The Charles Sheils Charity is easily the largest “almshouse” charity in Ireland, and one of the largest in the U.K.
It is entirely self governing under the special legislation which set it up in the nineteenth century.

We are responsible for honouring and maintaining the legacy of the founder, Charles Sheils, a merchant from County Down who wished to use his fortune to help many of the impoverished of Ireland by building charitable housing, leaving a legacy to that effect in his will.

It was a remarkable project for its time particularly because Sheils stipulated that housing was to be provided irrespective of religious and cultural background. The first buildings were completed in Killough, County Down, Charles' home village, followed by Stillorgan Dublin, then Carrickfergus, Dungannon and Armagh. Today there are around 125 houses.

How things work locally.

Each set of houses is administered by a Local Board, where it is the policy to have a local cleric of each denomination plus three of each of his co-religionists, making twelve in all and each Governor is ex-officio a member of every Local Board.

Until 2004 the charity provided a free house, but inflation together with the necessity to modernise the houses to accepable modern standards  meant that the charity would inevitably have run out of money unless change came.

The charity obtained the power to charge and this has enabled the charity to refurbish  all of our 24 houses in Armagh and is presently undertaking the complete refurbishment of the houses at Killough.

All our northern houses are Listed, so expensive to renovate, and presently no grants are available either from the Heritage Service or N.I. Housing Executive. Our charges are below those elsewhere in the social housing sector and most of our Northern Irish residents receive full or partial Housing Benefit.