Straffan Co Kildare - What's it like?

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Pixied

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Hi

My sis is looking at moving to the Straffan/Maynooth/Celbridge area. She is having some problems finding info on Straffan and would appreciate some help.

If anyone can give some info along any of the lines of the following it would be much appreciated;

1) Info on generally what the area is like to live in
2) Quality of the local primary schools? Good local activities for children?
3) Which secondary schools do these primary schools feed into?
4) Is there much local community spirit? are they open to newbies?
5) Any housing estates you'd recommend?
6) Would you pick Maynooth over Straffan or vice versa and why
70 Any other comments or concerns

If anyone can help with even one of these questions it would be great!

Thanks again!!
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Thanks for the help Sueellen :)

The problem we are having is when we do a search for Straffan (village) the only results that come through are usually in regard to 'Straffan Wood' which is an estate in Maynooth, or, we get info from the Ryder cup. It appears to be the roughly the same from the links above.

So if anybody else has any further info, please let us know. :(
 
My sister lives in Celbridge, so I drive through Straffan every time I visit.

Straffan would be considered a v. good area - but very small village. Church, shop, petrol station, pub and that's it. Don't know there the position regarding schools or childrens activities or indeed if even there are that many kids about, I certainly dont see many of them passing through.

If you drive through Straffan at night, there is nobody and I mean nobody out and about. So it really depends on what you are looking for. Maynooth is much bigger and would certainly have much more going for it in the way of amenities nearby, but Straffan would definitely be considered a nicer area.

Have a friend who bought in Straffan Gate, house v. expensive for what it was, (dont know if they have dropped) but you are going to pay a premium for the Straffan address.

It really depends on what you are looking for.
 
Thanks MandaC!

My sis got the brochure on Straffan Gate and tbh, like you say they do not seem worth what you pay for them. It's €530k for the 4 bed semi and it seems with very little effort gone in to the design to justify that price. We both went out and had a look at the estate briefly and the houses did seem very squashed together.

On schooldays.ie, it says the primary school is called 'Straffan National School' and that is has 182 students. Which seems like a fair sized school. However my sis cannot find which secondary schools this feeds into..

It does seem quiet in Straffan, but then the heavy traffic in Maynooth is putting her off moving there. Admittedly Maynooth probably has more going on- but if someone can correct me on that, please do.

Any more info anyone?
 
Students from the primary school in Straffan would largely go to Salesians Celbridge (boys), St Wolstan's Celbridge (girls) or Scoil Mhuire Clane (mixed).
 
Grew up two miles from Straffan. I agree with the previous posters viewsssd. It's a nice quiet village, one shop, one pub (very strict ....if you raise your voice you are in danger of not being served ...I'm serious!). don't know about schools but tehre is a local primary (probably oversubscribed like many) and the secondary ones are Clane, Celbridge, all about 5 miles from Straffan.

Transport, is Bus eireann from the village.
 
Straffan is overpriced compared to Maynooth. The traffic may be bad in Maynooth but only if you participate in it. Most of the housing estates are within walking distance of the schools and the town centre. The traffic is bad mainly at school times in the morning and between 5 and 7 in the evening. There are a lot more facilities in Maynooth and the houseprices seem to be holding better than in other places. Straffan is very pretty but I think it would be very isolated and you will spend your life driving to facilities in other towns.
 
I really appreciate all the posts we were beginning to think Straffan was like 'the town that time forgot'. (No offense to anyone from there we just couldn't gather much info).

I think Maynooth is beginning to be the more popular option. Do you think that would also be a better option over Celbridge?
 
No offence taken! Straffan V Maynooth are apple V orange. It all depends on what lifestyle you want, counrty village or commuter town.

Maynooth better option than Celbridge, IMHO, as it is served by commuter train and better main street (!)
 
Straffan would not be everyone's cup of tea, very very quiet, have to say I would love it and always said if I win the lotto I will buy there.

I live in Kill(beside Straffan and just a tiny bit bigger) and my sister who lives in Celbridge is always slagging me off when she comes over and asks how I live with so much excitement going on around me.

I would hate Celbridge (too like Lucan, which I did not like) so it really is horses for courses.
 
MandaC said:
Straffan would not be everyone's cup of tea, very very quiet, have to say I would love it and always said if I win the lotto I will buy there.

I live in Kill(beside Straffan and just a tiny bit bigger) and my sister who lives in Celbridge is always slagging me off when she comes over and asks how I live with so much excitement going on around me.

I would hate Celbridge (too like Lucan, which I did not like) so it really is horses for courses.
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isnt the dump in kill? are you near that, do you get much of an odour problem there? just wondering and no offense meant i was considering there myself some time back. living near the dump put me right off. i just googled an article on it from the farmers journal no less! it commented on locals worried about water pollution and smells etc. that would scare the hell out of me. but horses for courses as you say.
 
The dump is in Arthurstown up behind Kill. I am there two years and have got a smell coming from the dump twice(both happened to be very clear frosty nights) The council officials act very quick if there are any complaints. Another time, I thought it was the dump and I had all the neighbours complaining, but it was the farmer in the next field laying manure.

I love it there and am not sorry I made the move from where I was. When the house two doors up started stewing cauldrons(I mean cauldrons) of curry in the front garden, I knew it was time to check out! I can laugh about it now, but I was stressed out about it at the time.

Kill is definitely quieter than say, Lucan, Celbridge, Maynooth, but has that personal village feel, where everyone greets you on the street. I am also within a five minute walk of church, pub, shop, hairdresser. I am also a five minute walk from the bus stop, whereby it was a 20 minute walk to the bus stop from Lucan.

Most of my neighbours are similar, many from Lucan, Tallaght, Clondalkin, Naas and most moved for similar reasons I did.

I would be more concerned at the moment at the Incinerator planned for Rathcoole, which is going to have a serious adverse effect on all of the surrounding areas, if it gets passed.
 
i am sorry you had a bad experience of lucan and as i have said before Lucan is a very large place with a lot of estates, some it would seem are better than others.
the image you draw of the cauldrons of curry sounds comical however living near a dump would not be comical.
I have friends in Kill and they say they are disgusted by the smell from this dump. we are talking about a Dump for gods sake.

the minutes of kildare county council 01st may 2007 makes scary reading: a suggestion is made by the council

"that the engines that pump away the methane run for 24hours a day 7 days a week instead of just 7am til 10pm"
the same meeting calls for a report from KCC environmental department concerning residents complaints regarding smells from the site.

all joking aside this seems very serious.
 
This thread is about Straffan, not, Kill, so I think that the real issue for the OP is whether they could settle there or not.

I did have a bad experience with Lucan, if I lived there again, I would definitely live in one of the older estates or near the village.

As regards the dump, it does not effect me on a day to day basis, if and when it does, I will complain. It was more bothersome and smelly when the Traveller camp on the Liffey Valley roundabout burned their tyres, which happened frequently enough.
 
Hi everyone, thanks for your comments on the surrounding areas too.

I don't mind the diverson that much, it is good for my sis to know the whole general area too. But MandaC has a point, it is off topic.

I think the whole Kill/dump discussion would benefit from a seperate thread, where it can be discussed properly. I know I'd read it! And people who are also interested might not find it hidden in this thread.

Getting back to Straffan, that pub sounds a little scary!! My husband is of the opinion that a it would be very hard to voice an opinion in a place like Straffan that might go against the grain- is that what you meant? It's just the comment about the pub reminds me of that..ie raise your voice and you won't be served.

In fairness maybe I am just used to certain small towns down the country where only a certain clique or family dominate most things.
 
apologies pixied i may have hijacked your thread.

if you want to know about the kill dump its best to google it, god knows theres enough stuff on it. scary stuff.
 
I dont really think it would be like that, remember Straffan Gate and there is another new Estate too, that has brought a fair few new people to the area and a lot of them too come from Celbridge, Lucan, Maynooth, Naas, etc, so there is now a fair cross section of people there there so it wont be so much like a clique(dont know if it was)

I think the good thing about some of these smaller villages is that there is enough development going on that will enhance them, but they will never suffer from massive over development like some of the other commuter towns and will retain that village feel.

If the country village feel will be just that bit too quiet, then Maynooth is probably the best option.

By the way, did I see that Straffan Gate is now taking names for the next phase, or is that an old sign? I wonder if they have dropped in price at all?
 
If u are looking for a friendly country village straffan is not it. Locals class people living there 16 years as "blow ins".
 
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