Architects Patrick Little and Karen Hawkshaw swapped rented townhouse living in Dublin for a period Georgian on 1.5 acres and a new life in Tullamore.
Patrick, from Loughlinstown in south Co Dublin, and Karen, originally from Mullingar, Co Westmeath, had been living in Rathgar and running an architectural practice by the Grand Canal at Percy Place.
He recalls "leaving home at 7am for a two-mile journey to work which could take up to one-and-a-half hours and staying in the office until 8pm to avoid traffic". Combined with occasional meetings he found he "was spending four to five hours a day in the car which is not an economic way to run a business".
They decided to move in 2004 principally because of "astronomical" property prices in Dublin and to escape traffic misery. Having looked at "various Midlands towns" they chose Tullamore because they "liked the people", found it to be "a particularly welcoming place", and received "great assistance from the Tullamore Chamber of Commerce" (of which he has just been elected president) which is keen to attract new businesses and entrepreneurs. Patrick established Axis Architecture which has enjoyed "phenomenal growth", already employs 16 people and is working on a major €200 million project to build a new town centre with shops and apartments. Karen has taken up a job as an architect with the Department of Education in Tullamore. Their daily "commute", which at 10 miles is five times longer than they endured in Dublin, now takes 15 minutes - a fifth of the time. The couple have two children, Michaela (3 ½), who attends a "Naoinra" (an Irish language playschool and precursor to Gaelscoil), and Conall (8 months). Home is now a 232sq m (2,500sq ft), 230-year-old Georgian house "bought for the equivalent of a two-bedroom apartment in Dublin" which they are gradually renovating.
Patrick likes the "pace of life" and is relieved to have "no hassle with traffic or parking". He describes Tullamore as "a warm, welcoming town with an open community where there are no cliques and it's easy to get involved and to integrate. I wasn't expecting the move to be so successful but it has been fantastic."
