| An Óige | |
| Full Name: | Irish Youth Hostel Association |
| Caption: | The logo for An Óige |
| Dissolved: | --> |
| Type: | Youth organization |
| Status: | Non-profit |
| Headquarters: | Dublin, Ireland |
| Coords: | 53.356°N -6.2683°W |
| Affiliations: | Hostelling International |
| Established: | 7 May 1931 |
| Founders: | Thekla Beere, Marion Tweedy, C.E. (Terry) Trench |
| Founding Location: | Dublin, Ireland |
| Focus: | To encourage youths to appreciate the Irish countryside through hostelling. |
| Location: | 61 Mountjoy Street (closed as an An Óige hostel in 2019) |
| Region Served: | Republic of Ireland |
An Óige (in Irish ənˠ ˈoːɟə/; meaning "Youth"), or the Irish Youth Hostel Association (IYHA), is a non-profit organisation providing youth hostel accommodation across the Republic of Ireland. An Óige is a member of Hostelling International.
An Óige was founded on 7 May 1931 by an organising committee which included Thekla Beere, Shane Bodkin, and Chalmers (Terry) Trench.[1] [2] The group had been inspired by the success of the Jugendherbergen in Germany.[2] An Óige's first youth hostel was opened at Lough Dan, near Roundwood, in County Wicklow.[2] An Óige was formed as a membership-based organisation and at its peak had some 15,000 members and ran 55 hostels.[2] It is now a member of Hostelling International.
Around the year 1990, the organisation bought the former convent school and orphanage complex at 60-61 Mountjoy Street, built circa 1865, and remodelled it for use as a hostel.[3] This became used as the main headquarters for An Óige.
As of 2017, the organisation operated 24 youth hostels in the Republic of Ireland.[4] In May 2019, An Óige closed the Dublin International Youth Hostel, which was then its main/headquarters facility and reportedly accounted for 60% of its revenue at the time.[5] By late 2019, An Óige was running 18 hostels, with franchise rights to a further 10.[5] During 2020, all hostels remained closed, as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland.[6]
In October 2019 the site of the former Headquarters on Mountjoy Street was put on the market at a guide price of €5 million.[7] As of August 2022, the site is now in use as a private hostel named Leevin Hostel Mountjoy.[8]
An Óige, the Irish Youth Hostel Association, has a number of charitable aims. These include to support a "love and appreciation of the countryside" by providing "simple hostel accommodation for [people] whilst on their travels", to foster an appreciation of Irish culture and heritage, to co-operate with Irish organisations which seek to preserve the countryside and walking routes, and to foster associations with similar organisations in other countries.[9]
The organisation is a registered charity in Ireland.[10]