So this
month marks our three year anniversary of moving out of Dublin to the lovely
Clonakilty in West Cork. Time flies. Since then we’ve had some pretty big
landmark occasions – the arrival of our third child, Maisie starting primary
school, me getting my wellies on and feeding cattle…It’s been great. But I do
miss Dublin and a trip there for work this week reminded me of what a great
place it is. People ask me all the time which I prefer – city life or country
living. So here I’m going to do a list of what I miss most about Dublin and
what I love most about Clon to see who wins…
City Life
*People,
people everywhere. People watching is one of my favourite pastimes and it’s so
much more interesting in the city. You never know who’s going to walk past.
*The food.
There’s so much choice, so much value. Although it hasn’t been that long since
I moved out of there, already I can see a massive difference. There are loads
of quirky little cafes and amazing restaurants to choose from. And the early
bird menus are practically giving food away.
*Public
transport. The Luas, the Dart, and dare I say it, even Dublin Bus. I took it
all for granted when I lived in the city but it’s so handy to not have to depend
on your car all the time to get from A to B.
*Proper
broadband. Oh how I miss my high speed fibre connection. I feel like I’ve gone
back to the days of dial up, waiting an eternity for pages to load.
*Shopping.
I miss having access to the biggest brands, brilliant markets and everything in
between. I miss browsing through antique shops on Aungier Street and George’s
Street.
*My
hairdresser. I spent eight years going to the same guy. Eight years. I’ve only
been married for four. Having to find someone new to chop my hair has been a
traumatic experience.
*More
employment opportunities. Pretty much everything in my industry is
Dublin-based.
*Access to
hospitals and facilities. Since having kids I’ve become an even bigger worrier
than I was before. It was always reassuring to know that there were top-class
hospitals closeby should anything bad happen to one of the kids. Now we have an
hour’s drive ahead of us in an emergency situation.
*Late night
bars. Restaurants that are open all night. I don’t get out very often but when
I do, it’s often after nine o’clock when I’ve finally managed to get all three
kids to sleep. That gives me a few minutes to make myself presentable and about
two hours before last orders at the bar. I’m often only getting into the swing
of things when it’s time to come home. Booo.
*The rest
of Ireland is so accessible from the capital -
all roads really do lead to Dublin. When I lived there it ‘only’ took me
4 hours to get back to where I grew up in Co. Donegal. Now I have an epic
journey that takes 11 hours from door to door (with food and toilet breaks for
the kids)
What I love
most about Clonakilty
*People
people, everywhere. Fair enough, there’s only a fraction of the amount of
people here compared to in Dublin but it’s still a buzzing little town with
people from all walks of life living here. There are loads of blow ins like
myself and I’ve gotten to know so many great people. And everyone is so
friendly.
*The food.
Ok, so there are fewer restaurants and it’s definitely more expensive to eat
out here but the food is cracking. My local butcher raises all his own cattle
out in Inchydoney and the Supervalu here has the best cheese counter ever. And
Clonakilty pudding? Need I say more?
*Free
parking. Ok, there’s no public transport and the bus to Cork takes ages and
costs a fortune. But we have free parking all over town and not a clamper in
sight. Yay!
*Shopping.
Clonakilty is very much about keeping things local so there are very few chain
stores in town and so many lovely little boutiques. I may miss the big shops
but I really love that it tries to protect this aspect of local business.
*Fresh air
and space. We live five minutes from the stunning Inchydoney Beach. It’s good
for the soul. In fact our neck of the woods has a million and one gorgeous
outdoor attractions that make you feel like you’re always on holidays,
especially when the sun is shining.
*It’s
warmer here. I always notice a drop in temperature whenever I’m in Dublin. It’s
noticeably colder, albeit not as rainy.
*Cheaper
rent. We’d be looking at a four figure sum for an equivalent house in a nice
area if we were living in Dublin. I’m not sure how we’d survive, to be honest.
*We own a
chunk of land down here and will hopefully be building our dream home later
this year. To me, that’s priceless.
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