Living in... Tramore, Ireland
What's it like living in a sleepy coastal Irish town.
What’s it like living in Tramore, Ireland? A friend of Project Adulthood answers.
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Where do you live?
Tramore, Ireland.
Are you from there?
No, I moved here after college.
Why did you move there?
For love! My boyfriend wanted to live here because he surfs and the waves here are okay.
How would you describe this place in one sentence?
A sleepy coastal Irish town.
Tramore town. You can see the sea in the distance.
And if you were to expand?
A seaside town that gets very busy in the summer with tourists from all over Ireland and is quite sleepy in the winter.
Also, a town that has seen its image improve a lot over the last decade in the sense that it wasn’t seen as particularly nice before (or so I hear), but now, it is.
How much does it cost to rent a place here?
Due to gentrification, the town's biggest problem right now is that there aren't enough rental properties.
At the moment, there are three places available for rent in Tramore (two houses and an apartment) and the cost varies between 1,450 and 1,800 euros ($1570 and $1950) per month - (around 75% of the median wage after tax).
Another thing is that because Tramore is a summer holiday destination, many rental places are only rented out short-term, e.g., 6 or 9 months. Once summer comes, the same place is rented out to tourists for much more.
How much does an average home cost here? And what does “average” mean?
“Average,” I’d say, is a semi-detached/detached 2-3-bedroom house with a front and back garden.
A 3-bed, 3-bath semi-detached (110 square meters) house is selling for 379,000 euros right now.
There are just nine houses for sale in Tramore at the moment - and at least one or two listings are for sites (i.e., land), not houses.
And a cup of coffee?
An Americano costs 3 euros ($3.25) in most places, and a cappuccino is usually 3.60 euros ($3.90).
Coffee at Molly's on the beach.
What about bread?
At a local boutique bakery, a baguette costs 3.50 euros ($3.79) and a large loaf of sourdough bread costs 5.50 euros ($5.96).
At the shop, a sliced white pan costs 1.99 euros ($2.16).
What’s the geography of the place like?
There’s the beachside promenade and the main beach - that’s where all the tourists go in the summer. It’s also where you’ll see people surfing - both beginners and those who’ve been surfing for years. There are a few surf shops on the promenade and a few cafes.
A cafe called “Mollys” is the best and it’s where all the locals go. It has amazing coffee, and I sometimes like to go down there for a breakfast of overnight oats and a croissant.
Molly's cafe. It can get quite busy!
A while back, the road beside the main beach was made one-way, which gave back some space to pedestrians and outdoor seating for cafes. It’s so much better now, but initially, many people were really unhappy with the change.
Beside the beach, there are sand dunes, which are pretty cool.
If you walk towards the town and away from the beach, you’ll see an amusement park for kids (closed in the winter but popular in the summer) and a bunch of other touristy places like an ice cream shop and a fish and chips place called “Doolys.” I recommend you get your fish and chips elsewhere.
Walk a bit further and you’ll come across “Lady’s Slip” - a popular swimming spot.
Keep on walking up a hill, and you’ll reach the “Doneraile Walk,” a lovely, short cliff walk. There are some benches for you to sit and admire the view and expensive houses overlooking it (but they don’t ruin it).
The Doneraile Walk on a sunny day.
Keep on walking. You’re now on the “coast road." The walk is beautiful, and though it’s beside a road, the road is one-way, and there are not many cars going on it.
Walking this way, you’ll eventually reach the “Guillamene,” another swimming spot.
A perfect swimming spot in Tramore. It’s now open to everyone (not just “Men Only”!) (Source)
Back in the day, only men were allowed to go swimming here but of course, that’s no longer the case. This is Tramore's most beautiful swimming spot, and someone is always swimming here (even in the winter).
From here, you should see the “Metal Man”, a statue of some guy pointing into the distance. Apparently, a long time ago that’s how ships used to know where to turn (the Metal Man is surrounded by two other pillars).
The metalman. (Source)
Keep walking, and you’ll come across a small forest and another beach.
Continue on the road, and you’ll loop back into town.
The town, which is about 10 minutes from the prom, is tiny. It’s basically one street.
The most important attractions here, for me anyway, are “Seagull Bakery,” a boutique bakery that does amazing bread, coffee, and buns (try the pain au chocolat or the double baked croissant), and “Mezze,” a middle-Eastern cafe that also does great coffee, though I also love their falafel and lentil rolls.
Other than that, you’ll also find places like the pharmacy, a pub (“Croke’s” pub is very cute and cozy), a supermarket, a library (recently renovated and open late into the evening!) and so on.
Tramore street.
If you walk up, you’ll find more shops and then it’s just housing estates. Lots and lots of them.
How have you seen it change?
I’ve seen the town get much more busy in the seven years I’ve been here. When I first moved here with my boyfriend, winters were super super quiet. Now, they’re… just quiet.
It all changed with the pandemic - people could suddenly work from home and the idea of living on the coast appealed to many (understandably!)
What do you like about it?
The sea. I go for a walk every day, and the sea is always the destination. No matter what the day has been like, it’s always nice to see the sea - it’s calming. And it’s really cool to see it change from day to day.
The people, too. Irish people are very friendly, so I end up saying hello to many people, and eventually, when you see them enough, you get to know each other, and it’s nice.
What do you like the least about it?
Gangs of kids and teenagers - there’s weirdly a lot of them, and they can sometimes be a little intimidating. Ireland’s population is growing relatively fast, and you can really see that.
There’s also a lot of dogs here, which I love, but the downside is that there’s also a lot of dog poop on the streets. Like, really, really a lot. Which is weird because there are free dog poop bags and dog poop bins everywhere.
I also really don’t like how small the footpaths are. Some are so narrow that it’s almost impossible to walk two abreast, meaning that if you’re passing someone else, one of you needs to step onto the road, which is awkward if a car is coming at that same exact moment.
And, of course, the weather! Ireland is known for bad weather in general - the rain and the wind can really get to you.
But I feel like it's also more humid in this part of the country. The air is always very moist, and sometimes my bedsheets are slightly damp from the humidity when I go to bed. Eww. I badly need to get a dehumidifier.
What’s a memory you associate with this place?
A weird one - the town covered in snow. It doesn’t usually snow, but one winter, it did - quite heavily. People were going down hills on their surfboards.
It seemed like everyone had taken a day off work and was having a little bit of fun.
What do you recommend someone see/do if they come to Tramore?
Go surfing on the beach.
Then, get a cup of coffee at Molly’s.
Walk the “Doneraile Walk.” Maybe go to the Guillamene.
Then, get lunch in Mezze (go for the shared falafel).
Falafel platter for two at Mezze.
Follow that with a cup of coffee and a pastry from Seagull Bakery. Also, get a baguette for later.
Relax in the square outside the bakery for a bit.
Get dinner at the Beach House. Go to Croke’s pub for a drink to end the night.
A perfect day!
Beyond that, explore County Waterford further. There are several cute villages around, and Waterford city is quite interesting, too.