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Hi, as anyone who recognises me from other questions I've posted recently they will see that DH and I are throwing around some life changing decisions.

One of which is that we sell our Dublin family home and move to our holiday home in Kerry. This would free up a lot of cash and we could almost be mortgage free. Sounds good when I write this down but there is obviously a lot more than that involved and I like where I live.

The kerry house is in a gorgeous location but would need some extensions/rejigging to make it work for us as a long term home not a holiday home. This is doable I guess.

Please tell me what it is like to actually live in Kerry especially interested in responses from mums not in towns (we would be 25 mins drive to Tralee and remoteish).

Do you find yourself constantly in the car driving the kids places as they can't just go out on the road to play with their friends as they do at the moment. My youngest is 4 but I am worried when they get older there will be little for them to do. 2 are quite sporty so that helps.

How is the healthcare? I am so used to having temple st and Crumlin and more on my doorstep, this is a concern but perhaps not justified?

It would be a big lifestyle change, more so I think than if we moved to the uk which was our other option so any opinions would help.

Thanks a mill

Is your dh still working in the UK and for the foreseeable future?

Yes Desdemona, no options on the horizon work wise the stansted flight would be doable but he would have a shorter weekend in Kerry than he would in Dublin, although he might push to work one day from home or something. This would leave me in Kerry on my own during the week. Have parents in law there but that's about it although I do make friends/acquaintances quite easily if there is the option to do so.

Hi, just seeing this message now. I moved back to kerry last year. i'm about 15 mins outside Tralee, 5 mins from the local village. my house is on a quite country road. there is a school & hurling pitch in the village, football about 20 mins away. Taekwando in the village aswell and loads of ds's friends within driving distance. I have family close by which was my main reason for moving back and i have'nt regretted it for one min.
It would be a huge move for you esp if your dh is working in uk, but at least you know the area and it will be quite easy to make friends. and if it means more finacially secure, i'd seriously consider it. Hope this helps, but you may have made up your mind by now!

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Sorry if I'm butting in where I'm not wanted, but we live in Midwest USA with no family around us, we love it here, it's great for kids, but I would love to be closer to airports for a one hop flight and DH's family are on that side too. A move further from airports would be a move I would be very hesitant to make, especially if it meant a day less for the girls with their Dad.

If I was you and we obviously don't know all your ins and outs, Kerry would be out if it meant one day less with with my husband. I would actually be investigating a UK move more to be honest. You have the financial side of things to consider too though so it does make a difference.

I do know that the position you are in now is a bitch ... do we stay, do we move, do we move here or there etc ... Even buying a saucepan becomes such a big decision ... "Do we really need it, can we bring it with us if we move abroad, is it worth it" and everything just leads back to the same question - "Where are we going to live?".

When you make your decision, you'll know, you'll just know it's the right decision, even if every bone in your body wants to stay close to your family and friends. Good luck with your choice.

How do you get on with your PILs? If it turned out that one of them required constant help due to an as yet undiagnosed illness and you were "stuck" in Kerry, would you be expected to / willing to care for them too?

I suspect you could spend your life in a car.

What's your own background? Have you EVER lived in an area that's a 25 minute drive from the nearest town big enough to have a sports shop / cinema / 24 hour supermarket / no rip-off petrol prices?

If it were me, I would also give serious thought to the UK (unless you'd be in an equally isolated / inconvenient location there).

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Have you spent much time in the holiday home in the Winter months? Long summer days wouldn't faze me, but dark at 4:30 on a country road would. Especially if home alone with two kids.

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Thank you ladies, your opinions are valued. No we haven't made any decisions yet, if anything DH is less keen than me and it has been put on the long finger - again!!!!

I have lived remotely and it doesn't bother me but I would hate my kids to feel isolated or as someone said spend my life in the car driving them to places. I would also hate no being near a hospital which is mad considering my kids have never been to a&e but I like the comfort of it. The country road would be pretty bad, no lights etc. I hate driving it. We would have spent time there in the winter but it is definitely a house/area that is suited to the summer months.

I sound really negative reading that back...

I don't think it is financially an option to move to the UK as we probably couldn't sell our house
to fund a decent UK one or rent it out for the cost of the mortgage.

Dimple, you make a very good point about ending up being the carer for PIL's - this is something I said to DH, even though I felt like a cow saying it. They are financially comfortable so they would be able to afford help but my own conscience wouldn't allow me not to call in on them frequently and be their help.

So long finger it is and tbh quite happy about that, I quite like where I live now and even though we pay through the nose for our house it is perfect for our family life.

would it be possible to rent out your Dublin house and give it a try for a year?

I'm not keen on this, if I'm going to go I'm going.. I have a small business here I would have to close, move the kids out of school and might not get them back in to the one they are in at the moment. DH said this about UK but I think we both agreed that we wouldn't come back.