We moved rural in December 2019 from Dublin. We were familar with the area as my wife is from there and we had lived there short term a few years ago. The headings that
@EasilyAmused used are good so I'll reuse them within our context. I'm blessed to be able to work remotely so very flexible in that regard.
Driving
In Dublin, we could do with one car and a bicycle. We needed to get a second car when we moved rural but our circumstances changed at the same time requiring a second car which would have been the case in Dublin too. School runs which are new to us in the past year require driving but similar driving time would have been required for us in Dublin for that purpose.
Connectivity
My broadband is faster now than I could get in Dublin, believe it or not. In Dublin I was getting 10-12Mb/s download and now getting 30-60Mb/s download, with the same mobile broadband system. Phone signal is more or less the same.
Social Life
As we have family and friends here, it's improved somewhat. People in general are more friendly and have more time to chat. Neighbours will help each other out without question. On a whole, I think it's a more socialable place to live but perhaps we've just landed into a nice community. That wasn't the case in Dublin, as people seem to feel they have less time or are less accepting of other people.
There are some good local restaurants, pubs, cinema etc here but you do have to drive to them or taxi.
Kids Activities
Driving for the most part is required, there would have been more options closer in Dublin.
@Hurling Fan raises a good point about university. We are less than an hour away from a major city but we expect to budget for accomodation for our children in years to come.
Lockdown
Having lived in both places, I would always take lockdown in rural Ireland over a city/town. Plenty of space, the scenery is beautiful and plenty of nice walks locally. There is the argument that services are further away but then often nature/nice scenery is further away in cities or possibly non existant. It depends on what is important to you.