Portarlington

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Past30Now

Registered User
Messages
106
Hi All,

I'm thinking of selling the current house and relocating down the country. I'm looking at the midlands in general and Portarlington in particular. The only reason I suggest Portarlington is that I saw a house on myhome that I liked the look of. I've two small kids so schools are a big issue.

Has anyone any thoughts or experiences of Portarlington? I've tried searching the forums but very little info is available.


Regards,

Past30
 
Hi we bought a house and moved down here last year. Loving it so far It's still a quiet enough town, but I personally think that's a good thing! For shopping there's a Supervalu, Lidl and large Centra, and I think Tesco will be in the new shopping centre. Its about 20 minutes from Tullamore and 25 minutes from Newbridge for "major" shopping. (Texas in Tullamore is fantastic!) There are 26 pubs, some great, some awful! I don't have kids, but I know there are 3 primary schools and one mixed secondary school. It seems to be a really safe place to live, the estate we live in is very well laid out with large green areas, and there are always lots of kids out playing around. The natives are really friendly too! I know everyone's taste is different but I'm delighted I moved here anyway, for what it's worth. There is a LOT of new houses being built at the moment here, but our place (3 bed semi) has still gone up in value by 25k since August, so I would guess there is demand for them...
 
As tomboy25 said, everyone's taste is different. We really like living in Portarlington whereas, my sister who visits can't stand the the place. She's a real city person and would never settle in a small town. We don't have kids so I can't offer any information in that department. I can say that the house prices are so much better than Dublin (and in many cases, better quality housing). Yes there are 26 (or 28) pubs! Several good restaurants. Enough of the basic shops and services ie post office, credit union, banks, chemists etc. The biggers towns, Tullamore, Portlaoise are approx 20-30 minutes away.

Just one more point I'd like to make. I read a post earlier about property in Adamstown in Lucan. Someone said a one bed apartment is going for 280k and that the drive everyday from Lucan to Baggot Street takes 60 minutes. We bought a 2 bed bungalow in a lovely estate for 157k and the drive to work takes me 60 minutes also. Just worth thinkig about!
 
wow this is fantastic. i am just looking at buying our first home in Ireland and i dont want to live in the city and i have two small kids. i have seen plenty good value for money in Portarlington on the myhome.ie but i am hoping to go out that way to have a look soon.

my question is though... is there broadband out that way. i know that a lot is all pretty new so i am not sure and since DH will have to be connected for work when he is in the country this is a concern.

thanks for the tips
 
I moved to the town a year ago as my fiancee is from there, i love it, i'm close enough to dublin but far enugh away at the same time, we have broadband with imagine and its good.

their is a new school going up in the next 18 months beside station road and tesco are building beside the weigh bridge pub, the shopping centre is to be located on the port laoise road down from the fire station on the left hand side, if you need any more info just let me know.

there are 11 in her family and 9 live in the town, so any info i can get it
 
Four or five years ago I got to Portarlington around 8AM on a Saturday; I was going to Clonbullogue to do a parachute jump, and as I had no car at the time I had to get a taxi from the train station. The only one available at 8AM was a crazy-looking guy - his car was filthy, rubbish bags spilled all over the back seat and foot-well (rotting banana peels, etc), and in fairness he wasn't much better himself. The thing that really freaked me out was that, at one point, the guy was driving along country roads; as a way of making conversation, he said to me: "Isn't it terrible about all those girls that have disappeared? For instance, if I drove down one of these lanes nobody would ever find you again".

I was so scared I decided not to go back there again: I'd have risked jumping from a plane, but I wouldn't have wanted to face that man again. In fairness, he may have retired by now, but just in case do not get a taxi there!

Having said that, I'm sure he's the exception, and in any case the place has changed an awful lot in just a few years.
 
Ron, is the new shopping centre going ahead on the site that was earmarked all along (i.e. the one with the sign that says "Opening Autumn 2005"!) or is it somewhere else? Any idea when work will begin? The builders who are doing it built our estate as well, I was asking one of them about it a while ago, and all they could say is it's going ahead, but no idea when!
 
Newhome I could see how that might turn you off alright, I would have been rattling as well! Thankfully haven't seen that particular character since I moved here, the taxi drivers I've met are grand, friendly enough and their personal hygiene is beyond reproach
 
yeah thats where the shopping centre will be going, its got the full go ahead and there is a little work being done behind the scenes.

new home, i hope you enjoyed the jump, i do it a lot and its great only living 15 mins from the drop zone.
 
Hi All ,

Moved to portarlington nearly 3 years ago and dont have one bad word to say about the place...there is brilliant train services in the morning and evening and I can make red cow in 45 mins by car....some very good schools there and sports ground and some very nice chinese takeaways especially "The Good Year" and some very nice pubs....Tullamore (which is being developed like tallaght in the mid 90's) is only a 15 min drive and there is a 24 hour tesco/did/atlantic homecare/mcdonalds/burgerking/kfc/ and 2 weeks ago and Argos Extra Store opened...so to be honest (me being a dub from birth).....I cant think if a reason to go to dublni other than to see the relatives !!!
 
sorry parker i agree with all you say apart from the train serivce, to call it "brilllant" is not true, the trains in the morning are always late. the train at 7.35 most mornings leaves at 7.50 which leaves the 7.53 train behind it late, only in ireland can a train be delayed by traffic

in the evening you had a 5.15 train which they changed to 5.10 and added a station stop which means you get home even later and if your not on it by 4.50 you stand the whole way home. then there is no train until 5.55 and another at 6 which is silly.

many times the 5.10 has broken down and its the oldest train on the network.

sorry but i get the train every day so i'm only saying what i see.
 
Hi Ron,

I travel on that train everyday aswell (the other thing keeping me in dublin is work which i didnt mention in the last post)...I know what you mean...the train at 6.58 in the morning is diabolical.....half the time it doesnt leave the station because the hydraulic doors are jammed and dont start me on the heating or lack of it.....I get the 5.10 train home and the 5.55 train sometimes and its nearly laughable at this stage the trouble those 2 services go to in their effort to rid me of my hair!
 
Thats great about the shopping centre, drove past it earlier and there seems to be a start made on it, ground being cleared, roads built etc. Do you have any idea what shops will be in it Ron?
 
well there is gonna be a medical centre down there and a supermarket, so your looking at someone other than tesco, i praying for superquinn.

i'll ask a few people this evening and see what i can find out.
 
Hi, We are thinking of moving from Dublin to Killenard Co. Laois, anyone that have moved down in that area and commute to Dublin for Work?
 
Killenard is very close to Portarlington....It's really quiet there, just 1 pub and not much else, although the new Heritage hotel and golf course is fairly special! I spent a blissful day at the spa there a while back,and there is a superb gym as well, I dread to think how much the membership costs though Commuting to Dublin would take about the same time as it does from Portarlington, you can get onto the Monasterevin road easily and then on to the motorway....By train it takes about 55 minutes at peak time from Portarlington.
 
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