Celbridge manages to score high in list of best places to live in Ireland

The county's third largest town, Celbridge, has been named as one of the Top 20 Best Places to live in Ireland.

It has been placed on the long list of contenders for the ‘Best Place to Live in Ireland’ competition, which is being run by The Irish Times in association with Randox Health.

Celbridge, which has a population of nearly 20,300, also remains in the running for the overall title.

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Nuala Walker nominated Celbridge for the competition, which had a total of 10 nominations.

She said about the town: "Celbridge is welcoming, where old or new friends can meet and chat on the Main Street. The village has a mix of small shops – books for children, sports goods, vintage costume, butchers, sweets, beauty products, hairdressers, barbers, seamstresses, florists."

"Since the early 1970s the population of Celbridge has grown from 1,000 to over 20,000, and is surrounded by some well-designed housing estates. Tidy Towns keep the village beautiful."

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"Celbridge is the best place to live in Ireland," she concluded.

The Irish Times also commented on the nomination, saying: "Celbridge is close to Dublin but the old village/main street gives it its own, long-established identity. Castletown House – its grounds come right up to one end of the main street – is a big bonus."

It added: "This is a busy town with a young population whose inhabitants travel in and out of Dublin a lot – which is easy to do."

Other nominated towns in the list include: Cork's Clonakilty, Galway City, Wicklow's Bray, and Blackrock and Malahide in Dublin.

The Top 5 finalists will be named later this month, with the overall winner announced on Saturday September 25th.

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