Glebe House is a unique and special place for people of all ages, from Ireland, north and south, and all over the world.
Since 1975 children, young people and adults have been coming to Glebe House for a week, two weeks, a weekend, or a day, to live together, play together, work together, learn together, and while we're at it discover that life can be more interesting, more rewarding, more creative, more adventurous, and more fun than the labels that get stuck on us.
We have been working for a peaceful, fair, inclusive society that respects and cherishes each person's humanity, dignity, aspirations, ideas and needs. One where each person can determine and re-create her or his own identity, rather than conform to sectarian, national, ethnic or social stereotypes, myths or stigmas. At Glebe House people of all ages create and renew friendships.
Our visitors come mostly from Northern Ireland, but also from Dublin, other parts of the Irish Republic and further afield.
Our volunteers have come from India, America, Africa, Australia, Britain, Ireland and many other parts of Europe.
Glebe House is in the country (where donkeys live), beside the sea (where seals live), in the beautiful, historic peninsula of Lecale (where Saint Patrick lived), near Strangford Lough (where the Vikings lived), and near the Mountains of Mourne (which sweep down to the sea, where seals live). The place is ideal for our many purposes and activities: play, adventure, discovery, creativity, respite and rest, and building relationships, trust and confidence.
In Northern Ireland the political landscape has changed dramatically and our society has become more diverse and - for some - more prosperous. For Glebe House the challenges continue: poverty, inequalities, segregation, social exclusion, xenophobia, suspicion, fear, historical resentments. But each person can be an agent rather than a victim, and Glebe House will continue to help people of all ages to become agents of positive change in their own lives and in society.
