Thirty years ago the prospect for someone with an intellectual disability was bleak indeed. Some were lucky enough to be cared for at home, but in time elderly parents became more and more worried about what would happen to their loved one when they themselves were gone. Others were put immediately into the care of large institutions on the supposition that they needed special care and should be kept apart from the rest of society. While it is true that some people have a severe or profound intellectual disability, such is unusual, the majority being mild or moderate.

Lydia Cochran and Dorothy Blake had a dream - a dream that disabled people would live as independently as possible, in a family type home, where they could fulfill their potential - a dream where they could develop their self esteem and confidence and have the dignity of going to work like everybody else.

But Mrs Cochran and Miss Blake didn't just dream. They set to work to make the dream into a reality. they gathered a team around them and started fundraising, and they prayed.

As a result of many years of hard work, numbers 1 and 2 Hillside were purchased. They were joined together to make one home suitable people with an intellectual or physical disability and house parents were employed. Peacehaven House was opened in 1979, and was one of the first of its kind in Ireland at the time.