Maynooth, on the banks of the Royal Canal, might just be Dublin’s prettiest commuter town.
The north Kildare heritage town also boasts a university and is teeming with life during term time. It has a lively restaurant- and bar-lined main street where students congregate.
Access to the extensive grounds of the demesne of Palladian mansion Carton House offers gorgeous walks, while the location also has a really good commuter train service that will have you at Connolly Station in 40 minutes, a distance of more than 26km. Fitness fiends, meanwhile, can eschew the train for a two-wheel commute on the off-road, canal-side cycle path that lets you commune with nature all the way to Ashtown.
Maynooth’s university status affords home-hunters with families a place where the kids can get educated all the way to third level without having to leave home.
Mariavilla is an impressive scheme where listed housebuilder Cairn Homes has planning permission to build 460 homes on both banks of a greenfield site. As well as 320 houses, 142 apartments and 483 student bed spaces, a linear park along the Lyreen river will run through the development. The firm is constructing a new link road connecting the Dunboyne Road to the Moyglare thoroughfare.
It has three- and four-bedroom homes, complete with smart storage including a separate cloakroom off the hall and luxury touches including stone worktops in the kitchens. Prices for the houses start from about €370,000 and €480,000 respectively, through joint agents Hooke & MacDonald and Coonan New Homes.
For families in need of more space there are a couple of five-bedroom semis and five-bedroom detached homes left in neighbouring Moyglare Hall, which is in the final phase of a development where multiple phases have been built since construction first began in 2005. By Mycete Homes and North City Builders, both styles extend to 171sq m (1,850sq ft) and are set over three floors. Prices for the semis start from €500,000 while the detached houses start from €550,000 through Coonan New Homes.
Small scheme
Lyreen Lodge on the Dunboyne Road is a small scheme of just 34 three- and four-bedroom homes for sale through SherryFitzGerald New Homes and SherryFitzGerald Brady. The estate is just a couple of minutes’ walk from the main street and a 15-minute walk to the train station. Sizeable three-bed semis from 114sq m (1,22sq ft) will cost from about €435,000, while large four-bed semis of 158sq m (1,701sq ft) start from about €510,000.
There is just one smart, two-storey, timber-frame construction, four-bedroom semi at Carton Wood, adjacent to the Carton House estate. Built by Anthony Neville Homes on the Dublin Road, this extends to 135sq m (1,446sq ft) and is asking €467,500, through agent Savills.
Nearby Straffan is an upscale locale where Hammerstone is the first new homes scheme in about 10 years and is launching through French Estates.
Although prices have yet to be fixed you can expect to pay upwards of €400,000 for three-bed semis of 126sq m (1,360sq ft); from €460,000 for four-bed semis of about 154sq m (1,660sq ft) and from €750,000 for five-bedroom detached properties of about 206sq m (2,200sq ft).
Lowdown: Maynooth
Distance to Dublin city centre: 27 kilometres
Connectivity: The commuter line from Kilcock serves Maynooth and the journey time to Connolly Station is about 35 minutes on average while the number 66 Bus Eireann service delivers you to Merrion Square. The tow path is being upgraded so that you will, possibly by summer 2021, be able to cycle all the way from Drumcondra to Maynooth west, via swing gates.
Population: About 15,000
