allowance capitol of kildare at the moment and is getting rougher. There is also talk of social housing to be built in kilcock, now there are nice areas in kilcock and those will likely remain, but a lot of single parents and young families are moving from clondalkin and celbridge to RA / social housing in kilcock. When those kids get older (next 10 years or so) id be wagering that you will have a rough area on your hands.

I don't see any properties within the RA allowance limits available in Kilcock at the moment. I can't find any plans for any large scale social housing in fact the local area plan only glosses over some indistinguishable social housing being pepperpotted through the town. There are 20 social housing units planned to start this year and I'd imagine they will go to people on the KCC waiting list.

On the private side, there are 37 4 bed detached houses being built on the Boycetown development.

I'd be curious to know where all the single parents and young families from Clondalkin are moving into in Kilcock.

Moonbeam

If you can afford Maynooth then we have 4 primary schools(educate together and gaelscoil need name down at birth),an excellent secondary school,nearly everything you could ever want is within walking distance,the levels of anti social behavior are minimal.There is a beautiful playground,loads of beautiful places to walk around.
Maynooth is also within the Dublin commuter belt for annual rail and bus tickets.

Leixlip was not an option for us as it is too built up for me and i have never liked it,Celbridge has Castletown which is beautiful but other then that I think it lacks amenities. Kilcock has a Lidl now,some pubs and restaurants, the canal. It is outside the Dublin area for trains and buses. I don't know much about the schools there but I do know that there is huge demand for gaelscoil places.

The Mulk

Moonbeam wrote: »

If you can afford Maynooth then we have 4 primary schools(educate together and gaelscoil need name down at birth),an excellent secondary school,nearly everything you could ever want is within walking distance,the levels of anti social behavior are minimal.There is a beautiful playground,loads of beautiful places to walk around.
Maynooth is also within the Dublin commuter belt for annual rail and bus tickets.

Leixlip was not an option for us as it is too built up for me and i have never liked it,Celbridge has Castletown which is beautiful but other then that I think it lacks amenities. Kilcock has a Lidl now,some pubs and restaurants, the canal. It is outside the Dublin area for trains and buses. I don't know much about the schools there but I do know that there is huge demand for gaelscoil places.

I don't think Celbridge lacks that many amenities, it has 6 primary schools, 2 secondary schools with a third on the way, 2 play grounds and some of the nicest walks in the county. Although the playgrounds are fairly recent additions and a lot smaller than the one in Maynooth.
We're seriously behind Maynooth in the number of quality restaurants though, except for Indian and Chinese which i think we win hands down:D

I think the OP is after a large 4 bed double reception type house(based on the address in the post), and the likelihood of picking one of these up for under 350k in Celbridge/Leixlip or Maynooth is increasingly unlikely.

Moonbeam

Maynooth seriously lacks a decent Indian. We go to Dunboyne for it:)

There are a few nice 4 beds in Celbridge for sale under the 350k but I know what you mean.

Eric Cartman

Moonbeam wrote: »

Maynooth seriously lacks a decent Indian. We go to Dunboyne for it:)

There are a few nice 4 beds in Celbridge for sale under the 350k but I know what you mean.

Deli Dharbar celbridge, best indian in north kildare , hands down.

Moonbeam

but Korma at home is way better:)

Eric Cartman

Moonbeam wrote: »

but Korma at home is way better:)

I accept your challenge and I will reply on friday with my conclusion.

Moonbeam

Marvin gives a discount on your 1st order;)