I’m a 32-year old single male who will be moving to Ireland next month. I will be working for Dell in the Cherrywood business park. I’m looking for a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment to live in, but can’t decide where would be a good place to live.
Obviously I’d like to be able to get to and from work easily. I won’t be bringing a car with me to Ireland, but may buy one (though probably not immediately). I’d also like to be within easy commuting distance of the city centre. Finally, I have quite a few friends who live in Greystones, so I’d like to be able to go there easily too. Looking at a map, there doesn’t seem to be anywhere that has good public transport links to Cherrywood, Greystones, and the city centre, but where would be a good compromise?
By the way, I’m well aware of the current state of the Irish economy and am not looking for advice about whether this is a wise move.
You’re in luck - the Luas (tram) extension has recently opened linking Cherrywood to the City Centre and all points in between including Sandyford, Dundrum, Ranelagh etc…so you have no problem getting to Cherrywood from anywhere along the line. There are plenty of apartments for rent in the Cherrywood area itself and in places like Sandyford and Dundrum which is about halfway between Cherrywood and the city. As for Greystones, your main option is the DART train which runs along the coast from the City Centre. If you decided to live in, say Ranelagh you’ve about a 10/15 minute walk to the DART at Landsdowne as well as being near the Luas for work.
That would be very handy for work, but what’s that area like to live in? Ideally I’d like to have some facilities within walking distance, e.g. pub, shops, restaurants. I don’t want to be stuck in a vast wasteland of apartment complexes and motorways.
I’d probably go for Dundrum - you’re halfway on the Luas between work and the city, there’s plenty in Dundrum itself and you could get the 17 bus to Blackrock (about 15 minutes) and then the Dart to Greystones.
You definitely wouldn’t want to live in the Cherrywood area by the sounds of it. I would go for somwhere like Ranelagh - handy for town and with access to the Luas for work (about 30 mins commute). If you wanted to live closer - there are apartments to let in Cabinteely Village - close to a pub, three or four resturants, nearby supermarket (Dunnes Cornelscourt) and a very nice Park just beside the village if you’re into walking/jogging. (Cherrywood would be a 20/25 minute walk or a ten minute cycle.) Good bus service into the City on the N11 too.
Had to have a look at this Mr. A approved property and the first ad produced this wonderful photo from Lowe & Associates, never mind the blurry aspect (that’s the same for all photos) but this is top notch EA selling…
I looked recently out in Aiken’s Village, its between Sandyford and Stepaside…some nice apartments there. The residents association has a website Aikensvillage dot com which is worth checking out, also nearby Belarmine and Park View are nice, and only a few minutes walk to the Luas light rail system.
I’d also check out Dundrum or Ranelagh if you want to live somewhere more lively. All of the above are fairly safe places.
I work in cherrywood myself (I live 30 miles away in rural wicklow so commute by car).
Cherrywood/Tullyvale would not be a good place to live in – theres nothing here except a Spar, a Subway and motorways.
The DART station in Shankill (3 stops from Greystones) has a free feeder bus to/from Cherrywood (right outside Dell) Mon-Fri only I think.
Dundrum is not a great option really. A huge shopping mall, lots of apartment blocks and a couple of boozers. Nothing wrong with it but theres better places imo.
As mentioned by other posters Ranelagh is a decent option because of Luas, Ranelagh is a nice place with plenty of pubs / cafes, but Rathmines (beside ranelagh) is a far better place to live from a social point of view I reckon. It’s a wee bit rough around the edges compared to its neighbour – but has much more going on and is usually a little bit cheaper (for everything). Good place for pubs, live music, food.
One option for you would be the general Ballsbridge/Sandymount area. A few Dart stations around there (sandymount, lansdown rd, sydney parade) – and the nos 7, 46c and 145 buses goes to cherrywood – have a look at Dublin bus website – think its quite frequent. Also close to city center. Think rents would be more pricey around there though (but probably only by €50 a month). I couldn’t vouch for the area though as never lived there.
Not easy to get to Greystones from anywhere unless you are near the DART line.
From Ranelagh/Rathmines (or anywhere really) there are regular buses to city – where you generally have a 5/10 min walk to a Dart station from terminus.
If you are working in Dell there are a lot of employees living in greystones/kilcoole area, so you’d easily source the odd lift to your mates gaff on a Friday evening!
If it was me, I’d go for Ranelagh/Rathmines. Especially if I was 32 and single again!
Good luck
Ranelagh or even closer to town near Harcourt or Stephens green might be an option. Choice of seats on the Luas in the morning and short stroll to pearse or tara st station for the jaunt to greystones.
I am in the same situation as you. Am moving back to Ireland in March, after living in the States for almost 20 years. I know all of the places mentioned so far, but not well. I do not know them as they are now. I only know them as they were in the early 90’s when I was growing up in Dublin, and places and neighbourshoods change.
There are A LOT of intangibles to consider in where you live. There are the obvious ones such as transport, proximity to shops and restaurants, closeness to downtown Dublin etc etc. However, some of them won’t even occur to you (or me) until we are actually living there on a day to day basis. So what I have decided to do is do a short term one month rental in Dublin 2. I will use that as a base to explore the various places that are on the shortlist of where I want to live, and take time to experience and review the pros and cons of each. That is something that you can only do on the spot.
I am going to be killed financially for that one month, or two if it takes that long for me to figure it all out. The apt that I have my eye on rents for 600E a week. But I am ok with that. I don’t want to find myself locked into a 12 month lease that I signed as soon as I got off the plane, only to discover a month later, that I absolutley hate where I live, or that getting to and from work is a total pain.
So what about considering that? Dafe.ie is a good site for short term listings. A good perk of renting a short term rental is that corporate vistors to Dublin are usually their main renters. The apts are fully furnished and fitted down to tea towels and bath mats. Utilities are also included in the rent, so your cable TV, internet, electricity etc will all be on as soon as you walk in the door. You won’t have to do a thing.
What are the mespil apartments like nowadays? That would be good for convenience to city and Luas. Not far from dart and greystones bus routes, nice boozers close by, and restaurants in ranelagh and upper baggot St. So
Somewhere along that section of leeson St would be good
Yes Homemaker, Mespil is a good answer. Not flash apartments, these are refurbished ex retirement flats, 5 minutes walk along the canal to the Luas to get you to work and about 15 minutes walk from the DART to visit your friends in Greystones.
It’s 10 minutes walk from the city centre and has green space and a swimming pool. It’ s safe and has nice local shops and cafes.
You could live in Greystones if you don’t want the attractions of the city centre and prefer the small coastal town life. There’s an hourly bus (no84) from Greystones to Cherrywood.
