My Town

I took this photo earlier in the week. It was Monday morning, a weekday. My daughter and I decided to start our day off well, with intention, with a walk to the beach. A beautiful morning with the sun already shining warm. We filled a thermos with hot chocolate after breakfast and were down on the stony beach by the harbour 10 minutes later, for 9 a.m. We sat down on the slipway wall and filled our mugs. The beach was deserted except for some ladies changing and chatting after their morning swim. The sea was so calm, like a sheet of glass, reflecting puffy little clouds. Beyond the clouds, a blue sky held the promise of another gorgeous day. A seal popped his head up once in a while for a nosy wee look about. We kept an eye out for him to re-surface each time he disappeared. While we were watching, we didn't miss this paddle boarder the moment he emerged out elegantly from behind the harbour wall. We were mesmerized as he glided effortlessly across our line of vision and disappeared beyond the point of Hampton Cove. The swimming ladies had packed up their gear by now and headed up the slipway with a cheery "Good morning". The seagulls cried overhead and we sipped our hot chocolate. We soon emptied our mugs, licked our lips and headed over to the rocks by the harbour wall for some climbing, picking up a few "toffee" rocks to add to our collection on the way. After a while we checked our watches: 9.45 a.m. The library was just opening and we left the beach, strolling under the viaduct, up a little steep hill to pick up some books for a relaxing hour of reading later on the couch.

This is My Town. Balbriggan, North Co. Dublin, Ireland.

I am not originally from Balbriggan. I grew up in Cork, in the south of Ireland. I moved to Dublin city center first and I lived there for about 8 years before I met the "Haironimus" lad and moved to where he was living, in Balbriggan, about ten years ago.

Before I moved to Balbriggan, I had lived in a modern city center top floor apartment with floor-to-ceiling glass windows giving views all the way up the river Liffey to Liberty Hall. Stunning views, city lights twinkling by night. I had great running routes all around Dublin 2 and through the leafy affluent suburbs of Dublin 4. I had membership of a top-end gym with swimming pool, sauna. I had health food stores and healthy take-outs in walking distance. I had theaters, cinemas, bars and restaurants on my doorstep. I met friends in fancy wine bars after work, drank skinny cappo's in uber-cool cafes. There was always something going on. Opera, film festivals, Japanese food. I strolled Grafton street on Saturday afternoons and always came back with at least one bag: Brown Thomas, Waterstones, M&S.

When I visited home, Cork, I browsed the English market and bought samples of amazing olives, mouth watering sun-dried tomatoes, cheeses and turkish delight. Dined in great restaurants with simple, beautifully cooked, locally sourced culinary delights from West and East Cork.  

Before I moved to Balbriggan, some of my friends asked how would I feel living there. I said, "Fine, it seems a relaxed place and the commute seems ok". In the back of my head I knew I was moving to "commuter-belt land" but I kept that voice silent. It would be grand.

I moved to Balbriggan. I still was in and out to the city center for work. Gone in the morning, back in the evening. I got a bit of a shock. I felt there was simply nothing to do here, nowhere to go, nowhere nice to eat. Nowhere for dates. The evenings were the worst. We were living just off the main street. Not much was open at night except for pubs, the late night filling station and take-aways. Lots of take-aways. I had never seen so many on one street in a town before. And only one or two were in any way decent. I had never seen so many pharmacies too, was everyone sick? The pubs were either loud (very loud) or were quiet "old man" places. There were none of the old character pubs that I knew in Dublin city center or Cork. None that I could go into on my own during the day, order a wine, a glass of Guinness or even have a well-brewed coffee with a cinnamon biscuit on the side and read my book or the paper in the corner for a few hours. There was little in the way of a nice comfortable café to relax in and get a nice freshly baked scone.

It was too much effort to travel back into the city center in the evening for entertainment. So I started watching more TV at home and took up knitting again. I went along to a knitting club upstairs in the library on one of their late evening openings. But the class was full of ladies older than I and they all knew each other. I was a curiosity.

In the year or few after I moved here, Balbriggan seemed to appear in the news for all the wrong reasons and I would get a text from someone, family or friends around the country. A siege in a pub on the main street and the riot police called, a stabbing, a shooting, gang fights in residential areas, another fire in a derelict building in the center of town. I cringed every time. But gradually I was moving to the defense side now a little. Leave Balbriggan alone!

When I moved here, it was summer. I walked and walked and started to feel a lot of despair. The sea and the coastline were beautiful but all I could think about was WTF I was doing living out here. I had left culture, sources of fresh and interesting food and a vibrant city life. And the commute on the train or bus wasn't that exciting when it was every day! At least an hour each way.

It was hard going. I was putting so much effort in trying to settle. Balbriggan reminded me of a girl who was genuinely beautiful and nice but didn't seem to care and wasn't making any effort. In fact she dressed a bit tarty and could look quite ugly sometimes. You'd feel like giving her a good shake, telling her to cop on and put her better self forward! I could see Skerries town in the distance along the coast on my walks and I marveled at how two towns so close to each other could differ so much. In truth, I think Balbriggan aesthetically has more going for herself, the little hills adding interest and texture, an incredible viaduct over the harbour for the railway line coming through the town. Beaches where you can walk for miles and find peace and solitude, the rough-and-ready harbour. But Skerries looked after herself better, a thriving Tidy Towns committee, amazing restaurants and bars, a posher accent but most importantly, she commanded that she be treated well. No brutalistic architecture or too much town sprawl. Balbriggan seemed to get all the crap and she seemed to just take it as her due.

We started to renovate our home. It was ex-council and there was lots needing to be done to make it feel like a home, not least of all handing eviction notices to charming and cute but unwelcome little furry lodgers.

We adopted a dog. The lovely Renée. She arrived with a bang and ripped through the house and chewed up some nice things I owned from my previous life. But then, she started introducing us to other dog owners. I started to make new friends, we walked our dogs in the same places and kept bumping into each other. Through them we got to know a great dog groomer and a dog trainer who ran a home-from-home stay locally for dogs.

We got pregnant. I met other new mums and a whole community started growing around us. We got to know an amazing childminder from Balbriggan and she brought our daughter into the bosom of her family and the town. When I walked my daughter down the street she knew more people than I. Elderly ladies walking to mass recognised her, the checkout girls in Supervalu recognised her.  

My mum always said dogs and children help you make friends easily. She was right.

I got to know my neighbours who were mostly elderly. I got to know ALL of them and mourned them when they passed out, welcomed new neighbours as they moved in. We borrow each others wheelbarrows, we look after the common areas in the estate, we cut each others gardens when someone is unable, we take out each others bins. We knock on doors when we sense something is not quite right. When I lived in the city center I used to take the lift to my apartment and insert the key in the door. I never met anyone on the way up. I never even saw my neighbours.

Our daughter started school. The other parents in her class were really nice. Normal. We drummed up support together and did litter pickups and gardening in the school grounds. We got to know parents that are involved in the community and working on projects to improve Balbriggan. One of the projects we heard a lot about is "Our Balbriggan". Ambitious and exciting plans to blast through and reinvent this town. It's going to be great and there has so much progress already in a few short years.

The Covid-19 lockdown came and the many commuters of Balbriggan were now at home in the town. With lots of extra time on their hands. Little fairy gardens started appearing in housing estates. Rocks were being painted with beautiful quotes and images. One day a "Covid snake" of painted rocks appeared down on the beach promenade. And it grew and grew around the headland as people took time and effort to paint a rock and add it to the tail. Love hearts were being painted on walls. Lots of people out walking. Walking, walking, walking, as were many people in the 2km restriction all around Ireland. Except, here in Balbriggan, we were walking those 2kms on stunning beaches and listening to the calm ebbing and flowing of the waves on the seashore. Eating delicious Italian ice cream in the summer months and drinking yummy Ferrero Rocher hot chocolates in the winter from Pappagallino's. Strolling, strolling, strolling and waving the 2 meter social distance to friends and acquaintances not seen in a while. We had all been too busy. No longer commuting now. Getting to know the neighbours. Getting to know the town. At last.

The Irish institute of music opened it's doors, having renovated two beautiful landmark period houses in the town. Beautifully sculptured gardens joined the two buildings and left me speechless when I visited on their open day in summer 2020. I could not believe that this world class cultural facility was opening in ... Balbriggan. And only a 5 minute walk from our doorstep.

Cabana coffee café were extending and opened another café up close to our daughter's school. Upstairs over that café they opened ... pinch me now ... a refill shop Greener Grocer! In Balbriggan. In walking distance from our home.

Java the Hut, who roast the most wonderful coffee right here in the town, have their roasting HQ literally a hop across the canal from us and will happily refill my glass jar with coffee beans (but even their own packaging is environmentally friendly and their cups compostable).

I started following Mister Money Mustache and the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement a few years ago and one big thing that stuck with me is finding an ideal location to live that doesn't cost you or the environment too dearly to live there. My checklist of an ideal place to live for me goes a little like this:

Can we live there without owning a car? Walking distance to shops, amenities, schools, work? We are confirming the work aspect at the moment but otherwise, check, check, check.

Do we have friends nearby and belong to a supporting community? Check.

Is our house easy to maintain ourselves? Mostly Yes.

Is it a nice place to live, lots of things to do? Yes it is and it will be even nicer.

Can we source locally grown or locally produced food? Yes.

The Balbriggan Tidy towns committee have made huge strides in the past few years and there are so many patches of bee-friendly beauty all around the town. The committee itself and the planting ladies are just the nicest people you could meet. Full of useful gardening tips and warm chat.

And, while I mention nice people, Balbriggan people in general are the salt of the earth (or the sea since we are "sur-mer"?). Basically, there's no sh** about them. "Haironimus" sometimes describes someone to me as "real old Balbriggan" and I know what he means. It kind of means these people are warm, honest-to-goodness, hard-working people that look out for each other and have a bit of craic.

What else? Well, I've recently realised a large organic veggie farm is in cycling distance. I need to get on my rothar soon and check that out.

Ardgillan Demense is in walking distance to us and this place was my salvation when I was trying and trying and trying to settle in here. It's such a stunning place and a real gift to live so close to it.

So am I staying here forever? Yeah, why not. This town has given me a home and warm deep feelings of comfort. I see dodgy characters down the town sometimes and I have fleeting thoughts of "GET ME THE F*** OUT OF HERE NOW!". I still dream of a little organic holding with a sweet cottage or a period residence with original sash windows, cast iron fireplaces, wooden floors and an old garden with a few apple trees. Would I like to live in West Cork? Or back in Cork city? Hell yes. But then I dig into all those thoughts. Do I want to be tied to a fat mortgage where I need to work crazy hours in order to tread water? No. Do I want to move somewhere beautiful and refined but maybe lose a sense of community and roots like those that have grown deep here? Maybe lose this simple lifestyle that we do appear to have? No.

It seems I am content in Balbriggan-sur-mer. She has won. The flower shop down the street sells mugs with the logo "Life is better in Balbriggan". I went to get one the other day but she was sold out. It must be a popular thought.