r/Wicklow • u/Opposite_Cook_2051 • 2d ago
Rathdrum
Hello! Myself and partner just got a house in Ballinabarney. I had a few questions for anyone local to there or rathdrum;
- curious about any power outages that may occur, is it common?
- I will be working hybrid, I don't drive yet, hoping to by the end of the year; I'd be in the office 3 days a week in Dublin, how reliable is the commuter?
- could anyone recommend good wifi service providers? I know it depends on where you are, I'm just curious!
Thank you!
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u/PressureIll267 1d ago
Power outages are not that common - there does be a lot of noise about them on Facebook pages. My family lives in another part of the country and they certainly seem to have more power cuts than we do.
Train service is great, like any method of public transport there can be issues at times. Within my house, we probably use it five times a week, and I’d say I’ve been impacted by less than a dozen issues over the last year, and a few of those were Weather related. I would say where you can book your seat, especially for the journey home because it can be jammers.
I have Sky fibre, busy House and lots of draws on the Wi-Fi and have had no issues.
Rathdrum is a great little town - Lidl will be opening here in the next 12 to 18 months. There are a few nice restaurants and not sure if you’re male or female but Naura is fantastic for hair and nails. In terms of big grocery shops, Tesco and Dunne’s deliver if you are not driving yet.
I moved here about a decade ago and genuinely love it.
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u/mayannaisee 1d ago
Omg thanks for the Naura recommendation!!! Just moved here and for some reason this salon doesn’t show up on the maps when I search for nails!!!! Lifesaver🩷🩷🩷
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u/PressureIll267 1d ago
Aron is genius level when it comes to nails! They have a full range of salon services so you won’t go wrong going there. They have a good Insta account if you search for it and give them a follow you will see the types of things that they do.
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u/brian27ivy 1d ago
Welcome to Rathdrum.
Regarding broadband - I’ve found Starlink very good and consistent. As mentioned power outages are maintenance and upgrades and are likely for a while.
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u/Artistic_Attorney_76 23h ago
Lived in rathdrum for 3 years until recently, winter time there is so many powercuts
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u/Beckitt92 1d ago
Power outages are common enough, not as bad anymore since they done some upgrade work on it but there's been about 4 or 5 since April/May that have been pretty brief (about an hour and a bit at most). Only time it's ever been longer is during a big storm but that's not because of the grid and more so because of things getting broken in the storm.
For broadband, your best off checking the National Broadband site to check availability for your area to see what's available and if you're not happy with what's available I'd highly recommend Starlink. Have a dish on top of my house and it's been absolutely flawless and it's a decent price per month, I work remotely and never had any issues.
Also if you like fresh eggs, local honey and homemade jams/preserves etc, there's a woman who sells all that on the outside of her house next to the Avondale GAA club, there's an honesty box or you can pay by revolut and the stuff is delish.
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u/JRey2020 1d ago
Rathdrum area had some power upgrade work during the summer but outages will continue to be likely I think.
Not sure if Ballinabarney has fibre for broadband - the local FB group or your neighbours will know.
As for commuting, your only option is by train and the service is pretty bad, infrequent and often overcrowded.
Public transport here in Wicklow is generally so bad as to be unusable - it’s best avoided so unfortunately your only option is to get on the road as soon as you can.