Peter O'Callaghan, a dedicated housing campaigner who worked tirelessly to help homeless people in London, has died aged 82. From the late 1960s, he was at the heart of the new housing aid movement, working with the pioneering charity Shac (the London Housing Aid Centre) under Father Paul Byrne.
Early work with Shac and the housing aid movement
As head of Shac's emergency department, O'Callaghan undertook detailed casework and built bridges between radical campaigns, housing charities, and progressive councils aiming to tackle homelessness and poor conditions in the private rented sector. His advocacy, alongside Shelter and the Catholic Housing Association Society (Chas), contributed to the transformational 1977 Housing (Homeless Persons) Act, which remains the basis for homelessness legislation today.
Career in housing and community service
In the mid-1970s, he moved on to run Brent Housing Aid Centre, then served as assistant director of housing at Hammersmith and Brent councils in the 1980s. Over the following two decades, he was chief executive of Patchwork Housing Association and later the Brent Irish Advisory Service. According to friends, he felt most fulfilled working face-to-face with people in housing need.
Early life and journey to London
Born in Cork, Ireland, O'Callaghan was the second eldest of six surviving children of Pauline (née Donovan) and James O'Callaghan, a bank manager. He attended several secondary schools due to his father's frequent moves, finishing at Knockbeg College on the County Laois-Carlow border. He trained for the priesthood at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, but left after five years, finding it hard to conform. After completing a teacher training course at University College Cork, his restless nature led him to London in 1968, where he began working with homeless Irish emigrants through Chas.
Personal life and legacy
At Shac, he met Lesley Williams, a psychotherapist, and they married in 1972. The couple settled in Queen's Park, north-west London, raising their twins, Kate and Tim. After retiring in 2010, they moved to Devizes, Wiltshire. In his final years, O'Callaghan lived with dementia and Parkinson's disease. He is survived by Lesley, Tim, Kate, a granddaughter Louise, and two brothers, Ivor and Niall. Known for his quick wit, warmth, and storytelling, he saw the good in everyone, colleagues recalled.
