What makes Ireland a charitable nation?

This reputation is at the root of our tourism campaigns, and is something that we pride ourselves on as a nation. Tourism Ireland’s website Ireland.com, proudly proclaims “friendliness is woven into the fabric of our culture”, and the notion that anyone coming to Ireland will be met with “cead míle fáilte” – 100,000 welcomes. 

In recent years, a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, as well as the spread of misinformation, has slightly shaken belief in Ireland’s welcoming nature. But we must remember that this sentiment comes from a very small corner of society, and does not define Ireland and our sense of social responsibility. 

It’s a very difficult time for our world, with conflict, uncertainty and division on the rise, and it’s more important than ever to remember what is at the core of the people of Ireland - compassion, empathy, and a social responsibility to give back. Here, we explain just why Ireland is so predisposed to charity, and why that matters. 

Having such a renowned reputation for friendliness, kindness and generosity is a lot to live up to. But the stats show that the people of Ireland put their money - and their actions - where their mouths are. 

Each year since 2010, the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) publishes its World Giving Index - a study on global generosity. The survey asks three questions - Have you donated money to charity in the last month? Have you volunteered your time to an organisation in the last month? Have you helped a stranger or someone you didn’t know who needed help in the last month? The answers to these questions are used to rank countries in terms of their generosity. 

In 2019, following a decade of data, the World Giving Index ranked Ireland as the fifth most charitable country in the world over the past 10 years, just behind the United States, Myanmar, New Zealand and Australia. That made our small nation the most generous country in Europe, and had us standing shoulder to shoulder with countries with populations vastly larger than our 5.3 million. 

In the years since, we have consistently ranked within the world top 20. The most recent Index ranks Ireland as the 15th most generous country, behind number one Indonesia and countries including Kenya, Liberia and Thailand. Out of those surveyed, 29% said they had volunteered in the last month; 59% of people said they had helped a stranger; and 65% said they had donated money to a charity - giving us a 9th place ranking in that category. 

The Irish propensity to donate to charity is also seen in the annual rankings revealed by the online fundraising platform GoFundMe. In 2024, for the sixth year running, Ireland was named the world’s most generous country on GoFundMe, with the people of Ireland raising almost €50 million on the platform last year. Over 850,000 donations were made across 15,000 fundraisers, ranging from efforts to pay for the healthcare of a teenager who suffered life-changing injuries during GAA training, to an appeal to help five displaced families in Gaza. 

The wide range of causes donated to, from personal tragedies and local cancer charities to international aid, shows that the people of Ireland’s sense of compassion goes beyond borders. The old saying goes that charity starts at home, but the people of Ireland know that it doesn’t end there.

In 1985, Live Aid was held, hosting concerts around the world to raise money to help those affected by the catastrophic famine in Ethiopia. Organiser Sir Bob Geldof later revealed that Irish people donated over £7 million (€8.3 million), which was more per capita than any other country in the world. 

When you consider Ireland’s history, this isn’t really a surprise. The scars of the Great Famine are in our DNA. In the mid-19th century, over three million people in Ireland were dependent on the potato crop, which grew well in the poor soil in the areas of the West many were forced to relocate to. When the potato blight hit Ireland in 1845, crops were decimated and livelihoods shattered. Inadequate action from the British government (who ruled Ireland at the time), absentee landlordism and the harsh Poor Law, which forced 4% of people into workhouses, compounded the crisis. Ireland experienced Europe’s worst famine of the 19th century. 

The 1841 Irish census recorded a population of over 8 million. By 1851, this had dropped to 6 million. More than 1 million people died from starvation and hunger-related diseases, while around 2 million people were forced to emigrate. By 1921, an estimated 4.5 million people had left Ireland. 

We have seen the catastrophic damage famine can cause. Not only did over a million people die, we lost communities, stories, history and our language. When we see countries experiencing famine due to climate change and conflict, we know that it is not right, and can be avoided. This is why the Irish donated millions to help Ethiopians affected by famine, and why John and Kay O’Loughlin-Kennedy felt compelled to organise a mission to Biafra in 1968 (more on that later). Famine shaped Ireland, and we do not want famine to shape a country’s future in the 21st century.

It’s not just hunger we understand. Millions of Irish in the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere sought work, education, better living conditions or an escape from poverty; while millions more had no choice but to leave during the Great Hunger. Our history of forced emigration helps us understand the plight of refugees who are fleeing conflict, persecution and extreme weather, or those seeking a better life for their families.

We also understand oppression. Living under colonial rule and the struggle for Irish independence links us with other colonised countries, many of which are still dealing with the repercussions of colonialism, from damaged economies due to forced reparations, to resource extraction that leaves them unable to escape the cycle of poverty. And the conflict and political instability in our very recent history gives many of us a particular insight into the tough reality of living in a conflict zone. 

Of course, people from countries who haven’t experienced famine or conflict can still empathise with those facing these situations. But the Irish have a unique link with places experiencing oppression, hunger and injustice. It inspires us to take action, and we can’t look away from a tragedy unfolding without doing something about it. This is why we cannot abandon Gaza. We cannot ignore the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. We cannot forget about the conflict unfolding in Democratic Republic of Congo. We cannot say “not our problem” when floods ravage Pakistan, or earthquakes rock Syria. 

Ireland also knows the power of charity. During the Great Hunger, Ireland was sent donations from the US, the UK, India and all over the world, many from people who were poor and marginalised themselves. Notably, the colonised Choctaw Indian Nation, in the United States, sent a donation of $170 (now around $5,000), resulting in a link between Ireland and their community that lasts to this day. The Society of Friends, more commonly known as the Quakers, set up soup kitchens to feed the hungry, and provided communities with farming equipment and seeds to help them rebuild their lives and livelihoods. Acts of kindness like these provided immediate relief at a time where the government was slow to act.

From the opposite direction, Ireland has a long history of charity that is rooted in religious tradition, casting back to the 18th century. As noted by Oonagh B Breen in her article Charitable Organisations and Charity Policy in Ireland, since the late 19th century, religious charities linked with the Catholic Church provided many essential services in the fields of health care, education and social welfare. 

While religious organisations of all denominations are still a huge part of charity in Ireland today, much of Ireland’s giving is today rooted in a sense of social responsibility. As part of a civil society, we know that we should act in times of crisis, even when the crisis is not “ours” to face. At Concern, we see this sense of responsibility in all of our donors, whether long-term regular givers or people who donate to an emergency appeal, in the hundreds of schools that take part in our Global Citizenship programmes, and in the young people promoting the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Aside from all the surveys and statistics, we at Concern know that the people of Ireland are charitable because we see it every day - and we were born out of Irish generosity. 

Following Biafra’s attempt to secede from Nigeria, millions of people were displaced and a blockade of food, medicine and basic necessities by the Nigerian authorities resulted in famine. At the height of the crisis in the summer of 1968, it was estimated that 6,000 children were dying every week.

Father Raymond Kennedy, a Holy Ghost Priest, returned to Ireland from Nigeria with news about the ongoing crisis, which he shared with his brother and his sister-in-law John and Kay O’Loughlin Kennedy. In the run-up to Christmas in 1967, John, Kay and Raymond held a press conference in the Shelbourne Hotel to raise awareness and funds, and the response allowed them to send the first ‘mercy flight’ to Biafra. Weeks later, Africa Concern was founded - the organisation that would eventually become Concern Worldwide. On 6 September 1968, Africa Concern sent a 600-tonne ship named the Columcille to Sao Tome, a Portuguese island off the coast of west Africa, filled with vital supplies of powdered food, medicines, and batteries. To avoid the authorities and circumvent the blockade, the supplies were flown in at night. They were distributed the following day by Holy Ghost missionaries, including Aengus and Jack Finucane, brothers who went on to shape Concern in the 1980s and 90s. With their ongoing commitment and a growing team of volunteers, Africa Concern’s operations materialised into one flight a day over a period of 11 months.

Since then, the generosity of the Irish public has allowed Concern to continue our work with the world’s most vulnerable communities over the past 57 years. In 2023, as per our annual report, €31.5 million was raised by individual donors. That money - 89c of every euro donated - has gone towards relief and development in 26 countries. It provides education to young girls in Ethiopia; training in climate smart agriculture for farmers in Malawi; emergency therapeutic food for children facing malnutrition in Sudan; cash transfers for displaced refugees in Chad; clean water for families in Gaza; and assistance for flood-affected communities in Bangladesh. It allows us to respond to emergencies when they strike, support communities to build resilience against shocks, and strive towards our mission of eradicating extreme poverty.

We, and countless charities and organisations across the country, couldn’t do what we do without the support, generosity and kindness of the people of Ireland. And that kindness is in our history, and our future.