Kildare wollies (esp mammies) - would love your opinions!!

Myself and OH are living in Dublin at the moment. We're thinking of moving to a 'forever' house in the next couple of years and Kildare looks like the ideal location for us - halfway between family and work. What areas are nice ones in which to raise a family? Would love to be in the countryside but near enough to a fairly big town so that I can get out and about easily (hoping to be a SAHM)... Would love to hear your recommendations! Thanks in advance

I'd recommend Kill, Kilteel, Two Mile House (it's just outside Naas really nice but quite an expensive area), Clane, Calverstown, Kilcullen, Narraghmore.

Thanks Scruff! I like the idea of Naas, Clane and Kill. They're rural but still quite close to Dublin, not sure if I want to totally go back to being a country bumpkin

Would say Naas but am biased!!

I'm in Celbridge at the moment. H2B is originally from here and we bought our 'house for life' here about 18 months ago. I love it here. It's a lovely village area that has everything, but walk five minutes around the grounds of Castletown House and you're out in the country complete with cows and sheep, you know? It's big enough to have restaurants, pubs, shops etc, but still small enough that the butcher or the woman in the chemist or the post man will know your name. It's about 15 minutes by car to Liffey Valley and another 15 minutes drive then, maybe 20 minutes, into the city centre. 45 minutes to one hour, if there's a bit of traffic, on a bus will bring you into the city centre. They've improved the bus timetable recently and it's a little better. THe 67 route comes every 30 minutes and so far it seems to be working well and pretty regular. It seems to me to be a safe enough area, there are a lot of neighbourhood watch areas around here and most areas have a residents' association. There are a few schools and they're very good (I'm biased, my H2B teaches in one!) there's a playground, big Tesco, a Lidl (or Aldi, I can't remember which one!) and Castletown House, an old house once owned by the Speaker Connolly which has a huge grounds, acres and acres with forest and fields and a river. There's a gorgeous coffee shop there, open during tourist season. What else - there's a library, a fantastic community centre called The Mill which also has a gym in it, a beautiful Catholic church and a Church of Ireland church. Have I sold Celbridge to you yet?!?!

[quote="Smileykaz":17cwh9te]I love it here. It's a lovely village area that has everything, but walk five minutes around the grounds of Castletown House and you're out in the country complete with cows and sheep, you know? It's big enough to have restaurants, pubs, shops etc, but still small enough that the butcher or the woman in the chemist or the post man will know your name. It's about 15 minutes by car to Liffey Valley and another 15 minutes drive then, maybe 20 minutes, into the city centre. There are a few schools and they're very good (I'm biased, my H2B teaches in one!) there's a playground, big Tesco, a Lidl (or Aldi, I can't remember which one!) and Castletown House, an old house once owned by the Speaker Connolly which has a huge grounds, acres and acres with forest and fields and a river. There's a gorgeous coffee shop there, open during tourist season. What else - there's a library, a fantastic community centre called The Mill which also has a gym in it, a beautiful Catholic church and a Church of Ireland church. Have I sold Celbridge to you yet?!?![/quote:17cwh9te] Oh I wanna move there now after reading this!! Sounds like it has everything! I'm originally from the sticks, nearest town is a couple of miles away and the nearest big town (with tesco, restaurants etc) is 10 miles away! I'm so used to the convenience of the city that the thought of moving out again is a bit scary. It's brilliant to hear that you can have the best of both

+1 for Celbridge. We lived there when we were in Ireland and we loved it!

We live in Newbridge currently and love our house and all the amenities that are in the area, Naas is lovely too. You literally have everything on your doorstep here and are into city in about 40/45 mins down the long mile road, takes longer to cross from north to south Dublin etc!! Not a mum yet (hopefully all going well will be in May!) but there are lots of schools around and a great mix of generations in the area, only thing i dont like is the accent! But can live with that!! Also you defo get more bang for your buck with cost of housing etc, we have a lovely house, plenty of space etc and obviously cost a lot less than equivalent in Dublin. The curragh is also nice if you like more seclusion/country type life

Thanks lolabelle and leigh! Leigh that's so exciting, hope you and babs are doing well! Oh there is a fab house in Newbridge on myhome.ie: http://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochu ... are/356025 It's a bit pricey but it's exactly the sort of place I'd love to own I know I'm getting a bit ahead of myself with this though, we need to save up for a year or so before we go looking properly. But I'm so impatient