Have you lived in or visited Ireland? Tell us about it!
MULLINGAR
County Westmeath, Ireland, Europe – April 2018 — Mullingar may appear to be a nondescript speck close to the centre of maps of Ireland. But to write off this town – capital of the county of Westmeath – as just a dull midland town would be to miss so much. OK, so the reason it turns up so often in internet searches may be due to the fact that it is the home town of One Direction star, Niall Horan. Horan, however, is just one of the musical stars who grew up here, and if you want to see if the town deserves its growing reputation as music capital of Ireland, then call to any of the live music venues, and check out the talent. Contained within the loop formed by the Royal Canal and sealed by the Dublin-Sligo Rail line, “The ‘Gar” has some great eateries, some great clothes shops, and some great hairdressers. Lots of great hairdressers in fact. If you want a top-to-toe makeover, there are worse places you could visit than Mullingar, as for a town its size, it has an incredible number of attractive boutiques, stylish shoe shops, and jewellery stores. The “jewel in the crown” so to speak, is a jewel you can’t buy: that’s because it’s stored in the museum at the magnificent Cathedral of Christ the King – it was the ring worn by Queen Marie Antoinette on her way to the guillotine. This is a friendly town: good schools and good sports clubs make it ideal for families; the fact that it’s got three lakes within walking distance of the town centre mean it’s fabulous for fans of the great outdoors and water-based activities.
Dublin
County Dublin, IRELAND (Europe) – April 2018 — Dublin is the capital city of Ireland, located in the province of Leinster on the east coast of the country. It’s the biggest city in Ireland by some distance, and is the political and economic centre of the country. I love living in Dublin, although I am not originally from here. It is a very old city with lots of interesting places to go, architecture and nature to see. The people in Dublin are probably the best thing about it. There is a Dublin way of speaking, a Dublin sense of humour. The infrastructure is poor here, it is difficult to either rent or purchase accommodation and as a result the cost of living is high. Dublin started with a centre located by the sea on the river Liffey, but over time, and especially over the last 25 years, it has sprawled out into neighbouring counties Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. With the government not allowing high rise building the only option has been to extend further to provide for businesses and housing. Nowadays Dublin is becoming very cosmopolitan. With big businesses like Google, Facebook and Microsoft locating European hubs in the city, there are lots of job opportunities and workers from many countries are attracted here. There are also significant Eastern European (particularly Polish), Asian (especially Chinese) and African (especially Nigerian) communities in the city. It is a lovely place to come for tourists, with city centre bars full every day of the week. Hopefully future change will improve the housing and transport infrastructure significantly, while I hope the people never change.
Dublin
County Dublin, IRELAND (Europe) — April 2018 — I live in Dublin in Ireland. This city is the capital city of Ireland. One of the best things about Dublin is how nice most of the people are. There are many sights in Dublin and there is a really interesting history of Dublin. Dublin originated when it was used as the main trading town for the Vikings. Some of the bad things about Dublin is that, like many other cities, some parts of Dublin are not good areas to be in, where there is a high rate of crime and drug and gang activity. To someone who does not live in Dublin, it is a friendly, scenic place with lots to do. Over the years, Dublin as becoming more of a centre for retail as many people come from all over the country to go shopping there. In areas such as the Docklands, there had been serious renovations and it is now full of many large company offices and modern apartments. There have been major renovations to the theatre know now as the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, which hosts many famous productions throughout the year. There are many different parts of Dublin, typically split into two groups. the north side of Dublin and the south side of Dublin. The main difference between the two is that typically, the south side is a more affluent and expensive area whereas the north side would be host to more run down and impoverished areas. The north side would also typically have a higher crime rate than the south side of Dublin.