Living in Portarlington

schkanico01

Hi all,

We have been trying to buy a house for some time and have finally found one in portarlington. The house is lovely but wondering what portarlington is like to live in? I have heard mixed feedback

sydthebeat

Portarlington is quite settled after a huge influx in population during the Celtic Tiger. The population rose from about 4k to 10k in those years between 2000 and 2010.

Services wise it's ok, not outstanding but not terrible. Two new primary schools built within the last 10 years or so, with the boys primary only a few years old. The secondary school is very busy, and in need of expansion and moderation. Afaik it's on the list.

Within the town, there's still a lot of empty commercial spaces on the main street, bits is been like that for years to be honest. There's still some good cafes to go for for coffee etc, and really only the anvil pubs for lunch. For nightlife there's a couple of busy pubs that do well, but the selection for a 'local' is a lot smaller than it was years ago, mainly due to modern habits of not doing day time drinking or mid week drinking. It has a supervalu, Lidl, Aldi, centra and other smaller grocery shops, like most towns I suppose.

It's still very much a commuter town. The train station is still a big draw for people moving down from Dublin, with a wide daily service. The roads on all directions are busy on the mornings with people leaving the town to work.

As towns go, it's fine. Plenty to do outside of the town if your into nature, walks etc. With the rewilding of the bogs this will only improve. Emo court is close by.

Port is also fairly central if you need more specialist shopping. Kildare village, newbridge whitewater, tullamore and portlaoise are all just around 40 mins max away.

Within the town, really only the kilnacourt estate has a poor name, but as I said earlier, that was due to the initial influx which brought some baduns with it, it's settled down now. Most estates are fine.

Where about are you buying?

schkanico01

We've gone sale agreed in new estate birchfield

Shield

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121960291#Comment_121960291

Mod: Moved from Feedback to Offaly.

Congratulations! I am moving this to a more suitable forum where you can hopefully become familiar with your new surroundings.

Good luck!

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