From charming villages...rolling green hills...dramatic coastline...and a drop of the black stuff...you can't beat the "craic" in Ireland. Whether tracing Irish roots, or as a place to visit or live, Ireland won't disappoint.
Fast Facts:
Population: 4,203,200 (July 2009 est.)
Capital City: Dublin
Climate: Temperate maritime; modified by North Atlantic Current; mild winters, cool summers; consistently humid; overcast about half the time
Time Zone: GMT
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Ireland Articles
Jessica has been on the road, exploring the best of Panama’s “close-in” havens. And in your February issue she reveals the places you’ll enjoy stunning natural beauty, yet have the modern amenities of Panama City on your doorstep… Farther north and closer to home, IL Mexico Editor, Glynna Prentice, discovers big discounts on beach-town properties in beautiful Baja California. Lisa Marie Mercer moved to the coastal town of Atlantida, Uruguay, to benefit her health, but she’s staying for the affordability and quality of life. In your issue this month she explains how much she saves on health care and what she likes most about her friendly, convenient new home. Also in your latest issue, expat Terry Coles and her husband Clyde explain why they love their new affordable life in Capira, Panama, while New York native Chuck Kruger describes the moment he and his wife Nell first arrived on their island home off the coast of County Cork, Ireland. After traveling to 92 countries Renee Pyburn finally found her retirement dream on another European island. It’s English-speaking, with a mild, sunny climate and great health care, steeped in history and there’s plenty to do…find out why Renee chose Malta as the place to buy her overseas home.
If you like gadgets and bustle when you go on vacation, look shells, and tumbling-down structures—anything that hints at a quaint chapter of Irish history. Using traditional methods, local craftsmen faithfully restore each lighthouse, cottage, castle, or 19th-century school house. The rescued structures stand as solid as they were back when they were in full use 150 to 600 years ago.
Being a firefighter was the best job in the world according to my husband Clyde, but after 26 years, it was time to retire. However, we were buried beneath a mortgage, car payments, gym membership, the high cost of health care, outrageous electric bills, and taxes, with no end in sight.
You haven’t come to Ireland if you don’t see a traditional music session, and there are plenty offered up for tourists in the Templebar quarter and beyond. But what no one knows is that just five minutes walk from there, behind the city’s famous Four Courts building, you’ll find the real thing.
As I mentioned on Thursday, I’m starting to see some activity and more realistic pricing for bigger ticket sales in the Irish property market. I’m talking about apartment buildings, country estates, luxury resorts and commercial buildings.
Let’s walk through some examples.
One of Europe’s 10 most visited cities, Dublin’s many museums, quirky tours (from literary …
In six days, Ireland’s fourth and largest fire sale auction takes place in the luxurious Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin. In all, 112 lots will go under the hammer. I’ll be there.
As I predicted in earlier dispatches—prices are moving (slightly) down and yields up with each auction. More inventory is chasing a diminishing pool of buyers.
Ireland’s property price boom, which began in the 1990s, came to an end with the onset of the global downturn and real estate asking prices have been in free fall ever since.
Greetings from Quito, Ecuador. In a few moments, I leave for the north coast. This is Ecuador’s nicest stretch of coast. We have the opportunity to buy lots here with monthly payments of $500 or less. Because of the new highway we’ll reach the coast by 9.30 a.m. or so. In time for morning ceviche on the beach.
I’m looking forward to seeing the improvements in the coastal highway that runs south to Canoa since I last visited. I’ll send you my full report soon on the infrastructure developments and improvements at the Jama Campay project.
In fact, while the year is winding down…my travel schedule and deal pipeline is filling up. These are exciting times.
These days, though, any oncoming vehicle is more likely a modern SUV. But I am in Ireland, and it’s hard not to think in clichés. That’s because most of them are still, thankfully, true. Here the land is indeed green, the people friendly, the pubs cozy, the music lilting.
Today you can buy real estate in Ireland at discounts of up to 80% from peak prices. Here’s the “why” and the “how….”
The hills are gentle, rolling, and impossibly green. In the fields, cows graze fetlock-deep in the lush grass, while clouds scud across the blue sky overhead. Leaving the modern motorway, you immediately plunge into a world of narrow, hedge-lined country lanes, primrose-colored houses, and gray stone manors. Now and again a curve in the road opens up vistas of blue sea. Down the road, round the bend and over the hillocks, lies sandy beach or rocky shore…
For your own, genuine Irish adventure, it’s best to get out into the countryside and explore. A rental car gives you the freedom to see Ireland on your schedule—if from the “wrong” side of the road.
The economies of the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) are in disarray. Europe is in the throws of a banking crisis brought on by (among other things) exposure to Greek sovereign debt. Many of you have been asking if now is the time to jump in.
Something big is happening in Ireland. There’s a way you could pick-up a two bedroom apartment overlooking this roaring Atlantic and in the middle of a charming town for as little as 42,000 euro ($56,000).
“First-World infrastructure, an honest culture, a beach-strewn coast, and a heartland of small cities and towns with cobblestone streets and historic stone homes… a place where gauchos still tend their herds on the rolling pampas, as they have for centuries…”
In this month’s issue of International Living Lee Harrison takes us on a tour of Uruguay, a 21st-century safe haven, a place where you can live beachside for $1,424 a month, and where expats are now arriving in record numbers… Find out what he’s learned living in the “Europe of South America” on page 18 of your issue.
I’ve always loved to travel, so when I had to decide between the freedom of working for myself…and the stability of a full-time job, it was no contest—I quit. Since then, I get to travel more-or-less whenever I want. I’ve spent lots of time in Paris, France and am still based in one of my favorite cities: Dublin, Ireland. (Plus, I only work about 30 hours a week.)
“We are all Irish today.” That’s a ritual saying U.S. politicians repeat each St Patrick’s Day. They’re identifying with the nearly 40 million citizens of the United States, nearly 12% of the total, who trace their ancestry to Ireland.
As you know I have been watching Ireland closely for some time now. I have been studying….waiting on the sidelines for things to really get interesting. According to a survey of 50 markets published in Ireland’s Sunday Business Post this month, Ireland tops the table for the highest price falls this year. Our waiting and patience is being rewarded. The deals are getting better. I expect we’ll retain high flyer status in this regard. There will be further price falls.
If you’ve ever dreamed of living in Ireland, now may be the time to start considering it seriously. Due to Ireland’s economic crisis, property prices are way down, making the Emerald Isle more affordable than it’s been in years.
In this audio debrief, listen as IL Editor, Glynna Prentice, gives you the scoop. She’s just back from a recent scouting trip to Ireland’s beautiful southwest coast.
Here’s a round-up of some of the travel-related stories that have been making the news around the globe.
For many folks, the drive down California’s Highway One epitomizes the road trip. The views are glorious. But it’s hardly the only stretch of road that’ll make you stop and stare. That’s why we asked our International Living editors to tell us about their favorite road trips. Here’s the list below, in no particular order of preference.
It’s a business in which the big players make millions. I’m talking about the guys on the billionaire lists. But you don’t have to be made of money to do what they do. For as little as $20,000, you can ride major global trends and pocket serious profits. I’m talking about investing in commercial real estate.
Sunlight spills through the clouds to shine on the silky flanks of two gray horses grazing peacefully on the mountainside. Behind them the Atlantic Ocean stretches to the horizon, swirling around the islands of Inishturk and Turbot. Thousands of miles out there is North America…. But here, on the ragged fringes of Europe, I still feel at home.
The town of Dungarvan lies on Ireland’s southeast coast, in the county of Waterford. Dungarvan has a pleasant harbor that is dotted with sailboats, since mooring is free here. In town, Dungarvan’s main streets are lined with two- and three-story, colorfully-painted buildings whose storefronts house restaurants, pubs, and shops.
The village of Kinsale is on Ireland’s southwest coast, in County Cork. In fact, it’s the southernmost port in Ireland. Only half an hour by car from Cork City, Ireland’s second-largest city, Kinsale is a popular weekend get-away. The village’s winding streets are packed with colorful buildings that house restaurants, pubs, shops, and B&Bs.
IL editor Glynna Prentice takes you on a tour of Bantry, a popular seaside village in southwestern Ireland. Located in County Cork, Bantry Bay is one of the most beautiful bays in Ireland. It’s also historically important—this was where the French fleet was supposed to land in Ireland’s unsuccessful 1798 uprising against the British.
Here’s a round-up of some of the weird and wonderful events taking place across the globe this September.
Mearly 40 million U.S. citizens trace their ancestry to Ireland – many of whom are entitled to an Irish passport. Aside from joining the country of your ancestors, there is a good practical use of an Irish passport. It entitles the holder to live, work, and travel freely in any of the 27 countries in the European Union to which Ireland belongs.
It’s easier than you think to reveal your Irish roots. Here’s a guide on how to get started. Your research begins with your family. Ask questions, collect stories, check out old photos, and search that attic chest or bottom drawer for any documents that might provide some clues.
I’m watching developments in Ireland closely. In 2008 Ireland’s banks and real estate industry spectacularly imploded. Since then we have been waiting. Not much happened until a couple of months ago.
The real estate market never found a floor. There were almost no transactions. The nationalized banking system and the bad bank (NAMA: National Assets Management Agency, established to wind down failed developers and get land speculation loans off the banks’ books) stayed silent. They have been sitting on all the Irish inventory on their books.
That’s set to change. Get ready.
This is Ireland. And today you can buy real estate here at a discount of 80% on peak prices. You can buy that dream cottage by the sea, the pub on the village green or your country house surrounded by horses, all for cents on the euro.
Summer has arrived. For me, it brings with it a jam–packed schedule of scouting trips on your behalf. I’m looking for new places where we can profit from the major trends on my beat, including:
– New Middle Class: As people join the middle classes they can afford things they couldn’t before like a new condo or vacation on the beach.
– Path of Progress: New bridges, roads and airports that are going to improve accessibility
– Distressed opportunities created by crisis.
My travels will take in Colombia, Ireland, London, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
If you fantasize about enjoying such comforts in an historic castle, now’s the time to visit Ireland. Thanks to the recession, rates for heritage properties have plummeted.
It was quite the scene. A crowd of 1,000 bargain hunters spilled out of the historic Shelbourne Hotel and onto St. Stephen’s Green. Police temporarily put a halt to bidding as the swollen crowd blocked traffic in Dublin’s leafy Georgian city center.
Just over a week ago, Ireland had its first ever fire sale auction. You could have picked-up a three bedroom home in the midland town of Mullingar for as little as 30,000 euro. That’s close to a 90% discount on peak prices.
In Dublin’s fair city there’s no finer area than Dublin 2. Terraces of large historic Georgian houses form grand squares. Inside you find leafy parks of 200-year-old trees and ponds teaming with ducks and swans. At lunch time shaded park benches fill, and sandwiches are eaten as offices temporarily empty.
Bare trees, a spectral moon behind scurrying clouds, mist skeins rising above Lough Meelagh. It’s a winter night for comforts: a blazing fire, fine food, hot whiskeys… If you fantasize about enjoying such comforts in an historic castle, now’s the time to visit Ireland.
