Drumcondra (and driving to Blanchardstown and Finglas)

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bugler

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I'm looking for general advice on living in Drumcondra, or the general area. I've read a few other threads but I'm still a bit short of where's best and where (if anywhere) should be avoided. Am I simplifying things too much by saying your better off not going too far east of Croke Park, or much further north than Home Farm Rd? People don't seem too keen on the Grace Park Rd area. I appreciate this is keeping it within a fairly tight area.

What do people think of Richmond Rd?

Also, has anyone any experience of travelling by car to Blanchardstown village and/or Finglas? At peak times (i.e. going to Blanch at 8.30 AM, coming back to Drumcondra at 5.30/6 pm).

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
wow - north of Home Farm Road (Griffith Avanue) is prob one of the best areas in the North City - are you trying to avoid these expensive areas or is there other reasoning behind this ?

Driving out to Blanch @ 8:30 should only take approx 20-30 mins max - against traffic all the way and Finglas would be about 10 mins.
 
I think you might be a bit optimistic with 20-30 mins to Blanch from Drumcondra at 8.30 in the morning. Blanchardstown is a nightmare for traffic in the morning. Took me 45 mins to get about one mile this week. It can be really bad. I know its against the traffic but still...
 
Thanks for the input so far.

nai - No, I'm not trying to avoid any area due to expense. To be honest, much further north of that point is a little further out than I want to be from the train station/city centre. But if you want to recommend something around there I'm all ears. Nothing is set in stone, and I'm looking for guidance from people who are more familiar with the area than I.

As for the drive to Blanch, I'm more concerned with how long it would take to get out of and into the Drumcondra area. I'm familiar enough with the trouble approaching Blanch. What route would you use to get there?
 
The the Hollybank road, St patricks road and St Alphonsus road area, right beside railway line to Blanch.
There is a traffic defying shortcut too, by driving north of the railway line in Cabra. Brings you out by ashtown, just inside the M50/ N3 junction.
 
I suggest that the residential area best suited to your needs would be Griffith Ave Extn, Cremore Estate, Iona (area bounded by Botanic Ave & Botanic Rd & Whitworth Road) or any of the adjoining areas to these good locations.
As regards the commute to Blanch, well Ballyboggan Road (newly revamped) and Cappagh Road (due to be revamped) probably provide the quickest route generally speaking but the latter can be a mucky route in the wet. They look longer on the map but the difference is that you are more likely to get moving along the line of those roads than on more direct roads. This is especially true if you are heading to any of the Blanch business parks.
 
bugler said:
I'm looking for general advice on living in Drumcondra, or the general area. I've read a few other threads but I'm still a bit short of where's best and where (if anywhere) should be avoided. Am I simplifying things too much by saying your better off not going too far east of Croke Park, or much further north than Home Farm Rd? People don't seem too keen on the Grace Park Rd area. I appreciate this is keeping it within a fairly tight area.

What do people think of Richmond Rd?
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Having lived beside Croke Park for two years, to be honest, east of Croke Park isn't even Drumcondra!
That's Ballybough or if you want to be cheeky, call it Fairview but you're fooling nobody. Further north than the Tolka is a different area.

Grace Park Road is a lovely area, I don't see the problem.
It's narrow and a nightmare for traffic and if you drive, keep off the footpath :mad:. But it's a nice place to live

Richmond Rd is nightmare if you cycle and a nightmare too if you drive. Narrow, winding, footpaths that end suddenly and at the Drumcondra end, it's so narrow you'll sometimes see cars clip each others wing mirrors. Great fun.
 
nai said:
wow - north of Home Farm Road (Griffith Avanue) is prob one of the best areas in the North City - are you trying to avoid these expensive areas or is there other reasoning behind this ?
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Yes I think you were misadvised on this point. The most impressive redbrick houses are further south around the Iona area. But unless you're planning on spending €1 to €1.5m on one of those I'd advise looking around Homefarm and further north and east/west. You'll find larger houses with off-street parking and bigger gardens. Also plenty of schools. Only problem I had when I lived near there was a lack of decent places to socialise because it's quite residential. But it's still less than 3km from the city. And I'd say our former taoiseach would be surprised to learn that his house in Beresford was in a dodgy area :)

On-street parking for houses near the train station can be a pain and traffic on match days is a real nightmare the closer you get to Croke Park. There's always a good atmosphere in the area during the games. But having crowds going by your house every weekend of the summer can get annoying.

I'd agree that it's best to avoid the Ballybough end or very close to Dorset Street. Not so pleasant at night. Also for traffic Richmond Rd is a real nightmare. They've built far too many apartments there on what is a very narrow road. Don't forget that you'll have Tolka Park on your doorstep there as well Croke Park.

But overall I really liked Drumcondra and would move back there again if I worked near there. It depends whether you want convenience to the train and city, or a larger house with a garden and a quieter road. You'll find both in the different parts of the area.
 
Well I'm driving in this Dublin City for many a day and believe that there's no more hazardous main thoroughfare here than Richmond Road. It twists and turns, has a diabolical surface and the footpath layout places the pedestrians with inches of the vehicular traffic. All the private property entrances seems offset in relation to each other which contributes to the dangers.

Also car parking is a real pain around there as it's a well populated area but very few of the residences seem to have parking spaces attached to the houses. Not a bad area to live in but not user friendly, imho.
 
I live in one of the below locations - Obviously I do not want to give away too many details.

Lower Drumcondra areas - Fitzroy Avenue, Russell Street, May Street.

Advantages:

*Free Parking, no disc parking.
*82,500 persons attend Croke Park on match day, only a trickle of about 1% pass my door on match day. 80% go down Clonliffe Road, 19% trickle various other routes.
*No right turn exit out of the city at Fitzroy Avenue (Heading North), this was a shortcut for evening traffic before, in lieu of the right turn on Clonliffe Road.
*Residents parking only on match day, with residents pass.
*Streets surrounding Croke Park are cleaned following matches etc.
*Less than 1 minute from Drumcondra Train Stn, Centra, Spar, Independent Pizza, 5mins walk to Tesco.
*Dollymount Strand, less than 15mins drive.
*Sheltered bus stops less than 1 minute away.
*City centre - 5-10mins by bus.
*Airport - 20mins by bus.
*Bus No. 11A route links to the GREEN LUAS line.
*Drumcondra Stn to Connolly Stn links to the RED LUAS line.
*Proposed METRO stop, off St. Annes Road

*Bus Route 40d - Whitworth Road to Blancherstown, 30-35mins
 
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Pope John 11 said:
I
*Residents parking only on match day, with residents pass.
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Residents' entrance via Clonliffe/other blocked roads after a certain time on match days (varies depending on the match). Not residents'-only parking - just got the news that people objected to that (including Bertie). I can understand the reasons, but do (myself) tend to suffer because others (esp the gardai who are working at the match) tend to take up the actual parking spaces... I'm in the zone where I have to move my car on match days so if I don't do it the night before, I can be a bit hosed with increased parking on and off the Clonliffe the next morning (well before match commencing-time)

Sprite
 
Parking on Clonliffe Road is never an issue, even with matchdays.

Yeah, some of the narrower streets need to have cars moved or at least on one side of the street.
But it's not an issue on Clonliffe Road
 
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