About

Irish Community Services is a registered charity that grew out of a community group set up in 1984. What was started by a group of local people wanting to present a positive, affirmative image of the Irish to counter the many negative stereotypes that prevailed in the 80’s, the charity has grown over the years into one of the largest Irish organisations in the UK.

Our
Aims

We are a community development charity because we understand the many different ways that a community can be supported, empowered and celebrated.
There are always aspects of our lives that could be better and we can make them better by working together.
There are things that affect our community that could be improved and we work to bring about those improvements.
At the heart of all we do, we remember there are always people who struggle more than others – for whatever reason – and they are part of our community too.

Shauna, Executive Director

Shauna, from County Tyrone, manages the day to day operations and the staff team, oversees the charity finances and fundraising activities, and reports to the Trustees.

Mark, Chair of Trustees

Mark, from County Westmeath, has served as a Trustee since 2017 and leads the charity as Chair of Trustees. The Trustees are responsible for governance and ensuring the charity operates in accordance with Charity Commission rules and remains financially sound.

Our
Team

Our
Story

The Irish Community in South London

It is estimated that as many as six million people living in the UK have an Irish ancestry. Since the 1940s, thousands of Irish people came to the areas around Greenwich and Woolwich where they established new lives and a community, making an enormous contribution to the larger society of which they formed part.

Irish migrants played a vital role in rebuilding the capital’s infrastructure, and staffing its hospitals and services after World War II. Irish people who settled here worked, helped one another, went into local politics and helped shape our present communities.