About Pieta House
Pieta House, the centre for the prevention of self-harm or suicide, opened in Lucan, Co Dublin, in January 2006. Since then, we’ve also opened two outreach centres in Tallaght, Dublin 24, and Finglas, Dublin 11, as well as two centres of excellence in Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, and Limerick.
Our founder, Joan Freeman, was a practicing psychologist. She closed down her counselling business almost a decade ago to dedicate her time to helping people who were suicidal. After three years of research, she opened up Pieta House in Lucan, Co Dublin. It quickly became a respected and recognised service for those who were suicidal.
With her long experience of counselling people who were self-harming, Joan knew this taboo subject was little discussed and rarely understood. She decided that Pieta House would also help people with this distressing issue.
Pieta House now has a staff of 80 and the demand for our services hasn’t let up. In 2012, more than 3,000 people came to Pieta House for help and the numbers contacting us are rising all the time.
We’re passionate about our work. As 90% of our income comes from fundraising events, we rely heavily on the support and encouragement of our volunteers and the friends of Pieta.