Founded well over 100 years ago to provide clean, comfortable, affordable housing for people who need it, Merrick House DAC has been a Registered Charity since 1983. In 1900, students and academic staff of Trinity College Dublin raised capital to set up the Social Services (Tenements) Company Ltd. That company has continued its original mission since then, changing its practices (and sometimes its name) in response to changes in society and in Irish law.
Our current name reflects the partnership begun in the 1950s between the Social Service Company (Trinity College) Ltd, as it was known by then, and Dr Margaret Merrick, the Rathmines GP who pioneered the provision of services for the elderly in Dublin, working closely with the Irish Red Cross. Together they opened Auburn House in Harold’s Cross, and later raised funds to build Merrick House.
Merrick House DAC no longer has any formal association with Trinity College or the Red Cross.