My kids are all super upset to be going home from Ireland tomorrow morning. "I know that's where our house is, but this feels much more like home than Bristol does."

Compromises are hard.

Compromises are not in themselves bad. They are a conscious weighing of multiple competing factors in an attempt at finding a "best" solution.
@feijoa reminds me of when I'd visit my dad in the summer in Seychelles every year, and coming back home to UK was very difficult. It's more the people you leave behind than the location.