Laurel Lodge Castleknock

hi,

friends from Limerick are considering buying at the LL end near Castleknock station. I live in Ashtown so they asked me what I thought. I think it seems to be fine, but does anyone know anything further? Seems central, near village (and Blanch), near train station (needed for commutes to work for both). They have one little boy. Schools nearby ok? Seems to be a bit littered, is that from the local teenagers? Any anti-social behaviour?

Thanks for any answers!

Kiki,

I lived in Laurel Lodge for the last 6 years and it's a nice predominantly middle class area. The main difference between it and newer areas such as Carpenterstown is that it has an older age profile - hence more teenagers and so on. Transport wise I found it good - 30 minutes into town using the train - can be pretty busy but has improved in the last year or so with the addition of 8 carriage Arrow trains. The bus service is (37) pretty regular about every 25 mins. Traffic is busy - Dublin 15 has the same population as Limerick and is one of the fastest growing areas in Ireland. There is a good community in Laurel Lodge and we found when our kids arrived that there was lots of support in the area. The community centre beside the chuch St Thomas the Apostle hosts various clubs and mother and toddler groups. The parish itself is very young and dynamic - good for the kids - almost in total contrast to older areas such as Castelknock village. Sports-wise you have Castleknock Celtic which is a very big soccer club and Castleknock GAA. Both clubs are big on the under-age side of things. The shopping centre has teenagers lounging around outside it in the evening but as far as I can see this is true in pretty much every suburban area in Dublin. In the years I lived there I never saw any real trouble. The local school Scoil Thomais is supposed to be very good - strong Principal - pretty much all the local kids go there which is a good sign. Would definitely recommend the area - we only moved in the end to be closer to the in-laws.

The traffic getting out of Laurel Lodge in the mornings is chronic. Your friends may be getting the train (crowded), if not they'd be well advised to go and see it for themselves. Otherwise great location - close to city and lots of facilities in a well-established area.

I lived in laurel Lodge also and never had any problems. Nice middle class area and the train service has improved massively. I agree the morning traffic is awful.

One thing to keep in mind (or investigate) is the availability of Secondary school places in the community school in Carpenterstown. Due to the expansion of the catchment area near the school and the fact that Laurel Lodge is outside the "inner circle" for compulsory places , there is no guarantee kids in Laurel Lodge will get places there in the near future. (i.e. next year and onwards).

anti-social behaviour- its not limerick you know