Our Story

We are probably Dublin’s oldest charity. When the Society was founded in 1790, the landed gentry had opulent townhouses, but most of the city’s population lived in poverty. Unsanitary and congested housing led to widespread illnesses, and thus there were many sick and indigent (poor) roomkeepers (tenants).

Dublin has developed greatly in the intervening centuries, but poverty and sickness can still pose serious challenges for some of our fellow citizens, including refugees who have come to Dublin seeking a better life. Our Society seeks to respond to changing circumstances, and to provide as much help as our limited resources will allow.

In 2025 following consultation with social workers and beneficiaries of our work, we decided to refer to ourselves as ‘SIRKS’ in our day-to-day operations. We are proud of our history, but our charitable aims and the needs of beneficiaries will always be paramount. Our ‘official’ name remains unchanged.

We have also refreshed our website:

· We have a new logo incorporating an element of our old headquarters at 2 Palace Street, Dublin. The warm glow from the window symbolises welcome and aid.

· There are real examples of assistance we have provided, which I hope will help you to understand how we help in practice. The types of help are wide-ranging – part of the reason is that we are typically last resort, showing that the need for SIRKS is as great as ever.

· Our shop page now includes prints and cards featuring a painting of no. 2 Palace Street by the renowned artist Peter Pearson, who generously allowed us to reproduce his work to raise funds for SIRKS.

We want to help more people. We have decided to increase public engagement, both to raise awareness and seek to support from the public and businesses. We are a small, local, Dublin charity run by a volunteer board. The opportunity for us to increase the number of people we assist, and to be more ambitious, must be in parallel with increased donations. We will be approaching some businesses directly, but we urge people to help us spread the word. We have a new LinkedIn page – please follow and share. Please share our website on social media.

I hope you might consider making a donation. If you give €250 or more in one year, we can claim tax relief if you complete the forms on our ‘Ways to help’ page.

Felix is a historian and retired senior public servant, having served in the Department of Finance (1973–91) and the National Treasury Management Agency (1991–2009). A Trustee of the Sick and Indigent Roomkeepers Society since 2008, he is currently Chair of the Society. He was previously Chair from 2012 to 2016.
John is a retired Town Planner and Civil Servant. He joined the Board as a Trustee in 2015. He was chairman from 2021 - 2025.
Margaret Butterly is currently employed in the Public Service having worked for over two decades as a Law Clerk in a long-established firm of solicitors.
Michael is a Chartered Accountant. He worked in the Financial Services sector for many years. He joined the Board as a Trustee in 2017.
Margaret is a retired Banker with experience in investments, financial planning, governance and risk management . She joined the Board as a Trustee in 2017.
John is a retired Insurance Official. He was employed for many years by a major US multinational Insurance Company, managing foreign direct investment, domestic property and marine claims portfolios together with the associated subrogation litigation.
He joined the Board as a Trustee in 2014.
Colette is a retired Librarian and a former Assistant Keeper at the National Library of Ireland where her professional role included risk and project management in various departments.
She joined the Board as a Trustee in 2012 and served as Chairman from 2018-2021.
Catherine Sheehan started her working life as a primary teacher and following this she worked, for number of years, using her teaching skills, in a training centre for mentally challenged young people in Stewarts Hospital in Palmerstown, Dublin. She retrained as a social worker and worked for 14 years in Dublin City Centre in two non-governmental projects - Centrecare and Emigrant Advice - which were part of the Catholic Social Services in Dublin; both offered information, advice, and other personal services to a huge variety of homeless people and others in Dublin’s city centre. Emigrant Advice offered information and advice in the 1980s and 1990s to people wanting to emigrate. Catherine went on then to be employed as a social worker in the HSE and was seconded to a new service which was established in the early 2000s to offer counselling and psychotherapeutic services to all those who had suffered child abuse in various State Institutions, including Letterfrack, and Artane. She worked in this service for 20 years. Throughout her working life until recently she stepped down, Catherine was involved with and on the board of the Partners - Training for Transformation organisation, which created and delivered Community Development Training to local organisations based in Low Income areas of Dublin City. Catherine joined the Board of SIRKS as a Trustee in 2025.
Nuala Canning is the founder of Brandfire, a Dublin-based marketing agency working with financial, retail and utility brands. She has held senior roles in Esat Telecom, DCC, and Communicorp, and brings over 30 years’ experience across the radio, telecommunications, and technology sectors.
She has worked extensively in Ireland and internationally, delivering commercial and marketing strategies in Sweden, Finland, Jordan, and Central and Eastern Europe.
Nuala is a graduate of University College Dublin. She joined the board in 2025.