Escape to the west: ‘Everything we had in Dublin we have here’

The stereotypical dream of living in a white-washed cottage with roses around the door in a rural idyll, or renovating a sturdy old building overlooking the sea, keeps some urbanites going for decades.

Some become less enthralled by the idea as they get more enmeshed in city life, while others, stuck in rush-hour traffic, become somewhat fixated on the notion of owning a haven in the countryside.

Of course, there are pros and cons to living anywhere and some who have made the move find themselves end up becoming wistful for Michelin-starred restaurants and high-street shopping outlets.

But, during the recurring lockdowns of the pandemic when everyone was confined to home, escaping to somewhere more spacious took on a whole new urgency. And although there are no official figures available, anecdotally the global crisis seemed to spur more people into taking action and fulfilling that dream.

New homes in Dublin: Houses from €370,000 in mixed, low-density scheme

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Five bed, five bath in a renovated Rathgar redbrick for €1.69m

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Dublin is in the ha’penny place when it comes to rising property prices

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The air, for starters, is undeniably fresh and clean and the view is palate cleansing and restorative in every sense

Niamh O’Donoghue is one of those who has swapped bright city lights for the natural hues of the rugged Irish coast. Originally from Dublin, the journalist and social media editor had been living in London but came back to Ireland when Covid struck. While it was just meant to be a temporary arrangement, after a few months she decided to take a leap of faith and move back for the foreseeable future.

“Before Covid I was living in the buzzing suburb of Camden, London,” she says. “I would be considered ‘high risk’ so my cramped living conditions were not suitable to isolate in. So I booked a flight home, initially just for two weeks. I was able to work remotely and joined my boyfriend, Jake, in his house share, where we stayed for three months, before moving back with our respective parents, while still paying rent for my tiny bolthole in London.

“Covid cases kept skyrocketing as the situation got worse, so it was nine months before I saw my flat again – and at that point it was after making the difficult decision to give it up, because it was haemorrhaging my bank account. Jake and I continued living in different counties with our parents [Dublin and Drogheda, Co Louth] – but we were desperate to find an alternative solution.”

Constantly checking out the property sections, Niamh happened to come across an advert for a seemingly perfect house in Murrisk, near Westport in Mayo. With plenty of space, along with a spare bedroom and not one but three bathrooms, they viewed the property online. Having discovered that the wifi speeds were good enough to work from home, the pair packed up their belongings and moved out west.

The contrast couldn’t have been greater from Niamh’s pervious life in the city – and she is loving every minute of it.

“It is worlds apart from my life in London, but infinitely better,” she says. “The air, for starters, is undeniably fresh and clean and the view is palate cleansing and restorative in every sense. I have swapped concrete and overpriced cocktails for rolling hills and breath-taking views.

We don't have plans to leave yet, but it depends entirely on whether we can continue renting the property we are in

“Of course, the transition from concrete jungle to sprawling wetlands was not seamless, and I soon learned an important lesson about necessity. Yes, I missed my favourite fancy coffee stops, but I didn’t need them. Living so close to nature has made me more conscious about my own consumption habits and how I can reduce my carbon footprint. I am more mindful than ever of the waste I produce and have altered how often I buy plastic – if I do it at all. I have learned to be more mindful, more present and slower.

For now, Mayo remains home – but this depends on accommodation.

“We don’t have plans to leave yet, but it depends entirely on whether we can continue renting the property we are in. Finding a property to rent is quite scarce in this part of the county.”

Down the line, however, this may change. For career purposes, Niamh thinks they will move to a city, though long-term the couple would like to plant roots in a rural location.

“We’re both still in our twenties and feel we have more to give in terms of our work, and we want to gain as much experience as possible, but we also crave evenings and weekends by the sea or up a mountain somewhere. I think it’s what you’d call a ‘having-your-cake-and-eating-it’ lifestyle!”

Sean Mac Gabhann has also traded his fast-paced city life for a more sedate version in a small village in Sligo. Working as a lecturer on electrical apprenticeships for IT Sligo, he moved west with partner Niamh Smith – who works in online community management – earlier this year.

Having commuted across the country to work from August 2021 to February 2022, they have made the move permanent and are looking forward to their future.

“We were living in Blanchardstown and I had been looking for a job opportunity outside of Dublin for some time, mostly due to house prices,” says Sean. “So, when this job came up [in Sligo] it presented the perfect opportunity to move to one of our favourite parts of Ireland. We had been going up and down to the area for six years or more, so we knew it reasonably well. I got the job offer last August, but we didn’t make the move until February of this year, and while the Dublin to Sligo commute wasn’t as horrific as it sounds, we were very fortunate that the type of job I was moving to allowed me to commute or stay ad hoc in the Sligo area. And while, yes, it is a 200km journey door to door, that only translated into just over two hours, and I would have spent 40-50 minutes in the car travelling 16km when I was working in Dublin.

“Then, when we decided to buy somewhere and make the move, it all happened very quickly – just three months from offer to keys, so there was little or no pain in the long wait that you would often hear about.”

Of course, buying their new home wasn’t all plain sailing, and there was a lot of research to do first.

“We had looked at a few different properties but nothing really stood out for the prices that were being asked,” Sean says. “Then we had a stroke of luck. Niamh went to see a property that I had dismissed out of hand because of the price and location, and we decided to place an offer which, to our shock, was accepted.

“We are both very much outdoors people and the property ticked all the right boxes. It is near to the sea which has incredible scuba-diving and kayaking spots for me, along with mountains with very picturesque walks and forests, so this suited both of us. I am developing a blog and site guide for diving and snorkelling in Ireland – SnorkellingIreland.ie.”

The public transport to the city centre often involved a unique and sometimes unpleasant experience. But country life is different

The couple are only in their new home a few weeks and are still marvelling at the contrast. “In Dublin, from the moment we awoke, we were surrounded by the hustle and bustle of city and suburban life, listening to traffic and battling to get through it. The public transport to the city centre often involved a unique and sometimes unpleasant experience. But country life is different. I have a 16km commute to work which takes me 15-20 minutes along a lake drive. In Dublin, the same distance would take a minimum of 40 minutes. And most mornings, Niamh would have had to make a bus journey to the city, which would be crammed full of people, but now she has the flexibility to work remotely.

“And even when it comes to services, everything we had in Dublin, we have here. All the big supermarkets are here and anything else we need is not far away or can be ordered.

“Of course, there is part of us which misses family and friends, who would have lived close by to us [in Dublin] but, as we keep telling them, it’s only a two-hour drive or around the same on the train.

Right now, they would only ever move back to the city out of necessity, Sean says. “For better or worse, the west coast has now become our home and we intend to make the most of it.”