We’re thinking we would like to sell up and move to the west of Ireland, and we are just starting to idly look at estate agents ads covering the areas to the west of Galway, with which we’re most familiar.
We haven’t really got a clue yet about what the practical obstacles or hindrances might turn out to be, but on the simple basis of the property prices we’ve seen quoted, it looks at least feasible.
Ideally, I’d probably want to look for a part-time job once over there, at least for a year or three, though that’s not a complete necessity, and to be honest, other than that the biggest hurdle might be moving all the CDs and vinyl.
Does anyone here have experience of making the move from the UK to the Irish republic, or can anyone point me at some reliable, sensible advice about how to go about it?
Sounds like a great idea. The Galway coast area is lovely. I’ve no knowledge to offer on relocation matters, though – but I will gladly join you for an evening in Galway if you make it. I’m no good at holidays (away from NI), so we always end up with a few days in the south/west of Ireland or a few days in Scotland or Yorkshire. All great places.
I see there’s a suburb of Galway called Ballybrit – I’d look there if I were you.
I have friends who moved from that London to Kerry about 20 years ago. Pre-Brexit of course, so all may be different, but I can pick their brains for more general matters if you like.
Moved to Roscommon from HK exactly 11 years ago. Sent stuff over via a mix of air freight (faster but way more expensive as charged by weight) and sea freight (slower but cheaper as is charged by volume)
Don’t know how many LPs, CDs, you have but might be worth looking into hiring a van/small truck and using the ferry from Holyhead (or any other port that works better for where you are now/where you intend to move).
As Galway is only about an hour away, @Vulpes-Vulpes, be great to meet up at some point (same applies to you, @Colin-H
Friends moved there from Australia and found the rain and general moistness a bit too much so only lasted a couple of years. You might well welcome the verdant life!
On the van-hiring thing that JG mentioned, be aware that if you travelled in from GB to Rep of Ireland, you would likely need a carnet – to pay for the privilege. The assumption is that if you’re bringing second-hand sellable stuff from the UK to the EU, you could sell it, hence the fee – this happens to touring troubadours with vans of sound gear & merchandise all the time post-Brexit. If you came in via NI (still within UK – though it’s amazing how many Great Brits don’t know that) you could reasonably say you were gifting a load of CDs/vinyl to a pal in Belfast… and then drive on to Galway (porous border).
My understanding, based on when I used ATA and Euro carnets pre Brexit, is that they are required for items that are leaving the country temporarily but will be coming back, ie PA & lighting in the case of tours. I have no idea what happens with T shirts and other merch but a person’s own collection of vinyl, CDs etc would be unlikely to attract much attention, especially among other household items.
One would hope not, but you never know…
I suspect hiring a van to move your stuff from the UK direct to Eire is not going to be very straightforward, now that we are out of the EU and The Republic is still in it. Lots of paperwork regarding purpose of journey and what is being carried. You would also need to return the vehicle to the UK yourself afterward, or pay a hefty premium to have it collected.
Might be better to go via Norn Iron, as has been suggested. Or just pay a removals company to do it all for you.
Can’t help with moving to Ireland, but have lived in 3 other countries other than UK. First tip would be learn the language 😉 am guessing English will be ok there, if it was the west of Wales then Welsh would be useful. Not sure how much Irish Gaelic is spoken there.
And you will need to make friends, this can be difficult especially in advanced years. Not sure how Ireland is now, but English people moving into similar areas in Wales would probably experience some kind of prejudice especially if they believe it is putting up house prices.
Maybe you already have friends there otherwise look for ways to meet people. Working (or volunteering) could help with that.
Sell all your CDs/vinyl and rely on streaming! I don’t mean that, but next time I move I may well be tempted to sell most of my vinyl collection. Nearly all of my CDs are ripped losslessly to hard drives, so I can effectively carry all of them in my pocket.
Good luck!
Where we’d be looking to go is well inside the Gaeltacht, where Irish is the first language, so I’d be looking to start learning the local lingo from day 1. Apart from just being the decent thing to do in that neck of the woods, it’d be great to be able to chat with the folks in the pub who never learned anything else.
I’ll be doing a lot more research about moving before considering selling all the vinyl and CDs, though with 2,500 LPs and over 10,000 CDs I somehow doubt they’ll all be making the trip if we do do it.
And the next time I’m over, I’ll give you a shout @jaygee and @colin-h. Maybe if I fly to Dublin, a beer and a bite in Mullingar or somewhere thereabouts?
Good for you! If Ireland is like Wales then all can speak English, but I have been in parts of Wales where a little spoken Welsh is appreciated (my Welsh is almost non existent)
There are pockets where locals speak Irish as their first language- connemara and the Aran Islands especially, but it’s not mandatory. Everybody speaks English, most of us exclusively. Efforts to teach Irish in school failed miserably in most cases for my age group, but younger generations are getting better. My uncle moved his large family from Manchester to a gaelteacht area on a whim in the early Eighties and now they have married with locals and while I can still detect the Manc accent when I speak with them, their kids are fully fledged Gaelteori.
I
Interesting, in Wales I think about 1/4 speak it as kind of a first language, but most people are taught in English. It is more encouraged as a 2nd language in schools compared to when I was a lad. I chose German instead.
There are Welsh only schools also in English speaking areas. But like French schools here in Ontario, English is banned in the school, but once the kids are on the school bus they switch to English.
If there are any locals who can only speak Gaelic (which I very much doubt) you will not meet them, as they’d have to have shut themselves away from the rest of the world since birth. Very many will prefer to speak Gaelic to each other but can speak and understand English perfectly well. There will be some who prefer speaking English all the time and some of those may have little or no Gaelic.
A few language hardliners will not want to speak English to anyone or be spoken to in English. When I lived in West Wales I encountered some of those. Such people are generally not worth bothering with anyway.
Make the effort to learn the language and people will generally appreciate it. You’ll become party to a lot more of the local social life.
Oh yes.
Make an effort.
you’ll be fine!
Certainly. Though I understand there’s a statue of the ghastly Joe Dolan there.
In a private message, conveyed via a medium, Joe says “Ouch. Even now I’m incorporeal that comment stings. Don’t you realise everybody hurts, Colin?”
If you’re driving, you might also get to cross the Joe Dolan Memorial Bridge. Is it ugly? You’re damn right it is..
Or SPEAK SLOWLY AND LOUDLY and wave your hands about?
That’s what my 1980s state comprehensive MFL might as well have told us, for all the use it did us.
@fentonsteve
Not forgetting to repeat the English word for – or brand name of – what you are looking for syllable by syllable and adding an a, ah ia or oh sound on the end depending on where in the world you happen to be:
“DO YOU HAVE A COPY OF THE DAILY MAIL? DAY-LEE MAY-EL-OH?”.
Cunning linguists in the above scenario will often reinforce their words by beaming broadly and vigorously nodding their heads while miming the physical act of flipping through the rag in question may also seem like a good idea
To be sure!
I’d think carefully about the psychological aspects of the move – something I say as someone now on his third continent and 4th of 5th country.
There’s a cycle people go through when they make big moves:
This is the greatest thing ever.
Oh God it’s too cold/wet/dry/hot…why isn’t there a decent grocery chain/cinema/theatre/sport etc etc
Oh. This is OK.
The sooner you get to phase 3 the better life is. The people who struggle with the moves living near us are the ones who constantly talk about the things they had in the States that they don’t have in Alice Springs – which is quite a lot. The ones who do well are the ones who just accept Alice for Alice and make the best of it. I love it – some people ask to go home after four months.
In idle moments, I’ve been watching episodes of Our Lives on iPlayer. A repeated theme is “if you make it through two winters, you stay forever”.
This one is a good example:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002255h/our-lives-series-8-10-the-journey-to-scotlands-remotest-pub?seriesId=unsliced