Oliver Callan helps mark 15 years of life-changing Kildare charity
Lord Mayor James Geoghegan, Oliver Callan, Aubrey McCarthy, and Phil Thompson at the event
Tiglin recently celebrated its 15th anniversary with a special event at the Salesforce Tower in Dublin, hosted by impressionist Oliver Callan. Over 150 people attended, sharing reflections on Tiglin’s journey and hearing stories from those whose lives have been changed by the organisation.
Founded in 2008 by Aubrey McCarthy from Naas and Phil Thompson (Newbridge), Tiglin began with the purchase of the former mountaineering centre on a forestry reserve above Ashford town. Surrounded by hectares of Coillte mixed forestry, the rehabilitation centre offers a peaceful environment for recovery.
“Having experienced addiction within my family, we started this centre to reduce the impact of addiction on families and homelessness,” co-founder Aubrey shared. “It was a challenging journey, but many generous people supported us, and we are deeply grateful to them.”
Building on their success, Tiglin opened a women’s centre based on the same model. In 2010, with the help of Wicklow Co Council, Tiglin became an approved housing body. Today, the organisation provides supported housing for men and women in recovery, young adults, and displaced families, along with upskilling and education opportunities to help them exit homelessness and reintegrate into society.
Tiglin is known in Kildare for its Jigginstown Manor, Naas transitional housing for young adults.
Oliver Callan praised Tiglin’s work, saying: “We give far too much attention to the bad things about ourselves. Tiglin is a place that reminds us to focus on the goodness and good people of Dublin and Ireland. The decent men and women who have passed the Tiglin torch and spirit to the next man and the next woman – this relay rally of kindness, friendship and helping citizens in crisis towards independence.”
CEO and co-founder Phil Thompson emphasised the importance of stable housing and community support in rebuilding lives. “We realised people needed more than temporary solutions. That’s why we started engaging with the homeless through our mobile café, No Buck’s Café,” he said.
“Over the years, we became an approved housing body and collaborated with the Ministry of Education and Social Protection to offer employment programmes.” Tiglin is also at the frontline of the rough sleeping crisis through their homeless café Tiglin at the Lighthouse.
Kildare was well-represented at the Salesforce Tower with Kildare Co Council CEO Sonya Kavanagh, Kildare Chamber CEO Sinead Ronan, Millenium Park’s Gerry Prendergast, Alistair Conway, Mohammed Rashid, Jerry Conlan, and Intel’s Keith Flynn among those in attendance.
