Focus Ireland’s coffee shop on Eustace Street, in Dublin’s Temple Bar, is a hub of activity before lunchtime on Monday.
Founded by Sr Stanislaus Kennedy in 1986 as a place for the capital’s “hidden homeless” to seek advice and information about finding a home over a cup of coffee, the project soon expanded under her vision to include a 365-day cafe with subsidised hot meals.
The death of the social justice campaigner, affectionately known as Sr Stan, was announced just a few hours before the shop opened its bright yellow doors for business as usual.
Sr Stan died on Monday morning after a short time at the St Francis Hospice, in Blanchardstown. She was 86.
RM Block
“She gave amazing hugs,” says Val Lynch, taking a momentary break from serving the first arrivals. “You just can’t describe it.”
Lynch remembers her as a “lovely woman” with a “calming influence” that commanded respect.
Lynch and fellow chef Paddy Markey looked forward to the nun’s regular visits to the city centre coffee shop. One visit occurred as recently as September when the charity was celebrating its 40th anniversary.
“It’s a sad day,” says Markey, who has worked for Focus Ireland for 25 years.
“She used to come in here on Christmas Day and sit down and talk to the customers ... She had a great way of talking to people at their level. She had their voice and Christmas was a special time.”
The Christmas special, a nut roast, was a Sr Stan favourite, he says.
“She was great with politicians, highlighting the homelessness issue. Mary McAleese was in here, David Norris, Michael D [Higgins], Enda Kenny. There have been so many politicians here over the years.”
In the early 1980s, Sr Stan spent one year with a group of eight young women who were homeless, living with them on the top floor of a building that she had rented out on the same street the coffee shop stands today. This research informed her advocacy and campaigning work.
Focus Ireland catering team leader, Alison Cullen, who has worked with the charity for 23 years, also speaks fondly of the founder.
“So many of us have been around for a long time. She was our why,” says Cullen, standing at the shop entrance which features a colourful mural with a portrait of the late Sr Stan.
Sr Stan was revered “like royalty” when she entered, but she would clean the tables and “have the chat”, says Cullen.
Tears fill Cullen’s eyes as she reflects on her memories of Sr Stan. A standout was “her way of always treating people with such dignity”.
That Sr Stan was unafraid to challenge those in positions of power was another aspect of her legacy that sticks with Cullen: “She said uncomfortable things, and she kept repeating them until people listened.”
The “great hugs” have also left an impression on her.
“For me, I’ve worked with Stan for the last 11 years and it’s been an absolute privilege,” says chief executive Pat Dennigan, joining Cullen outside.
“She was a wonderful person.”
