Most miserable and grim towns and villages in Ireland

Infernal Racket

There are many towns and villages in Ireland which just seem to have got left behind in the 40s or 50s. For me, the following towns are the worst I've seen. Granard, Co Longford, stuck in a time warp it can't escape from. Rathdowney in Laois is not far behind. Third I'd go for Castlerea in Roscommon, they still have a travelling cinema which visits once in a while. What are your experiences of towns that time forgot??

Say Your Number

Wasn't every town in Ireland mentioned last time this was done.

tastyt

Infernal Racket wrote: »

There are many towns and villages in Ireland which just seem to have got left behind in the 40s or 50s. For me, the following towns are the worst I've seen. Granard, Co Longford, stuck in a time warp it can't escape from. Rathdowney in Laois is not far behind. Third I'd go for Castlerea in Roscommon, they still have a travelling cinema which visits once in a while. What are your experiences of towns that time forgot??

The answer to this question has always been either Tipperary town or Athy in any other thread I have seen on it, and it’s hard to argue with that

Plumbthedepths

Every town except the one I live in is a kip for a variety of reasons.

Happy4all

It's so long since I've been outside, I've forgotten what everywhere looks like.

Athy, Navan, Courtown, Bandon.

Infernal Racket

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Athy, Navan, Courtown, Bandon.

The centre of town in Navan isn't too bad, the outskirts are crappy enough alright.

Zebra3

Edenderry.

dd973

Think there's a swathe of inland towns that could be in Westmeath, Roscommon, Tipp, Southern Kildare, or Laois that fit the stereotype, places like Kerry or Galway and the coastal areas in general like Wexford or the North Antrim Coast have constant tourism therefore you could meet Canadians, Italians or German people routinely in any pub during the tourist season, this gives them a more cosmopolitan and leisurely atmosphere.

Zebra3

Zebra3 wrote: »

Edenderry.

Funny enough I’d say exactly the same as the post above yours (about Navan) about Edenderry. The square is nice.

SmartinMartin

Oldcastle, Meath. It's one of those towns on the way to nowhere, you have to have a reason to go there. Insular time warp.

BrianD3

So many candidates. Places with narrow streets, a mix of gloomy three story buildings and more modern eyesores, long closed shops and pubs, not much tourism. Where local employment consists of food factories employing surly foreign nationals who are treated like sh*t.

Ballybay, Co. Monaghan?

Some places that are rough kips are not necessarily grim. If there is chaotic parking on a main street a place can look "bustling" E.g. Bailieborough. On the other extreme, kips with wide streets and ample parking like Strokestown get a pass.


Then there are small places that look like they have barely changed since the 1950s. Ballintra, Co Donegal
https://www.google.ie/maps/@54.5784478,-8.1246875,3a,75y,180h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stqAQqVnzbI6b4EmA6byhAQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Edgware

The town of Naas is a desperate place
Abbeyleix is just as bad
Longford town would get you down
But **** me ! Kinnegad

Oops!

Thurles.... A town dying on it's knees, No industry, industrial estates idle, streets with buildings boarded up and falling down... A square that even the locals don't know how to drive around properly never mind anybody that has the misfortune just to be passing through it... And another place that has a serous drug problem thats so obvious on the streets if it was not so serous would be funny.... A dive.

Better Than Christ

If there's a bigger shithole than Bray, I've yet to visit it.

tastyt

Oops! wrote: »

Thurles.... A town dying on it's knees, No industry, industrial estates idle, streets with buildings boarded up and falling down... A square that even the locals don't know how to drive around properly never mind anybody that has the misfortune just to be passing through it... And another place that has a serous drug problem thats so obvious on the streets if it was not so serous would be funny.... A dive.

Far far worse towns in tipp unfortunately

Tipp
Templemore
Roscrea
Carrick
And Clonmel ten times worse for drugs

candycock

SmartinMartin wrote: »

Oldcastle, Meath. It's one of those towns on the way to nowhere, you have to have a reason to go there. Insular time warp.

Couldn't agree more with u there,Oldcastle stuck in a time warp,dreary and depressing even on a sunny day.

olestoepoke

Yep Granard is some hole. To make it worse there used to be an animal feed factory near the town that made the whole area stink.

Thelonious Monk

Better Than Christ wrote: »

If there's a bigger shithole than Bray, I've yet to visit it.

I really like Bray, just sayin'!

jackboy

tastyt wrote: »

Far far worse towns in tipp unfortunately

Tipp
Templemore
Roscrea
Carrick
And Clonmel ten times worse for drugs

Tipp is famous for atrocious towns. Just wondering, is there a town in Tipp that could be considered nice?

Xertz

Perhaps it's improved, but I really couldn't warm to Bundoran. The towns near by were lovely but just something oddly 'draining' about it.

Seamai

Bandon is pretty grim, I know several people who were from there or still live there and all think it's a kip.

Xertz

jackboy wrote: »

Tipp is famous for atrocious towns. Just wondering, is there a town in Tipp that could be considered nice?

I thought Cahir and Cashel are both quite nice.

tastyt

jackboy wrote: »

Tipp is famous for atrocious towns. Just wondering, is there a town in Tipp that could be considered nice?

Cashel is a nice little town, tourism keeps a buzz in it in summer.

Chair is ok

Terryglass and Ballina are lovely on the water

Oops!

jackboy wrote: »

Tipp is famous for atrocious towns. Just wondering, is there a town in Tipp that could be considered nice?

Couple of nice villages dotted around the place, that's about it. Cashel i suppose.

99nsr125

Clonmellon in Westmeath

It just all dulls to grey

Slideways

Gurteen, Co Sligo.


A grim grim place that has had far too many tragedy’s happen in it too

Thelonious Monk

I wonder why so many of our towns are horrible? Nice towns and villages are few and far between. I know the UK has loads of sh*tholes but some of the villages I've been to there are like something from a fairy tale.

Dwarf.Shortage

Edgware wrote: »

The town of Naas is a desperate place
Abbeyleix is just as bad
Longford town would get you down
But **** me ! Kinnegad

There’s not a bother on Naas

Galway has its share of kips too.
Dunmore is mid 20th century grim, while Kilcolgan must be the least picturesque village in Ireland.

FintanMcluskey

Parts of Connaught are perhaps the most grim places in Ireland. Castlerea, Ballinlough and towns like those in Roscommon offer little to anyone under the age of 40.
Any professional employment is a lenghty commute away. Even the quality of the land is questionable.

I think what really constitutes a grim town is one which is a considerable distance from the larger cities, and even opportunities in agriculture are limited to turf cutting.

Seamai

Mountmellick
Tipperary
Tralee
Kilgarvan
Ballybunion
Carrick on Suir
Bundoran

GrumpyMe

Clontibret - you need to turn up the heating in the car as you drive through...

Seamai

Xertz wrote: »

Perhaps it's improved, but I really couldn't warm to Bundoran. The towns near by were lovely but just something oddly 'draining' about it.

Have to agree, Donegal town and even Ballyshannon are far nicer.

Better Than Christ

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I really like Bray, just sayin'!

Horrible place, horrible people (no offence to anyone who lives there, but you're horrible). The seafront is slightly less shit than it used to be, but away from that the town has nothing but traffic and supermarkets.

JohnnyFlash

The village of Killimor between Portumna and Loughrea in Galway.

Knock

Edenderry

Dundalk

jackboy

tastyt wrote: »

Cashel is a nice little town, tourism keeps a buzz in it in summer.

Chair is ok

Terryglass and Ballina are lovely on the water

Yes, cashel is nice. Cahir is fine, nothing special but not bad.

Don’t know Terryglass.

Slim pickings in Tipp but at least there is some.

All that fandango

Oh yay another thread on a topic thats already been done to death on here.

Slim Charles

Better Than Christ wrote: »

If there's a bigger shithole than Bray, I've yet to visit it.

I never undersatdn this hatred for seaside towns that ireland and the UK share, I love Bray probably the best of this countries seaside towns, across the sea Margate, Brighton and the much lamented Brighton are all good fun. Not sure what people expect from these places, perhaps spoiled by cheap flights and years of holidays in Spain, Turkey etc...be nice to see some of these places rejuvenated with holidaymakers over the next year or two as I imagine many will be reluctant to travel abroad.


I will grant you some of these towns don't exactly go out of their way to maintain the upkeep of buildings, but I'd sooner a Bray/Courtmacsherry/Scarborough to a Macroom or Thurles any day of the week.


That being said, I nominate Macroom, Thurles & Durrow.

whisky_galore

Knock looks like some craic, drove through it once, shops hawking religious tat from end to end.

corks finest

Slim Charles wrote: »

I never undersatdn this hatred for seaside towns that ireland and the UK share, I love Bray probably the best of this countries seaside towns, across the sea Margate, Brighton and the much lamented Brighton are all good fun. Not sure what people expect from these places, perhaps spoiled by cheap flights and years of holidays in Spain, Turkey etc...be nice to see some of these places rejuvenated with holidaymakers over the next year or two as I imagine many will be reluctant to travel abroad.


I will grant you some of these towns don't exactly go out of their way to maintain the upkeep of buildings, but I'd sooner a Bray/Courtmacsherry/Scarborough to a Macroom or Thurles any day of the week.


That being said, I nominate Macroom, Thurles & Durrow.

Macroom,Bandon,lots innCarlow,Laois,and kildare

Thelonious Monk

Better Than Christ wrote: »

Horrible place, horrible people (no offence to anyone who lives there, but you're horrible). The seafront is slightly less shit than it used to be, but away from that the town has nothing but traffic and supermarkets.

Well most towns are just traffic jams in Ireland tbf.

Slim Charles

Seamai wrote: »

Mountmellick
Tipperary
Tralee
Kilgarvan
Ballybunion
Carrick on Suir
Bundoran

Excellent shout, what a dross town. Really has nothing going for it, and I love Kerry.

alchemist33

Happy4all wrote: »

It's so long since I've been outside, I've forgotten what everywhere looks like.

Haven't you seen the photos of wildlife returning to the streets, Tyrannosaurs roaming the countryside etc?

JohnnyFlash

Slim Charles wrote: »

Excellent shout, what a dross town. Really has nothing going for it, and I love Kerry.

It has a world class golf course.

whisky_galore

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

It has a world class golf course.

Cos everyone plays golf, right?

Slim Charles

corks finest wrote: »

Macroom,Bandon,lots innCarrlow,Laois,and kildare

I don't think I've ever even been to Carlow.


I think alot of towns would look a whole lot better without those daft green or blue bookmaker shops. And I like a bet, but those places just attract the doldrums of society and look **** also.

Seamai

Slim Charles wrote: »

I never undersatdn this hatred for seaside towns that ireland and the UK share, I love Bray probably the best of this countries seaside towns, across the sea Margate, Brighton and the much lamented Brighton are all good fun. Not sure what people expect from these places, perhaps spoiled by cheap flights and years of holidays in Spain, Turkey etc...be nice to see some of these places rejuvenated with holidaymakers over the next year or two as I imagine many will be reluctant to travel abroad.


I will grant you some of these towns don't exactly go out of their way to maintain the upkeep of buildings, but I'd sooner a Bray/Courtmacsherry/Scarborough to a Macroom or Thurles any day of the week.


That being said, I nominate Macroom, Thurles & Durrow.

I've never spent much time in Macroom but pass through it pretty regularly, it always strikes be as being a lively place, I'd prefer it to Bandon or Fermoy.

Sober Crappy Chemis

Cork Village.

Itssoeasy

The last few times I was in youghal in east cork it was dreary as **** and given the history in the town and a potential rail link they are tearing up for a greenway they are making no effort.

Better Than Christ

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

It has a world class golf course.

A big playground for men in silly trousers.