house hunting,  Ireland

Moving to Ireland: House Viewing #1

This is our mission: find a house in Ireland to rent ASAP.

For those of you who are curious about corporate moves, they come with a variety of benefits. These benefits vary based on your company, where you are going and your negotiations.

For this international move, Handy Husband’s company pays for us to live in temporary housing for 30 days. They also pay a realtor to show us 15 different properties. I’m not sure what happens if you don’t find a home within that amount of showings. No one here, so far, has needed more than that to find a place. *knock on wood*

Two days after the kids and I arrived in Dublin we started looking at houses.

House #1 was a 3 bedroom, 2 bath in a coastal town called Raheny (pronounced Ruh-heenee). Raheny is a suburb slightly north of Dublin that dates back to 570 AD. The textured wallpaper under that cream paint was almost that old.

irish-house-3(living area #1)

Most homes in Ireland’s metropolitan areas, from what I’ve seen, are attached to another home(s). House #1 is what Americans would refer to as a duplex. The Irish refer to it as semi-detached.

Pros of House #1:
garage (single car, manual opening door)
separate washer and dryer (located in garage instead of kitchen)
close to work
close to large park and bay
unfurnished

Cons of House #1:
everything else

I joke! In many regards, the house was a blank slate, which is good when it comes to decorating.

irish-house-4(living area #2 – right next to and separated by a wall from living area #1)

The master bedroom, like most bedrooms in Ireland, featured built-in closets. The white cupboard to the right is called a hot press. A hot press is a cupboard that houses the water heater.

irish-house-2

The biggest issue I had with the house, besides the lack of kitchen functionality, was that it was completely chopped up into little rooms. In my opinion, the downstairs would have been 100% better if a couple of walls were knocked down. Unfortunately, that sort of thing is frowned upon when you are renting. Oh well.

My son’s favorite part of the home was this creepy little shed in the backyard. I’m seriously questioning his judgment now…

By the way, lawns are called gardens in Ireland. I’m not sure what gardens are called.

irish-house-1
I fully expect we will move into a small home – that’s normal for Ireland and most of Europe. Small homes don’t have to feel claustrophobic though and this one did.

I was happy to head back out into the rain for more house hunting. Stay tuned for updates!


If you are moving, visiting or want to know more about life in Ireland, here are a whole bunch of posts for you!

Living in Ireland: Life Without a Car

Living in Ireland: Inside My Kitchen

Living in Ireland: Christmas in Retail 2017

Living in Ireland: Storm Ophelia

Living in Ireland: That Time a Tree Came Down

Living in Ireland: Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Living in Ireland: Back After A Month in the United States

Living in Ireland: As Seen On My Commute

Living in Ireland: A Trip to the Hardware Store

Living in Ireland: Spring Flowers In Our Yard

Living in Ireland: Grocery Shopping

Living in Ireland: What to See my Hot Press?

Living in Ireland: Merry Christmas 2016

Living in Ireland: Christmas in Retail

Living in Ireland: Groceries

Moving to Ireland: Grocery Item Look Alikes

Moving to Ireland: Primary School 101

Moving to Ireland: First Week of School

Moving to Ireland: The Great Purge

Moving to Ireland: Human Kindness is Overflowing 

Moving to Ireland: House Viewing #1

Moving to Ireland:  House Viewing #2

Moving to Ireland: House Viewing #3

Moving to Ireland: Temp House First Floor

Moving to Ireland: Temp House Second Floor

Moving Tips to Keep You Sane

My #1 Moving Tip

Thinking about visiting Ireland? Read on!

The Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands with Kids

Galway with Kids

Our Favorite Irish Castle Tour with Kids

Belfast with Kids

Dublin: Talking Statues

Kissing the Blarney Stone and Blarney Castle

Share this:

6 Comments

Leave a Reply to annisa Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.