Peter McVerry Trust is a national housing and homeless charity committed to reducing homelessness and the harm caused by substance misuse and social disadvantage.
The charity provides low-threshold entry services, primarily to younger people and vulnerable adults with complex needs, and offers pathways out of homelessness based on the principles of the Housing First model.
Peter McVerry Trust’s national headquarters are located in Dublin. The charity has a mid-west regional office in Limerick City and a north-east regional office in Drogheda, Co Louth.
In 2023, the charity worked with over 14,000 people and was active in 28 local authorities across Ireland.
Peter McVerry Trust’s vision is an Ireland that supports all those on the margins and upholds their rights to full inclusion in society.
Homelessness in Ireland is an online, educational resource created and delivered by the national housing and homelessness charity, Peter McVerry Trust. Visit the charity’s main website here.
In April 2021, Fr Peter McVerry was a guest on The Tommy Tiernan Show. On reducing homelessness, Fr McVerry spoke of the importance of building social housing and inserting a right to housing in the constitution.
Watch Father McVerry's InterviewPeter McVerry Trust, originally known as the Arrupe Society, was established in 1983 by Fr Peter McVerry.
Fr McVerry began working in Summerhill in Dublin’s north inner-city in 1974, where he witnessed first-hand the problems of homelessness and deprivation. By 1979, he had opened a small hostel to provide accommodation for homeless boys between the ages of 12-16.
Learn MoreFr Peter McVerry grew up in Newry, Co. Down and was educated at the Abbey Christian Brothers’ Grammar School in Newry and at the Jesuit School at Clongowes Wood College in Co. Kildare.
In 1962, he entered the Jesuit Order and was ordained in 1975. Fr McVerry has worked in Dublin’s north inner city since 1974, where he came into contact with young people who were sleeping on the streets because of their home situation.
In 1979, he opened a hostel for boys aged 12-16 in homelessness, and this subsequently became his life-time work.
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