Iveagh Trust

The Iveagh Trust was a component of the Guinness Partnership, a group of housing associations and a UK charity providing affordable housing, among them the Guinness Trust. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Iveagh Trust based in Dublin took responsibility for Ireland.The Guinness Trust extended its objectives outside London in 1962 and today operates in all parts of England. Neither is related to the brewery company.

The Iveagh Trust was founded in 1890 by Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, great-grandson of the founder of the Guinness Brewery, to help homeless people in Dublin and London. Given a legal basis by an Act of 1903, today it is run as a charity under Irish law and liaises with such bodies as Dublin City Council and the Homeless Agency.

In today's central Dublin several original buildings in the area of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Patrick Street and Christ Church Cathedral are still managed. They were all built in or by 1905 by the Iveagh Trust, including formerly the Iveagh Public Baths and the Iveagh Markets building in Francis Street.

In more recent times new estates have been acquired in Swords and Finglas, and a home for the elderly at Mount Anthony in south Dublin. Unlike Dublin City Council's housing list based on need, the trust has aimed to create mixed communities with smaller numbers. Each estate has a resident caretaker and a formal system of elected tenants' councils to advise of complaints or problems. The trust was run by Fred Stephens for many years until 2005.

Also the trust runs the Iveagh Hostel in central Dublin for about 80-100 homeless men, providing basic accommodation, meals and such facilities as a gym and a computer room.

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On the trust's centenary it published a book by the academic FHA Aalen: "The Iveagh Trust the first hundred years 1890-1990"; ISBN 0951594206.