An Óige

An Óige (literally youth in Irish), or the Irish Youth Hostel Association (IYHA) is the Hostelling International's association for the Republic Of Ireland.

An Óige was founded in 7 May, 1931 by Thekla Beere (as part of an organising committee) as a membership based organization and is a member of the International Youth Hostel Federation. The headquarters are located in Dublin at 61, Mountjoy Street an eight-minute walk from O'Connell Street and less than an hour by Dublin Bus (16A or higher with Airlink) from Dublin Airport.

An Óige operates (as of early 2009) 27 youth hostels in the Republic of Ireland, some of which are only open in the summer season. The hostels in Dublin, Cork or Galway, are open all year round as well as hostels in Fossa in Killarney, County Kerry; Cong in County Mayo, in Gweedore in County Donegal and in Glendalough in County Wicklow.

The first youth hostel was opened in 1931 in Lough Dan (Irish: Loch Dean), near Round Wood (Irish: An Tochar), in County Wicklow (Irish: Cill Mhantáin).

Objective

To help all, but especially young people, to a love and appreciation of the countryside, particularly by providing simple hostel accommodation for them whilst on their travels.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/