Looking for advice in Ireland

Hello to all the friendly permies in Ireland

I am writing on my son's login, hope that's ok.

My children and I have had a smallholding in France for years where we are working towards being as self sufficient as we can.  We are thinking seriously about moving and are looking at our different options.  Ireland is very near the top of the list as it was when we first chose to come to France.  The problem is I haven't been there for many many years and it is almost impossible at the moment to take a trip to do some proper research.

We would be very grateful for any words of wisdom and practical advice about areas that would be most suitable and affordable for us to be able to carry on with our projects and develop them.  We have a long list of important requirements, obviously some more important than others such as (ideally) commutable distance  to university, plenty of trees and natural resources, sheltered but not damp and dark, friendly people and active communities etc etc

We do research online too but it is much nicer to hear from real people and hopefully make some nice contacts who are already living the same lifestyle as us.  If it looks like being a real possibility - and we can find a proper competent farmsitter - we will plan a trip to have a proper look around

Thank you so much !

(Also smallholding/small farm for sale in France if anyone looking!)

Hello,  
We had a farm in Ireland for many years which we sold a few years ago to a wonderful family.   If you don’t get responses from anyone who is there now, I’d be happy to share our experiences of living and farming there.  I could also ask the family that lives there now whether they’d be willing to correspond with you.   I know how difficult it is to make such a big move without being able to get all the info you’d like to have, so can contact me at susaneldamar@live.ie if you’d like.
Susan

hi, we have been running a horticultural  4 acre smallholding on the west coast  of Ireland for 33yrs .This has certainly opened ours eyes, markets,production,the elusive crops and especially weather, then and now, obviously more importantly the future. We had scorch this year on our 100yr old crab apples. A couple of years ago we came to France for a few weeks, with the same idea as yourselves, only  in reverse .If  any information from our coal face can help you please send a message and we can take it from there. Stephen

the west coast and the northern parts are very wet ,try and check out the soil types in an area you might be interested in ,all of ireland has been surveyed and bore/ core samples done, take this as a warning as well,any area that has an underlying  layer of shale has been logged and charted for possible future exploitation---most of our west coast. Besides the poor drainage of bog and peatland soils, upper mountain areas and boglands are attractive to the multi national renewable energy companies and unlike the rest of europe we dont have the legal setback of 1.5km, ours is .5km---500 meters.The best way to check an area for its future development plan is each local councils planning department ,most are online with a copy of the 4 year plan reflecting their wishes and further digging around in the applications being made or granted.  its also possible to do a property price check of housing and possibly farms around the area you might be interested in that have been sold in the past. The southern part and east coast lower have our milder climate from the gulf stream ,look at places like fota island , bantry and other parts of cork ,that have planted collections of exotic plants that are growing very well, east coast is our grain growing crop region --always has the mildest temps and most sunshine for ireland .There are approximately 174000 eu directives, and we follow nearly all of them to the letter and inforce them, it can be made difficult to follow an alternative way of living or farming.

oliver peter Nock wrote:Hello to all the friendly permies in Ireland

I am writing on my son's login, hope that's ok.

My children and I have had a smallholding in France for years where we are working towards being as self sufficient as we can.  We are thinking seriously about moving and are looking at our different options.  Ireland is very near the top of the list as it was when we first chose to come to France.  The problem is I haven't been there for many many years and it is almost impossible at the moment to take a trip to do some proper research.

We would be very grateful for any words of wisdom and practical advice about areas that would be most suitable and affordable for us to be able to carry on with our projects and develop them.  We have a long list of important requirements, obviously some more important than others such as (ideally) commutable distance  to university, plenty of trees and natural resources, sheltered but not damp and dark, friendly people and active communities etc etc

We do research online too but it is much nicer to hear from real people and hopefully make some nice contacts who are already living the same lifestyle as us.  If it looks like being a real possibility - and we can find a proper competent farmsitter - we will plan a trip to have a proper look around

Thank you so much !

(Also smallholding/small farm for sale in France if anyone looking!)

Hi could you PM me details of the small holding ?

oliver peter Nock wrote:Hello to all the friendly permies in Ireland

I am writing on my son's login, hope that's ok.

My children and I have had a smallholding in France for years where we are working towards being as self sufficient as we can.  We are thinking seriously about moving and are looking at our different options.  Ireland is very near the top of the list as it was when we first chose to come to France.  The problem is I haven't been there for many many years and it is almost impossible at the moment to take a trip to do some proper research.

We would be very grateful for any words of wisdom and practical advice about areas that would be most suitable and affordable for us to be able to carry on with our projects and develop them.  We have a long list of important requirements, obviously some more important than others such as (ideally) commutable distance  to university, plenty of trees and natural resources, sheltered but not damp and dark, friendly people and active communities etc etc

We do research online too but it is much nicer to hear from real people and hopefully make some nice contacts who are already living the same lifestyle as us.  If it looks like being a real possibility - and we can find a proper competent farmsitter - we will plan a trip to have a proper look around

Thank you so much !

(Also smallholding/small farm for sale in France if anyone looking!)

Hi oliver,

You wrote a few months ago, so im hoping by quoting your message youll receive an alert and see my reply.

Ive been living off-grid/rural/cropping etc in remote Ireland area for almost 15 years.
In comparison to the climate of France - even ‘dull’ brittany (lol!) - you’d be FAR better off staying in France for off-grid, food crops and animal rearing, than being ANYWHERE in Ireland, as an ‘easier’ climate really does make outdoor lifestyles easier!

Climate is SO important for this lifestyle. Dont underestimate the massive impact a less-than-desirable climate can have on achieving this lifestyle.

If there are very important reasons you absolutely HAVE to be in Ireland, then i would recommend the counties that are south-east (ignore wet rainy wicklow mountains though).

Ireland is a damp emerald beauty with plenty of harsh weather blasting this little gem from the gigantic atlantic ocean we are exposed to.
Ireland really shelters the uk from a lot of the harshest atlantic ocean south-west winds.

Im inland some 10 miles from galway area - the wild west!
It rains at least 2/3rds of the time., average year. Rainfall is @ 2000-3000mm p/year depending on whether youre high valley or low valley.
I have done detailed mappings of my particular climate here - there’s worse areas than my location in sligo and mayo.
The sunshine hours are around 600-800 per year. Compared to 3000 of south france  - it’s a vast difference.
The global climate data websites give averages that are from a few key places, so the true picture of climate is distorted by websites.


Plants absolutely need sun for photosynthesis! Not just dull cloudy UV light. Plant growth is painfully slow, compared to the relatively blissful climate of midlands uk i lived and worked outside before moving here.
Most plants do best in polytunnels here to protect them from the abundant rain and wind. The growing season is very short.
It’s an extremely challenging climate for growing multi-tillage crops.
Better suited to sheep farming, like north west scotland.

The type of lifestyle/person this climate would ideally suit would be a hunter of the huge amount of wild deer, and raising of sheep/chickens for meat…a woodsman with a chainsaw and axe for heating the home. A very rugged hardcore woodsman/woman hunter type who loves the brutality of the wild, and the challenges that the climate or nature can throw at him/her.
I’ve met a few like that here, to be fair, and those types thrive and love it.

It depends on your personal constitution and smallholding aims. If a mild, warm , sunny blue skies, fairly dry climate is your absolute preference, then ireland is definitely going to fall short of providing that.
I’ve altered my small-holding aims to suit this climate - rather than try to constantly fail at my preferred horticultural attempts/aims.
We can only achieve what the climate will allow, when it comes to crops and farm animals health.

Its a stunningly beautiful country because it is so wild and unspoilt - its unspoilt because not many can tolerate living in these rural wild regions…mainly due to the wet climate.

Climate has to be given top priority when searching for land to farm the land with varying crops and animals. Not too wet, not too dry. Not too exposed, neither buried in a valley 🙂

Feel free to message me if you want to know more.

Hi ,

I've lived in Ireland my whole life, I've recently bought a small holding in Mayo on the west. I grew up in connemara, which has some of the harshest land in the country. I've also had a homestead in other parts of Co. Galway.

Ireland is a great country. On the west at least, it's full of culture, great community and friendly people. When you are out in the rural areas, there isn't a neghbor that can't help with something, whether it be sheering sheep, welding, digger work, growing vegetables etc

Your growing season will run from march right up to august/september and then thing like lettuces etc for the winter.

Things like water, and bog (for fuel) , sea and lakes etc are in abundance here. So like the people who have been here for 1000s of years, you would have plenty to live a self sustaned lifestyle.

Also politically, Ireland is a very stable country, small and homely compared to many other countries in Europe and around the world.

The population of the whole country is 5.2 million or so. over a million live in Dublin. The west is sparcely populated, so a good place for the last stand at the end of the world!

I can't speak of France, because I have never lived there, but I'm sure it is an amazing country too. You are spoiled for choice. I've lived in Canada, UK, Spain and Italy and I would put the west of Ireland for homesteading, community, culture, and being surrounded by people who "homesteading" is in their blood, and they are all around you, as one of the best places to live.

Hope that helps, if you have any questions or I can help in any way, feel free to reach out.

All the best