Stanislaus Kennedy

Stanislaus Kennedy (born Treasa Kennedy; 19 June 1939 – 3 November 2025), popularly known as Sister Stan, was an Irish nun, social activist and member of the Irish Council of State. She authored several books including an autobiography. Her honours included multiple honorific doctorates.

Kennedy joined the Religious Sisters of Charity at age 18 and was mentored by Bishop Peter Birch who believed that the Catholic Church had to "identify more with the poor". She graduated in social science from University College Dublin. Kennedy was in 1974 the first chair of the National Committee to Combat Poverty. She became best known as the founder of the homelessness charity Focus Ireland in 1985, but also initiated The Sanctuary, a centre for meditation and spirituality in central Dublin, and the Immigrant Council of Ireland in 2001.