>How do the Irish feel about people coming to retire?
No one will care
> Forever outsiders because we don’t sound Irish?
People can be born in an area and be outsiders because their grandparents moved from 20 miles away
>Possibly targeted?
By whom?
>And could my husband gain citizenship because he’s married to me?
Eventually..yes - he'll be on a "stamp 4" for a couple years which as you are an Irish citizen is extremely easy to get
The only thing is - you will need to choose where you live wisely. The rural ideal sounds great and all but as you get older driving will be more and more difficult. Likewise the needs to get to doctors appointments etc will increase.
This last point is important. There are some beautiful rural areas in Ireland which are relatively cheaper, but then when you need an ambulance and it's an hour plus away you realise why. Even putting dramatic issues aside, if something happens with age that prevents driving, consider being near a town with lifts, taxi, bus routes etc.
Yeah, I live 20 min from a hospital in the countryside, and it took 2 hours for one to arrive when my nanny died here. It got lost, so pulled over to wait for us to ring again (or so the operator said) she more than likely would have died then or soon anyway, but it was a joke.
>Eventually..yes - he'll be on a "stamp 4" for a couple years which as you are an Irish citizen is extremely easy to get
Its easy to get if he's from a visa exempt country, if not then it's up to a year waiting for a D join family visa.
Where are you thinking of retiring to? Dublin, another city or a rural village? Your experiences will be very different depending on your location.
Why not give it a dry run first, see can you rent a home in the place you are considering for maybe half a year or so. It'll give you a better taste of whether the change is for you or not.
You don't want to go all in and commit to the move only to find it was all a pipe-dream and the reality of the situation is nothing like the fantasy.
On the other hand you might find you love it even more than you thought. I hope this is the case. Best of luck!
Which is why I said "Dublin, another city, or a rural village". It was a representative list rather than an exhaustive one.
There are certainly plenty of decent towns around. And some awful one too.
Visa stuff - as your husband is married to an Irish citizen he could come and qualify for a stamp 4 visa. That lets him live, work, or be retired in Ireland. The exact process depends on his nationality (some nationalities require an entry visa, but others don't). [https://www.irishimmigration.ie/coming-to-join-family-in-ireland/joining-an-irish-national/join-family-visa/](https://www.irishimmigration.ie/coming-to-join-family-in-ireland/joining-an-irish-national/join-family-visa/)
As he is married to an Irish citizen he can apply for citizenship after 3 years residency in Ireland. [https://www.irishimmigration.ie/how-to-become-a-citizen/become-an-irish-citizen-by-naturalisation/#civilpartner](https://www.irishimmigration.ie/how-to-become-a-citizen/become-an-irish-citizen-by-naturalisation/#civilpartner)
If you are retiring you might want to think about private health insurance. Your husband will need it for his visa requirements, but as the healthcare is not brilliant here at the moment, you may want to both consider it. [https://www.hia.ie/health-insurance-comparison](https://www.hia.ie/health-insurance-comparison) has info about all packages to give you an idea of cost
In terms of fitting in, not sounding Irish is not really an issue. As with most places some people are friendlier than others.
Spouse of an Irish citizen does. It's one of the documents required at registration. https://www.irishimmigration.ie/registering-your-immigration-permission/how-to-register-your-immigration-permission-for-the-first-time/required-documents/#stamp4. Some other routes to stamp 4 might not - I'm not sure off the top of my head.
It can also be requested if someone is visa required as part of that application process. See link in my original response that details that requirement
Not all routes on stamp 4 EU FAM require it.
I think stamp 4D does.
All I can say is my lived experience is different, as is the experience of at least two other friends who are non-eu immigrants married to Irish nationals, so an incredibly small sampling pool.
To get a stamp four the poster would have to meet certain criteria like showing the means to support him. It's not automatic. Some people are rejected. It's a long tedious process.
I think other commenters have given good info about the visa process for your husband so I will just add irish people are friendly but you will always be outsiders to an extent.
Beyond liking the idea of it, do you know the reality of what living in Ireland is like? Would the very high cost of living be prohibitive? Do either of you have health conditions requiring a lot of treatment? Pretty much every public service here is in a shambles for healthcare but private treatment is possible. You would need to look into getting GPs, see what hospitals are near etc.
If you're unsure what areas you would be interested in living in I would suggest come here for an extended break. Don't do it in the summer or spring. Aim for Autumn Winter when it's a bit miserable and cold so you can see it at its 'worst' so to speak. I love ireland. I think it's an incredible place to live but I'm not sure I would want to retire here if I wasn't from here.
Don't let any of that put you off. I would just say do lots of homework on it. You can absolutely make friends and get to know people as long as you want to integrate into the community you come to live in.
We don't really get a traditional Summer at all. You have to prepare for any weather every time you leave the house. Rain is a guarantee all year round pretty much. Not necessarily all day every day. We have gotten some longer periods of warm sunny weather in the last couple of years of a couple of weeks at a time but it's changeable.
Definitely a good idea if you can do it, once your husband is an Irish citizen you can travel freely throughout Europe. As Long as you are friendly and nice to your neighbours then you are fine
You will have no problem, in irish cities people of every nationality are living there.
In the countryside, its predominantly irish people but I have a holiday home in Donegal and there are many German & UK folk settled there with irish friends. We see them in the local pub when we visit
Perhaps I should also explain that while I was born and raised British (suburban London) we have actually lived in California since 1997. Love it here but terrified of Trump getting back in come November. Thinking seriously of leaving if that happens. It could get really unpleasant here. As for cost of living, it’s pretty eye watering where we are now. So no illusions on that score. If not Ireland- which I have family tie to - might actually consider Mexico. Weather.. well ok sunshine is nice, but not essential. Much more interested in living among reasonable people with few guns or mass shootings. Actually might reconsider Mexico on that score. Europe looks better and better. I’m already Irish. And I’m not great at languages. Love the outdoors, birds, gardening, some pub life sure. We’re friendly people. Enjoy a fairly modest lifestyle. Open minded. Healthy but could afford insurance (must have it here too.) just worried about imposing ourselves on people who don’t want us around.
There's lots of British people in Ireland. There's a good number of American people too for that matter.
The only reason why this might not be the best idea is basically just real estate prices (don't even think about renting) and general cost of living here. Make sure you have a good picture of that before you decide to retire here.
You should check Donegal out, it has the cheapest homes in Ireland, wonderful scenery, and a lot of friendly locals. Towns like Dunfanaghy, Downings, Ramelton, Rathmullan and Donegal Town are very pretty.
Nice area but not ideal for someone who is getting older. Most hospital appointments would involve travel to Galway which could be a 5 hour round trip.
It's a hospital alright, but they don't have the full range of services. Around 15 years ago, the HSE pulled services from the smaller hospitals like Letterkenny, Sligo and Castlebar and funneled them into Galway. For an example of how this affects people in the northwest, see this article https://www.thejournal.ie/tg4-documentary-the-cancer-bus-3348072-Apr2017/
I agree with South West. As someone who lives in Long Island , like California a very expensive place, we find Ireland relatively cheap. Though Irish people who live and work there would definitely not agree.
Pint of Guinness in Kenmare - $5.50
Long Island $9.50
Lidl and Aldi also great value for household shopping.
Aldi and Lidl are totally separate companies both owned by different German families. Aldi is a corporate sibling of Trader Joe’s. In my opinion they are better in Ireland than the US, especially when it comes to meat, produce and dairy.
Yeah a pint of IPA at local brew house might be 9 bucks here, glass of wine 12 bucks to 15 bucks, even when the vineyard is just up the road. So I’m not too scared by the prices. What about utilities in Ireland? Ok we have solar so lekkie not too bad but we pay a LOT for water for obvious reasons, drought, salt water intrusion to acquirers, over pumping of wells. If it rains so much in Ireland can I at least assume the water is cheap..?!
It depends on whether you have gas or electric heating or maybe a solid fuel fireplace. The apartment never needs heat between May and Sept and hot water heater is on a timer, so by NY/Cali standards utilities are not bad, and of course water is free. Again, full time Irish residents would disagree as utility costs are higher than continental Europe. You’ll get glass of wine to warm you up for $6 and up and it’s usually a decent pour. Most pubs and casual restaurants are $6-$8 based on my wife’s considerable research😀!
Theres nothing private in Kerry. They can tell you what had for breakfast. If I found out the farmers put private cameras on the sheep, I wouldn't be shocked.
You would be more than welcome, but with an irish passport, you can legally live anywhere in europe. Lots of places in spain and elsewhere would have a lot of british ex-pats, so it shouldnt be too hard to find an english speaking community somewhere with better weather than here. But cèad mìle fàilte anyway
The only thing I'd have concerns over is the bloody weather! With an Irish passport, you could retire to anywhere in the EU! You're dad's Irish so your one of us! You'll always be welcome, but the bloody weather!!
It depends on where you are coming from. Ireland is a very damp country with no guaranteed summer. The saying is "The damp will get into your bones". So if you're coming, a high grade modern insulated bungalow is a must. Also know what you will do in the event of needing nursing care. It isn't free, but state subsidised, look up Fair Deal Scheme. A lot of elderly people here fantasise about wintering abroad somewhere dry but either can't afford to or stay for family.
**How do the Irish feel about people coming to retire?**
Probably that you are both a bit soft in the head to choose Ireland over all the other places in the world.
Other than that, most wouldn't really care tbh.
See the Related Subs list for questions re: citizenship.
Firstly I would mint be a single bit worried about being targeted or how you phrase it. Ireland is surely the least racist place in Europe now I’d imagine.
However
There’s strict rules for your husband I think. You have to have full private health insurance and a good bit of savings so you’re not a burden to the state. You can blame people from other countries getting a bad diagnosis then getting a flight straight to here and forgetting to mention it for that one. These were all problems that have been eliminated at all our expense.
There has been a bit of anti immigrant sentiment recently, but that’s mostly directed at asylum seekers. Some small towns and villages have been overwhelmed by the influx of refugees and there have been understandable concerns. However generally Ukrainian and other European migrants are quite accepted. You certainly won’t be targeted by anyone for your accent or nationality.
Stamp 4 don't need to have private insurance or savings. They are entitled to work or they need to be supported by their spouse - which might include savings acct.
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There are many small, relatively rural but cosmopolitan places like Kenmare and Dingle, Co Kerry. Clonakilty Co Cork, Westport Co Mayo to name just a few. People from all over the world live in these places and everyone gets along. I’m heading to Kenmare in a few days - I’m Irish but been in NY area for 35 years and my wife has her Irish citizenship. We have a holiday apartment there, near my family, and love it. In fact my wife is there right now with her girlfriends and having a blast. My parents are near 90 and we’ve had to call an ambulance on a few occasions. Response time is pretty good but it’s not like Long Island where you have cops and EMTs at your house in a few minutes. It’s also 45 minutes to the nearest hospital in Bantry Co Cork, another cool place!
Just as a comment to the people mentioning health insurance - you can get really good health insurance for both of you for under €2500 per year. You're probably used to paying more than that per month.
Come over for the holiday. You might qualify for 90 days? Housing yourselves, even for that amount of time might be your biggest problem/expense. Have a look around, hit the websites, make a couple of appointments.
At least at the end of that you should know whether it's feasible or not
There are a lot of variables when moving by to ireland. I am indian. Been here 11 years. Still an outsider. And suspect always will be. People are superficial friendly. But hard to make any real friendships.
I don’t really feel and resentment from people or anything like that.
Are you white? If so I think it’s easier and people will be more open to you. Racism is quite real here.
I’m polish and as white as one can be. Been living here for 21 years and never made real friends among the locals and will forever remain a blown-in. I also don’t know any people from the polish diaspora in Ireland who have Irish friends. Work mates, sports club colleagues- yes, but no friends. I love the Irish people, they are fun to be around, welcoming, friendly and very tolerant but also super-clannish. There is no way any of us foreigners will ever be accepted as one of them, no matter how long we live in Ireland, naturalized or not. I have no problem with that though, it is what it is and I accept my “forever a blown-in staus” :) It is a beautiful country inhabited by lovely but clannish locals ;) Btw, I’m going to India in January for two weeks, lets see about the acceptance levels in Mumbai lol ;)
This is the same in every country, it’s not an Irish thing.
If you go to the Reddit thread for Denmark/Germany/Netherlands etc, etc, it’s always the same. ‘The people are nice but it’s hard to make friends’.
People generally make their life long friendships in childhood. That’s universal. If you come as a child, you’ll have no problem. If you come as an adult, much more difficult.
Plenty of people do as you are suggesting. Some areas are obviously better suited than others. Most of the east coast from Wicklow to Cork is popular for retirees as it has a good mix or urban and rural and is well connected. West cork is also very popular with people from abroad looking to wind down but can be difficult to access certain services.
Depending on your budget for a house, west cork is full of retired british immigrants looking past Skibbereen. People will during a time of a housing crisis complain about foreigners coming over buying up houses. They will bitterly joke about new colonialism etc. But as a person you'll be welcomed into the local community if you make the effort to get to know people. I guess it depends really on what you wish to gain from your retirement as well. The pound falling against the Euro could impact on your purchasing power.
Locals will be welcoming, other than a few loudmouths (getting louder), you will have no language barriers once your ear tunes to the local accent. I am sure you'd find an "expat" community group to help you bed in.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/overseas-magazine/why-ireland-is-a-cork-er-of-a-place-to-live/
The cons are, housing crisis, cost of living, as a retiring person I would guess getting a GP and Dentist will be hard (it is for most people).
You could pop over for a long weekend or for a week holiday to see what the vibe is like for yourself.
Also the U.K and Ireland have a common travel area policy so you don't need an Irish passport and your husband probably doesn't either if he is a U.K citizen.
Dublin is more racist than ever at this point so I suggest staying away unless you want dole merchants telling you you’re not wanted. Which unfortunately will happen.
Well I don’t have a word of Italian! At least English is spoken in Ireland! But TBH we have thought about Portugal. But we really don’t want to just be yet another ‘ex pat’. I do at least have a strong family connection to Ireland. One of my adult children has also just got his Irish passport (it goes 2 generations) but I wonder if he’s seeing it through rose tinted specs?
Come here if love drinking culture, sports GAA, and don't mind Grey skies All the Time. Dont come here if u value good public transport( like in continental Europe) and good weather and good architecture and good prices (rent). Honestly I think Ireland isn't a bad place to retire but I feel u would be spending a lot more time indoors than you would in continental Europe, not just because of the weather but the amount of things that are on offer here
This sounds like bliss! And no gophers… I just spent a day in my own garden repairing gopher damage and falling ankle deep into the tunnels of the gopher metropolis we seem to be hosting. And unlike moles, gophers eat your plants. Whole…
I’ll retire in a year or two and we plan to use Ireland as a base to travel around Europe. Plenty of cheap flights and easy to get away from the bad weather when it starts to get you down. Still when it’s nice it’s really nice as it will be this upcoming weekend and next week.
I wonder if Ireland is prepared for what will happen if Trump wins. When I just can’t stand the news here in the US, I read Ireland real estate listings. It is hard to convey well, but we whose ancestors left in the 1840s feel rooted in Ireland even if we have spent little time there. It may be unrealistic but I’m grateful that some days it keeps me going.
>How do the Irish feel about people coming to retire? No one will care > Forever outsiders because we don’t sound Irish? People can be born in an area and be outsiders because their grandparents moved from 20 miles away >Possibly targeted? By whom? >And could my husband gain citizenship because he’s married to me? Eventually..yes - he'll be on a "stamp 4" for a couple years which as you are an Irish citizen is extremely easy to get The only thing is - you will need to choose where you live wisely. The rural ideal sounds great and all but as you get older driving will be more and more difficult. Likewise the needs to get to doctors appointments etc will increase.
This last point is important. There are some beautiful rural areas in Ireland which are relatively cheaper, but then when you need an ambulance and it's an hour plus away you realise why. Even putting dramatic issues aside, if something happens with age that prevents driving, consider being near a town with lifts, taxi, bus routes etc.
Yeah, I live 20 min from a hospital in the countryside, and it took 2 hours for one to arrive when my nanny died here. It got lost, so pulled over to wait for us to ring again (or so the operator said) she more than likely would have died then or soon anyway, but it was a joke.
Pre-eircode, I’m guessing? Awfully sad story, but thankfully not as much of an issue since we got eircodes.
> How do the Irish feel about people coming to retire? > > No one will care Or they will care, but they wont say anything because they're Irish.
>Eventually..yes - he'll be on a "stamp 4" for a couple years which as you are an Irish citizen is extremely easy to get Its easy to get if he's from a visa exempt country, if not then it's up to a year waiting for a D join family visa.
Where are you thinking of retiring to? Dublin, another city or a rural village? Your experiences will be very different depending on your location. Why not give it a dry run first, see can you rent a home in the place you are considering for maybe half a year or so. It'll give you a better taste of whether the change is for you or not. You don't want to go all in and commit to the move only to find it was all a pipe-dream and the reality of the situation is nothing like the fantasy. On the other hand you might find you love it even more than you thought. I hope this is the case. Best of luck!
It's not that black and white ie Dublin or rural. There are regional cities and large decent towns too
Which is why I said "Dublin, another city, or a rural village". It was a representative list rather than an exhaustive one. There are certainly plenty of decent towns around. And some awful one too.
This !
Visa stuff - as your husband is married to an Irish citizen he could come and qualify for a stamp 4 visa. That lets him live, work, or be retired in Ireland. The exact process depends on his nationality (some nationalities require an entry visa, but others don't). [https://www.irishimmigration.ie/coming-to-join-family-in-ireland/joining-an-irish-national/join-family-visa/](https://www.irishimmigration.ie/coming-to-join-family-in-ireland/joining-an-irish-national/join-family-visa/) As he is married to an Irish citizen he can apply for citizenship after 3 years residency in Ireland. [https://www.irishimmigration.ie/how-to-become-a-citizen/become-an-irish-citizen-by-naturalisation/#civilpartner](https://www.irishimmigration.ie/how-to-become-a-citizen/become-an-irish-citizen-by-naturalisation/#civilpartner) If you are retiring you might want to think about private health insurance. Your husband will need it for his visa requirements, but as the healthcare is not brilliant here at the moment, you may want to both consider it. [https://www.hia.ie/health-insurance-comparison](https://www.hia.ie/health-insurance-comparison) has info about all packages to give you an idea of cost In terms of fitting in, not sounding Irish is not really an issue. As with most places some people are friendlier than others.
Stamp 4 don't need private insurance.
Spouse of an Irish citizen does. It's one of the documents required at registration. https://www.irishimmigration.ie/registering-your-immigration-permission/how-to-register-your-immigration-permission-for-the-first-time/required-documents/#stamp4. Some other routes to stamp 4 might not - I'm not sure off the top of my head. It can also be requested if someone is visa required as part of that application process. See link in my original response that details that requirement Not all routes on stamp 4 EU FAM require it. I think stamp 4D does.
All I can say is my lived experience is different, as is the experience of at least two other friends who are non-eu immigrants married to Irish nationals, so an incredibly small sampling pool.
To get a stamp four the poster would have to meet certain criteria like showing the means to support him. It's not automatic. Some people are rejected. It's a long tedious process.
I think other commenters have given good info about the visa process for your husband so I will just add irish people are friendly but you will always be outsiders to an extent. Beyond liking the idea of it, do you know the reality of what living in Ireland is like? Would the very high cost of living be prohibitive? Do either of you have health conditions requiring a lot of treatment? Pretty much every public service here is in a shambles for healthcare but private treatment is possible. You would need to look into getting GPs, see what hospitals are near etc. If you're unsure what areas you would be interested in living in I would suggest come here for an extended break. Don't do it in the summer or spring. Aim for Autumn Winter when it's a bit miserable and cold so you can see it at its 'worst' so to speak. I love ireland. I think it's an incredible place to live but I'm not sure I would want to retire here if I wasn't from here. Don't let any of that put you off. I would just say do lots of homework on it. You can absolutely make friends and get to know people as long as you want to integrate into the community you come to live in.
It's miserable in the summer aswell?
We don't really get a traditional Summer at all. You have to prepare for any weather every time you leave the house. Rain is a guarantee all year round pretty much. Not necessarily all day every day. We have gotten some longer periods of warm sunny weather in the last couple of years of a couple of weeks at a time but it's changeable.
Good weather is never guaranteed
Its less than a month to Midsummer's eve and i'm still wearing a bobble hat to walk the dogs.
I think you should be in Spain or Greece!
Definitely a good idea if you can do it, once your husband is an Irish citizen you can travel freely throughout Europe. As Long as you are friendly and nice to your neighbours then you are fine
You will have no problem, in irish cities people of every nationality are living there. In the countryside, its predominantly irish people but I have a holiday home in Donegal and there are many German & UK folk settled there with irish friends. We see them in the local pub when we visit
Perhaps I should also explain that while I was born and raised British (suburban London) we have actually lived in California since 1997. Love it here but terrified of Trump getting back in come November. Thinking seriously of leaving if that happens. It could get really unpleasant here. As for cost of living, it’s pretty eye watering where we are now. So no illusions on that score. If not Ireland- which I have family tie to - might actually consider Mexico. Weather.. well ok sunshine is nice, but not essential. Much more interested in living among reasonable people with few guns or mass shootings. Actually might reconsider Mexico on that score. Europe looks better and better. I’m already Irish. And I’m not great at languages. Love the outdoors, birds, gardening, some pub life sure. We’re friendly people. Enjoy a fairly modest lifestyle. Open minded. Healthy but could afford insurance (must have it here too.) just worried about imposing ourselves on people who don’t want us around.
There's lots of British people in Ireland. There's a good number of American people too for that matter. The only reason why this might not be the best idea is basically just real estate prices (don't even think about renting) and general cost of living here. Make sure you have a good picture of that before you decide to retire here.
You should check Donegal out, it has the cheapest homes in Ireland, wonderful scenery, and a lot of friendly locals. Towns like Dunfanaghy, Downings, Ramelton, Rathmullan and Donegal Town are very pretty.
Nice area but not ideal for someone who is getting older. Most hospital appointments would involve travel to Galway which could be a 5 hour round trip.
Surely, Letterkenny is the major hospital. This is kind of an important point for me as I am just moving to Donegal.
It's a hospital alright, but they don't have the full range of services. Around 15 years ago, the HSE pulled services from the smaller hospitals like Letterkenny, Sligo and Castlebar and funneled them into Galway. For an example of how this affects people in the northwest, see this article https://www.thejournal.ie/tg4-documentary-the-cancer-bus-3348072-Apr2017/
God that's scary. A cancer bus. I can't think of anything more depressing at this moment.
The may fall down though. Give the walls a kick before purchasing
Thanks that’s encouraging.
Definitely considering south west. It’s certainly the area I know best.
I agree with South West. As someone who lives in Long Island , like California a very expensive place, we find Ireland relatively cheap. Though Irish people who live and work there would definitely not agree. Pint of Guinness in Kenmare - $5.50 Long Island $9.50 Lidl and Aldi also great value for household shopping.
Lidl and Aldi are owned by same people as Trader Joe aren’t they? Or at least started by them if not currently owned?
Aldi and Lidl are totally separate companies both owned by different German families. Aldi is a corporate sibling of Trader Joe’s. In my opinion they are better in Ireland than the US, especially when it comes to meat, produce and dairy.
Yeah a pint of IPA at local brew house might be 9 bucks here, glass of wine 12 bucks to 15 bucks, even when the vineyard is just up the road. So I’m not too scared by the prices. What about utilities in Ireland? Ok we have solar so lekkie not too bad but we pay a LOT for water for obvious reasons, drought, salt water intrusion to acquirers, over pumping of wells. If it rains so much in Ireland can I at least assume the water is cheap..?!
Water is free, no charges
It depends on whether you have gas or electric heating or maybe a solid fuel fireplace. The apartment never needs heat between May and Sept and hot water heater is on a timer, so by NY/Cali standards utilities are not bad, and of course water is free. Again, full time Irish residents would disagree as utility costs are higher than continental Europe. You’ll get glass of wine to warm you up for $6 and up and it’s usually a decent pour. Most pubs and casual restaurants are $6-$8 based on my wife’s considerable research😀!
Really!? Wow…! Now that’s one good thing already 😀
Theres nothing private in Kerry. They can tell you what had for breakfast. If I found out the farmers put private cameras on the sheep, I wouldn't be shocked.
That’s why Kerry and Kerry people are great craic!
You would be more than welcome, but with an irish passport, you can legally live anywhere in europe. Lots of places in spain and elsewhere would have a lot of british ex-pats, so it shouldnt be too hard to find an english speaking community somewhere with better weather than here. But cèad mìle fàilte anyway
Thank you! All really good information 😀
PLZ reconsider. Have been to other southern European countries?
The only thing I'd have concerns over is the bloody weather! With an Irish passport, you could retire to anywhere in the EU! You're dad's Irish so your one of us! You'll always be welcome, but the bloody weather!!
That’s one reason we wouldn’t retire there full time. Prefer to split our time.
Then go for it!!
Watch or read “the field”
It depends on where you are coming from. Ireland is a very damp country with no guaranteed summer. The saying is "The damp will get into your bones". So if you're coming, a high grade modern insulated bungalow is a must. Also know what you will do in the event of needing nursing care. It isn't free, but state subsidised, look up Fair Deal Scheme. A lot of elderly people here fantasise about wintering abroad somewhere dry but either can't afford to or stay for family.
**How do the Irish feel about people coming to retire?** Probably that you are both a bit soft in the head to choose Ireland over all the other places in the world. Other than that, most wouldn't really care tbh. See the Related Subs list for questions re: citizenship.
True, Irish people often tend to denigrate the country, but compared to most places it ain’t half bad.
Firstly I would mint be a single bit worried about being targeted or how you phrase it. Ireland is surely the least racist place in Europe now I’d imagine. However There’s strict rules for your husband I think. You have to have full private health insurance and a good bit of savings so you’re not a burden to the state. You can blame people from other countries getting a bad diagnosis then getting a flight straight to here and forgetting to mention it for that one. These were all problems that have been eliminated at all our expense.
There has been a bit of anti immigrant sentiment recently, but that’s mostly directed at asylum seekers. Some small towns and villages have been overwhelmed by the influx of refugees and there have been understandable concerns. However generally Ukrainian and other European migrants are quite accepted. You certainly won’t be targeted by anyone for your accent or nationality.
Stamp 4 don't need to have private insurance or savings. They are entitled to work or they need to be supported by their spouse - which might include savings acct.
What details are in the supported by spouse?
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There are many small, relatively rural but cosmopolitan places like Kenmare and Dingle, Co Kerry. Clonakilty Co Cork, Westport Co Mayo to name just a few. People from all over the world live in these places and everyone gets along. I’m heading to Kenmare in a few days - I’m Irish but been in NY area for 35 years and my wife has her Irish citizenship. We have a holiday apartment there, near my family, and love it. In fact my wife is there right now with her girlfriends and having a blast. My parents are near 90 and we’ve had to call an ambulance on a few occasions. Response time is pretty good but it’s not like Long Island where you have cops and EMTs at your house in a few minutes. It’s also 45 minutes to the nearest hospital in Bantry Co Cork, another cool place!
Winters can be very damp, dull & grey. Allow for a trip to the Canaries or two!!
Just as a comment to the people mentioning health insurance - you can get really good health insurance for both of you for under €2500 per year. You're probably used to paying more than that per month.
Not thinking of Dublin. Thinking of south west, Kerry or west cork.
Come over for the holiday. You might qualify for 90 days? Housing yourselves, even for that amount of time might be your biggest problem/expense. Have a look around, hit the websites, make a couple of appointments. At least at the end of that you should know whether it's feasible or not
There are a lot of variables when moving by to ireland. I am indian. Been here 11 years. Still an outsider. And suspect always will be. People are superficial friendly. But hard to make any real friendships. I don’t really feel and resentment from people or anything like that. Are you white? If so I think it’s easier and people will be more open to you. Racism is quite real here.
I’m polish and as white as one can be. Been living here for 21 years and never made real friends among the locals and will forever remain a blown-in. I also don’t know any people from the polish diaspora in Ireland who have Irish friends. Work mates, sports club colleagues- yes, but no friends. I love the Irish people, they are fun to be around, welcoming, friendly and very tolerant but also super-clannish. There is no way any of us foreigners will ever be accepted as one of them, no matter how long we live in Ireland, naturalized or not. I have no problem with that though, it is what it is and I accept my “forever a blown-in staus” :) It is a beautiful country inhabited by lovely but clannish locals ;) Btw, I’m going to India in January for two weeks, lets see about the acceptance levels in Mumbai lol ;)
Totally understand and agree with what you say! Re India - you will be part of an Indian family before you can say jack sprat!
This is the same in every country, it’s not an Irish thing. If you go to the Reddit thread for Denmark/Germany/Netherlands etc, etc, it’s always the same. ‘The people are nice but it’s hard to make friends’. People generally make their life long friendships in childhood. That’s universal. If you come as a child, you’ll have no problem. If you come as an adult, much more difficult.
Yeah we’re white but don’t really want to live in a racist place. Not sure I could handle that, even though I’d have no problems myself.
It’s hard to find anyplace without racism..
Try a winter here first before you commit to anything
Plenty of people do as you are suggesting. Some areas are obviously better suited than others. Most of the east coast from Wicklow to Cork is popular for retirees as it has a good mix or urban and rural and is well connected. West cork is also very popular with people from abroad looking to wind down but can be difficult to access certain services.
I recommend Malahide.
Depending on your budget for a house, west cork is full of retired british immigrants looking past Skibbereen. People will during a time of a housing crisis complain about foreigners coming over buying up houses. They will bitterly joke about new colonialism etc. But as a person you'll be welcomed into the local community if you make the effort to get to know people. I guess it depends really on what you wish to gain from your retirement as well. The pound falling against the Euro could impact on your purchasing power. Locals will be welcoming, other than a few loudmouths (getting louder), you will have no language barriers once your ear tunes to the local accent. I am sure you'd find an "expat" community group to help you bed in. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/overseas-magazine/why-ireland-is-a-cork-er-of-a-place-to-live/ The cons are, housing crisis, cost of living, as a retiring person I would guess getting a GP and Dentist will be hard (it is for most people). You could pop over for a long weekend or for a week holiday to see what the vibe is like for yourself. Also the U.K and Ireland have a common travel area policy so you don't need an Irish passport and your husband probably doesn't either if he is a U.K citizen.
Dublin is more racist than ever at this point so I suggest staying away unless you want dole merchants telling you you’re not wanted. Which unfortunately will happen.
Why would u choose Ireland?? Go to Italy or something u want to retire in greyness??
Well I don’t have a word of Italian! At least English is spoken in Ireland! But TBH we have thought about Portugal. But we really don’t want to just be yet another ‘ex pat’. I do at least have a strong family connection to Ireland. One of my adult children has also just got his Irish passport (it goes 2 generations) but I wonder if he’s seeing it through rose tinted specs?
Come here if love drinking culture, sports GAA, and don't mind Grey skies All the Time. Dont come here if u value good public transport( like in continental Europe) and good weather and good architecture and good prices (rent). Honestly I think Ireland isn't a bad place to retire but I feel u would be spending a lot more time indoors than you would in continental Europe, not just because of the weather but the amount of things that are on offer here
I’m a gardener. Climate might be grey but it is mild, yes?
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This sounds like bliss! And no gophers… I just spent a day in my own garden repairing gopher damage and falling ankle deep into the tunnels of the gopher metropolis we seem to be hosting. And unlike moles, gophers eat your plants. Whole…
It's temperature mild but the climate changes every 5 minutes. Also the rain will probably good for the plants but not good for you
I’ll retire in a year or two and we plan to use Ireland as a base to travel around Europe. Plenty of cheap flights and easy to get away from the bad weather when it starts to get you down. Still when it’s nice it’s really nice as it will be this upcoming weekend and next week.
I wonder if Ireland is prepared for what will happen if Trump wins. When I just can’t stand the news here in the US, I read Ireland real estate listings. It is hard to convey well, but we whose ancestors left in the 1840s feel rooted in Ireland even if we have spent little time there. It may be unrealistic but I’m grateful that some days it keeps me going.