Ireland will pay you $90,000 to move to a beautiful island home

Verrrrrry interesting. There have been some programs around the Mediterranean where the government is selling places for €1 or €2, then you’re on own to refurbish, but Ireland will pay €84,000. You’d definitely need to ensure that you’d be entitled to live there before buying the place, in order to qualify for the grant. I wonder whether any of the places would wind up being B&B’s, with the new owner/occupant living there, and taking in visitors for a few nights in a few rooms? Or (assuming the new owner does have the right to live there), is this ideal for somebody who will be an artist, sweater knitter, or somebody with a boat, and the skill to pilot it on sometimes challenging waters? Or just a retiree, soaking up the good life in their island retreat, waiting for the rain to clear?

It’s soggy in Colorado today; Ireland would be nice at the moment.

you going for it BigMikeWestByGodVirginia (Almost Heaven)???

Nigel, you hit a nerve. When I was young everything was tomorrows full of potential. Into the great wide open. Now at 62 there are a lot more yesterdays than tomorrows. For the moment just let me fantasize about doing this, OK?

Probably not for me as those long, cold lonely winters (RIP George Harrison) would not suit me.

But it looks like Cyn is rolling the idea around in her head.

Rolling the idea around? Just for a brief moment. We’ve made some friends that we saw on our trip last month, Upstate New Yorkers who moved to Ireland 6 years ago. But they’re on the mainland, renting a house in an “estate” (planned neighborhood), a “semi-detached” (duplex), and with a town nearby for necessities. A more isolated island, where some seemingly fairly simple errands might be fairly difficult to run - timing ferry schedules, dealing with inventory availability, whatnot - is just one thing that would probably complicate becoming an islander.

While $90,000 is generous on the surface, it might not go far if a new thatched or slate roof has to be installed, or modern plumbing, or who knows what else, on some long-abandoned cottage in an evocative island setting. Maybe it’s additional incentive, for someone who’s already planning on a move to Ireland.

Our former New Yorker friends, she’s got Irish ancestry, and already had family in Ireland, so it was sort-of coming home. He’s adjusting, and although he’s driving like a local, zipping around on narrow roads with blind corners and hill crests where you can’t see the huge tractor coming up the other side until you reach the top, is currently working on getting his Irish driver’s license. It’s as if he’s a 16-year old, taking tests, having to pass a driving demonstration, then driving around with an “N” in the back window for a while, indicating he’s a “new” driver. I think their move was permanent.

For me and my husband, as much as there are increasingly situations where no longer being in the USA seems appealing for a moment, and being less than 1,000 miles from the ocean would mean more, better, and cheaper fish than you can get in the Rocky Mountains, the skiing’s probably very poor on those islands. That would be a problem.

I wonder whether Poles might find an island home appealing? The estate where our friends live is more Polish than Irish. The Shannon airport has as many flights to Krakow and Gdańsk as it does to London. It seems that Ireland is a very attractive place for people relocating from Poland. Maybe that €84,000 makes it even more attractive.

Cyn , reading the last part of your post , if those are real considerations for you and your husband , there are numerous locations here in New England that would check those boxes Not meaning to be Glib , but fish, the ocean, skiing, and many other appealing aspects are all in close proximity .

Cyn, I enjoyed reading your thoughtful post. Thank you for doing that. Yes, $90,000 would likely not be enough for all of those repairs. It might be great for somebody who is skilled enough to renovate a fixer-upper. As you suggested I wonder of some people would romanticize the remote, beautiful island life only to find the reality much different. For many people it could be extraordinarily boring after while, especially when the weather confined you indoors. Ugh. At a minimum I would want to rent a place or VRBO it before making a decision on relocating almost anywhere.

Steven, I love New England but it seems to me to be very expensive. For example a $250,000 house in WV is about double or more in Mass. Taxes might be a factor.

it seems to me to be very expensive.

That depends on where you are looking , Seacoast property in Popular areas can be high , but there are many places that have all the advantages I mention , that are reasonable .

So you're telling me Martha's Vineyard is off my wish list?

Not if you win the Lottery

You’re right, steven, New England checks off lots of boxes. Places are popular for a number of reasons, and their population must reflect that.

Dwindling populations on some Irish islands may hint that they’re not for everyone, long-term.

I’ve been to some of these remote islands, and there is not a lot going on. You have to be a recluse. I would love to do it, but… And give me the hustle and bustle of a European city any day.

It would certainly require a certain personality type to live in such a situation, or maybe a place for someone to go for a few weeks to write or otherwise seek solitude. But permanently? I'd guess it would be suitable for very few people.

I'm thinking the internet is AOL dial up?

Mark McG, I wonder if there was ever an AOL in Ireland (America On-Line), but perhaps there was an EIR (Éire On-Line) a couple decades ago.

On these islands, Internet probably refers to some kind of a fishing device.

Mark McG: Just regular mail. It might be a refreshing throwback to a simpler time when people wrote and read actual letter on paper. Heck, it might be therapeutic.

I have a friend, a lawyer, who has a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains and unplugs for up to a week because there is no wifi. He said it really helps him mentally and what he calls the "monkey mind" of permanently being distracted. He will focus on just one thing at at time: A hike, a book, or writing. When he returns to civilization he jokes it's the same old s--t.

No electric typewriters or computer terminals, either. They all run on peat. :-)