CASE STUDY 5

The Dublin street where Patrick Drennan lived was changing. The neighbours he’d known for years were moving out. Young people – strangers - were moving in. The once bustling pavements were deserted during the day. No one had time to chat.

Alone in his neat two-bedroom house in a suburb of the Irish capital, widower Patrick missed the company.

“I decided to move to an apartment where you can’t help but be surrounded by people,” said Patrick. “I looked at lots of different ones around Dublin but they were either in the wrong place, too big, too small or needed too much work doing on them.”

Then his son Padraig, who’d moved to Rugby, in Warwickshire, with his family offered a new solution.

“Padraig sent me a brochure about Lime Tree Village, in Dunchurch, just a mile up the road from him,” said Patrick. “As I read about Retirement Villages the concept sounded like exactly what I was looking for. Like-minded people of a similar age with loads of opportunity for socialising and taking part in events.”

Patrick, a former photographer, flew over the Irish Sea on a fact-finding mission.

“I walked into the village and fell in love with it,” said Patrick. “The apartments were perfect, beautifully built with no awkward stairs. And with cleaners, gardeners and maintenance staff on hand it leaves very few jobs to worry about.”

Patrick headed up to Cawston House, the Edwardian mansion house which provides the focal point for the village.

“I dropped in for a coffee and couldn’t believe how friendly everyone was and how welcome they made me feel,” said Patrick. “Once they started talking about the day trips and social events they organise I couldn’t wait to move in.”

Patrick settled on a two bedroom apartment in Stable Mews with gorgeous views over the village pond surrounded by weeping willows.

Despite being a Dubliner and aged 75, Patrick harboured no doubts about leaving his home city and moving across the water.

“I had no second thoughts I was doing the right thing,” said Patrick. “And six months on I’m loving it. I went back to Dublin to visit my daughter AnnaMarie and her family a few weeks ago. It was wonderful to see them but I missed Lime Tree Village and my friends. I was glad to get home!”

Patrick’s thrown himself headlong into village life joining day trips, being a regular at coffee mornings and social events and making the effort to get to know as many of his neighbours as possible.

“It’s a beautiful place to live but it’s the companionship which is the best part,” said Patrick. “People have moved here from so many different places there’s always things to talk about. A lot of people say they’ve come to start a new life and that’s how it feels. No one is old.”

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