Moving from UK to Ratoath/Ashbourne

T

TP1

Guest
Hi
We are hopefully, moving this summer because of my husband's job, probably to somewhere around Ratoath, or Ashbourne. We have a teenage daughter (16) who we will need to find a school for, and I will probably need to commute into Dublin for work. Has anyone any advice about living in either of these places, especially with regards to my daughter, are they good places for teenagers to live? Any advice would be really appreciated.
 
For a teenager I would say that Ashbourne may be more suitable. There is a cinema opening shortly and it was better bus links to Dublin and also Blanchardstown shopping centre. Handy if you don't want to spend all your time as a taxi. There is more night life as she gets olders (pubs and clubs) On the other hand Ratoath has more of a village feel to it. It has only developed in the past ten years.

The road links would be better from Ashbourne as you are passing Ashbourne to get to Ratoath. Ratoath is serviced by only minor roads.

Sorry I'm not sure about schools in either area.
 
The bus service (including a nitelink) into Dublin city centre is very good from Ashbourne and not very good from Ratoath. It would also make the option of going to a school in Dublin easier if you weren't happy with the local schools. The community school in Ashbourne is okay, not great, not bad. There is no other second level school, don't know about ratoath.
 
Hi there

Just wanted to say that friends of ours moved from the Uk to Ratoath last June. They are really loving it. He commutes to Dublin and finds it easy enough.

The village is really sweet, and has a lovely feel to it. Would say Ashbourne would probably be a bit more lively for a teenager.

Good luck with the move.

Jules
 
Ratoath does have more of the village feel to it and has a great sense of community even though it has expanded enormously in the last decade. A number of new restaurants and shops have opened recently.
Ashbourne is bigger with a much bigger choice of shops/pubs etc. Commuting times into Dublin would be similiar as Ratoath is only 5 minutes drive from Ashbourne although the village is being used as a shortcut for a load of heavy trucks and commuters trying to access the new N2 road. That is increasing traffic problems in the village. The bus service is being upgraded this summer although the nightlink services are not great at the moment.
There is a new secondary school in Ratoath - Ratoath Community College but there are only three years of pupils there at the moment so I don't know if it would be suitable for a 16 year old. Each year they are taking in a new intake of pupils so eventually it will have first years through to sixth years. Think they might have a web-site - have a look and see if you can find anything.
I love living in Ratoath but I'm not a 16 year old and I know that there is a common refrain amongst teenagers here that "there's nothing to do". Then again is that not something we all said as teenagers. We have a great community centre in the village but there's not a huge amount going on there for teenagers.
Good luck with your move. I have never regretted moving to Ratoath and have been here nearly four years now.
 
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