When we moved to Ireland, my husband and I were both turning forty. In some ways, the timing worked in our favour.
We had already seen quite a bit of the world. We had travelled around the Middle East and Europe, experienced places like Dubai and the Netherlands, and somehow arrived in Ireland with a very particular idea of what living in Europe would look like.
Our first lesson?
Not all of Europe is like the Netherlands. And Ireland is definitely not Dubai.
That is not necessarily a bad thing. Ireland simply has a different rhythm, and I think it helps enormously if you know that before arriving.
There are things I absolutely love about living here and things that still frustrate me. So, if you are moving to Ireland — particularly if you are coming from Pakistan or another large, busy city — these are some of the things I wish I had known.
1. Dublin is not Ireland
Coming from Pakistan, we are used to thinking that you have to live in one of the major cities to have access to everything.
Lahore. Karachi. Islamabad.
The biggest universities, hospitals, restaurants, shopping centres and businesses tend to concentrate around the major cities.
Ireland feels different.
Dublin is obviously the capital and the centre of a lot of business and activity, but living outside Dublin does not mean living somewhere cut off from everything.
Irish towns can be surprisingly self-contained. You can find good schools, supermarkets, restaurants, cafés, sports facilities and everyday services without needing to live in the capital.
We initially lived in Maynooth, a university town in County Kildare, and it turned out to be a brilliant place for us to start our life in Ireland.
Our children’s school was nearby. Our bank was nearby. Tesco and Dunnes Stores were nearby. Restaurants, cafés and the train station were all within walking distance.
And because both of us worked from home, we managed something I would never have expected when moving countries:
We lived in Ireland for almost two years without owning a car.
That brings me to something else I hadn’t fully appreciated before moving here.
2. Ireland is made for walking
The walks!
Honestly, this remains one of my favourite things about Ireland.
You really need to develop some love for the outdoors here because so much of what makes Ireland special is outside.
Parks. Canals. Forest walks. Coastal walks. Lakes. Greenways. Little trails you discover almost accidentally.
Even an ordinary walk can suddenly give you beautiful trees, open countryside or a view that makes you stop for a minute.
If you move here and spend all your time indoors, I genuinely think you miss a huge part of Ireland.
Of course, there is one condition.
You need the right jacket.
3. Never leave the house without a jacket
This deserves its own rule.
Never trust the weather in Ireland.
You may leave the house under blue skies and return in rain. Sometimes you will experience several versions of Irish weather within the same afternoon.
I arrived thinking you had:
- a winter coat
- and… normal clothes.
No.
Ireland introduced me to an entire jacket education.
There is the rain jacket.
There is the light jacket.
There is apparently something called a summer jacket, which sounded completely ridiculous to me until I lived here.
And then there is the proper winter coat.
I could write an entire separate post about what clothes to bring when moving to Ireland — and perhaps I will — but here is one piece of advice for anyone coming from Pakistan:
Do not fill half your suitcase with beautiful Pakistani shoes.
Your trainers will win.
You will walk more than you expect, the ground will frequently be wet, and those lovely delicate shoes that made perfect sense at home may spend most of their Irish life sitting safely inside your wardrobe.
4. I wish someone had introduced me to Aldi sooner
When we first moved to Maynooth, Tesco was closest to us, so naturally that became our supermarket.
And habits are difficult to break.
Years later, we are still Tesco shoppers.
But if I could speak to newly-arrived-in-Ireland me, I would say:
Please go and investigate Aldi.
In my experience, Aldi has generally been one of the cheapest options for a full grocery shop.
Tesco is still incredibly convenient for us, and SuperValu is another nearby option, but when I compare what I can get for the money, Aldi often wins.
Then there is Dunnes Stores, which deserves an article of its own because explaining Dunnes to somebody who has just arrived in Ireland is practically a public service.
Groceries were actually one of the pleasant surprises about Ireland. You can find most everyday ingredients easily, and the availability of Asian, Pakistani, Indian and Middle Eastern groceries has improved enormously.
5. Living in a university town helped us settle
Maynooth was a particularly good introduction to Ireland because it is a university town.
That means students, academics and families from many different countries live alongside the local community, so diversity feels completely normal.
Our experience with schools was also very positive.
Of course, every school is different and parents should research individual schools carefully, but we found good education was not something limited to Dublin.
That was another misconception I had carried with me from Pakistan — the assumption that you needed to live in the biggest city to have access to the best opportunities.
Ireland is far less centralised in that sense than I expected.
6. Irish people really do talk to strangers
One of my favourite cultural differences is how easily Irish people chat.
Especially older Irish people.
Sit beside someone older on a bus and there is a very good chance you will know something about their family, the weather, the bus service or the state of the country before you reach your stop.
And I love it.
People say hello. They make conversation. They help.
When we first arrived, we were incredibly fortunate to have people help us find our first apartment, and I still remember that kindness.
Having now spent time travelling frequently between Ireland and the UK, I also find Irish people generally warmer and more conversational with strangers.
There is a relaxed quality to everyday interactions here that took some getting used to.
We Pakistanis can stress professionally.
An Irish person can sometimes look at the same problem and essentially say, “Ah, it’ll be grand.”
And strangely enough, quite often it is.
7. Ireland can feel more traditional than you expect
Ireland also surprised me because, in some ways, society still feels quite traditional compared with parts of mainland Europe.
There is a strong sense of community in many towns. Schools and local organisations play a big role in everyday life, and Ireland’s Christian heritage is still visible even though the country itself has changed considerably.
For a Pakistani family, some of that can actually feel surprisingly familiar.
Family matters. Community matters. People know each other.
Of course, moving into another culture always raises the question:
How much do you adapt and how much of your own culture do you keep?
I still think that is one of the hardest questions for any immigrant family.
8. What about racism?
This is something Pakistani and South Asian families understandably worry about before moving to Ireland.
I can only speak about my personal experience.
So far, my experience has overwhelmingly been positive.
I cover my head, although I do not wear what people would normally describe as a full hijab, and my daughters do not cover their heads. Because of that, I would never claim that my experience represents the experience of visibly Muslim women who wear hijab, niqab or other religious dress.
I have heard stories online, and I have occasionally heard comments in real life that made me uncomfortable.
Sometimes those comments come from ignorance rather than hostility. I have met people who simply do not understand certain aspects of Muslim or South Asian culture, and occasionally someone will say something that reminds you that integration is still a work in progress.
That does exist.
At the same time, it would be dishonest for me to make racism the defining feature of our experience in Ireland, because it hasn’t been.
Most of the people we have encountered have been welcoming, helpful and curious rather than hostile.
Finding the right balance is complicated.
You want your children to know where they come from. You want to keep your language, food, traditions and values.
But you are also choosing to build a life in another country, and becoming part of that society matters too.
I don’t think there is a perfect formula for it.
We are still figuring it out.
9. Public transport can be frustrating outside Dublin
Now for one of my complaints.
Public transport.
Ireland’s transport network makes considerably more sense when Dublin is your destination than when you are trying to travel between two places outside Dublin.
Sometimes it feels as though every bus wants to take you to Dublin and then send you back out again.
This becomes much more noticeable once you move away from the major transport corridors.
Google Maps is useful for planning journeys, and the TFI Live app is worth having for public transport information, but I have learned not to build my entire day around a bus arriving at the exact minute displayed on my phone.
Give it a few minutes.
Possibly more than a few. 🙂
Living in Maynooth meant we also had access to trains, which made being without a car much easier.
Eventually, though, particularly with children and life getting busier, having a car made an enormous difference.
10. Ireland does quite a lot for families
Another thing I did not fully appreciate before moving here was how much support there is for families with children.
If you qualify for Child Benefit, you currently receive €140 per child every month. It may not sound life-changing on its own, but when you have more than one child, it is certainly not nothing.
Children under eight can also qualify for a GP visit card, which means you do not pay for ordinary GP visits once they are registered under the scheme.
Then there are the schools.
Education in Ireland was one of the things that pleasantly surprised us. Apart from having good schools outside the major cities, the cost of actually sending children to school has been reduced considerably in recent years.
Schoolbooks are now provided under government-funded schemes in recognised primary schools and participating post-primary schools. Primary schools across the country can also participate in the Hot School Meals Programme.
Coming from Pakistan, another thing that amused me was discovering that girls-only and boys-only schools still very much exist in Ireland.
Ireland is modern in many ways, but it has held on to some surprisingly traditional things too.
And university can be considerably cheaper — but check the rules carefully
This is something parents moving with younger children should start researching early.
Ireland has a Free Fees Initiative under which the State pays undergraduate tuition fees for eligible students attending approved courses and institutions.
However, this is one area where I would strongly advise against assuming, “My child has lived here for five years, therefore university will be free.”
Eligibility depends on several things, including residency, nationality or immigration status, the course and the institution. The rules are particularly important for families who arrived from outside the EU.
For students who do qualify for free tuition, there is still normally a student contribution charge. At the time of writing in 2026, that charge is €2,500 per year, and some families may qualify for further support through SUSI.
Compared with international university fees, though, the difference can be enormous.
If you are moving to Ireland with children who may eventually attend university here, this is something I would investigate years before their Leaving Cert rather than waiting until university applications begin.
11. If you come on a Critical Skills permit, learn about Stamp 4 early
This was another part of moving to Ireland that I wish someone had explained to us properly from the beginning.
If you are working in Ireland on a Critical Skills Employment Permit, you may currently become eligible to move to Stamp 4 after 21 months of qualifying employment.
Stamp 4 gives you considerably more freedom because you are no longer dependent on an employment permit in the same way.
And if buying a house is something you want to do, this is also roughly the stage when I would start seriously researching mortgages.
That does not mean receiving Stamp 4 automatically qualifies you for a mortgage. Banks still look at income, employment, savings, affordability, credit history and their own lending criteria.
One thing that can catch newcomers by surprise is the foreign credit check.
If you have lived or banked outside Ireland relatively recently, your lender may ask for a credit report from your previous country. Different banks have different requirements, so check this early — preferably before you have found the house you desperately want and suddenly discover you need paperwork from Pakistan.
Personally, if you have only just moved and do not urgently need to buy, I think there is something to be said for giving yourself time.
Build an Irish financial history. Save consistently. Understand where you actually want to live. Learn the towns. Learn the commute.
And then look at buying.
12. The housing crisis changes the mortgage conversation
I also know that for Muslim families, mortgages can be a complicated subject.
Some people choose not to take a conventional mortgage for religious reasons, and I completely respect that. Everyone has to make that decision for themselves.
At the same time, the reality of Ireland’s housing market makes the rent-versus-buy decision particularly difficult.
Rents are high, finding rental accommodation can be extremely difficult, and there is an ongoing housing shortage. So while nobody is literally forcing you to buy a home, Ireland can certainly make you feel as though it is pushing you in that direction.
If you do decide to buy, one scheme worth knowing about is Help to Buy.
For qualifying first-time buyers purchasing or self-building a new home, the scheme can refund some of the Income Tax and DIRT you have already paid in Ireland.
At the time of writing, the refund can be up to €30,000, subject to the scheme’s limits and conditions. The qualifying home must currently have a purchase value of €500,000 or less.
The interesting part for newcomers is that the refund is based on eligible tax you have actually paid in Ireland during the previous four tax years.
So if you have arrived on a good salary and have been paying Irish tax, don’t overlook it.
When we were learning how all of this worked, I remember thinking: Why does nobody explain these things when you first arrive?
You hear about the weather.
You hear about the housing crisis.
You hear about Dublin rents.
But things like Stamp 4, building your credit history, Help to Buy and planning ahead for your children’s university fees can have a much bigger effect on your family’s long-term life in Ireland.
13. Ireland’s strengths are not what I expected them to be
When we arrived, I think I was subconsciously looking for a certain version of a “modern European country.”
Ireland wasn’t quite it.
It wasn’t the Netherlands.
It wasn’t Dubai.
And after living here, I realised that comparing countries that way misses what Ireland actually offers.
Ireland’s strengths are different.
It is being able to raise children outside the capital without feeling you have sacrificed access to education or everyday facilities.
It is walking through beautiful countryside ten minutes from home.
It is the older person who starts talking to you on the bus.
It is the neighbour who helps.
It is having supermarkets, schools, cafés and restaurants in relatively small towns.
It is driving somewhere and suddenly having the Atlantic Ocean in front of you.
It is also rain when you absolutely did not ask for rain, buses that test your patience, expensive housing and learning that a “summer jacket” is a completely reasonable item of clothing.
There are pros and cons.
But perhaps that is the biggest thing I wish I had known before moving here:
Don’t arrive expecting Ireland to be somewhere else.
Let Ireland introduce itself.
You might end up liking it for completely different reasons.
Are you thinking about moving to Ireland from Pakistan? I have several more posts planned on what clothes to bring, grocery shopping, schools, travelling around Ireland and the things Pakistani visitors find surprising when they arrive. If there is something you would like me to cover, leave a comment below.