Patricia Darling has been a member of the Board of McAuley Place since 2018 and is currently the Chairperson. 
Patricia is a Social Worker with extensive experience of working within the Community and Voluntary Sector at both management and grass roots levels.  She has worked for over 20 years in a community/education support role in Tallaght West, Dublin.  She has particular interest in the role of education in breaking the cycle of poverty.  She has many years of experience of leading schools’ Boards of Management, working groups and committees.   She uses her facilitation skills to draw people together to work towards better outcomes for their communities.  

Dick Gleeson is an urban planner and has spent most of his working life in the public sector. He has a keen interest in sustainability and in the challenge of creative regeneration in Irish towns. He is inspired by the model of Mc Auley Place, with an emphasis on accommodation for older people, supported by arts and culture, and underpinned by inter-generational facilities. He considers that Naas and other Kildare towns could benefit greatly from more of this type of development.

Joan Cahill has been a member of the board of McAuley Place since January 2022.

Joan is a Senior Director in Global Technology & Engineering at Pfizer, with 26 years’ experience in the Pharmaceutical Industry. She has a keen focus on international collaboration and excels in developing and leading dispersed teams and strategic work units.

Key Expertise includes Project & Program Management, Facilitation, Communication and Change Management and Innovation skills.

Education and Certifications: Joan holds a master’s degree (MSc.) in Strategy & Innovation from Maynooth University. Additionally, she is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), and a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Irish Academy of Public Relations.

Bridget Lane has been a member of the board of McAuley Place since January 2022.

Bridget is a retired Assistant Director of Nursing (ADON) in Naas Hospital. She has worked at a strategic and operational level for a large part of her career in many varied roles within the HSE structure. Her focus was always on improving patient outcomes by developing high quality care and always ensuring patient/staff safety. Bridget was determined to effectively develop a patient centric approach. She undertook her general training in the Mater Hospital. Dublin and followed on with Midwifery training in National Maternity Hospital, Holles street.

Following this, Bridget continued her self-development in Royal College of Surgeons, where she obtained a BS c degree in Management /Leadership studies. Over many years she has undertaken many courses applicable to her various roles.
Bridget returned from retirement to assist in the HSE Covid implementation plan. She initially worked in her old “alma mater”, then at the request of HSE management assisted in the setting up of the efficient testing/vaccination centre in City West.
Bridget is a dedicated sportsperson -having ran many marathons both home and away. She is a keen golfer also enjoys reading, hill walking and cooking.

Gerry Prendergast has been a member of the board of McAuley Place since January 2022.

Gerry is currently the Strategic Development Director of Millennium Park, Naas, Kildare since October 2005 to date. His role includes managing the commercial development of Millennium Park in attracting many new clients, either as purchasers or valued tenants.  Occupancy of almost 95% in office campus testifies to the high regard in which Millennium Park is held both nationally and internationally.

Previously Gerry progressed through the Ascon Group of companies from supervisor, through middle and senior management ranks to Director level. Ascon Limited and its subsidiaries Rohcon Limited, Logan Earthmoving Limited, and Ascon Excavation Limited, now collectively known as BAM Constructors, is one of Ireland’s leading civil engineering, building and property development companies.

Gerry has a wide interest in sport, in particular rugby and golf. He organised and managed on a voluntary basis, the phase 1 redevelopment of Naas golf course to modern standards. He also played a key role in the refurbishment of Caragh church, a most interesting project because of the many architectural constraints and a tightly focused programme.

Gerry was appointed to the Board of McAuley Place in March 2025.

Gerry is a retied AIB Bank Senior Manager having spent 40 years with the bank working mainly in Branch Management roles and other assignments in Corporate Banking and IT Strategy.Following his retirement from AIB Bank in 2012 Gerry took up the role of Business Development Manager with Murray Spelman Insurance Brokers, Naas in 2013 up to mid 2020 when the company was acquired by Arachas Insurance Group.

Gerry was a member of the Fundraising Committee which successfully completed the initial refurbishment of the Church of Our Lady and St. David, Naas in 1985.

Gerry is a former player and Past President of Naas Rugby Football Club and is also a member of Naas Golf Club.

Phil is a registered general nurse with a postgraduate specialism in intensive care. She has worked as an ICU nurse in Ireland, Australia, the UK, and Memorial Sloane Kettering in New York, following training in Dublin and London.

She began work for the INMO in 1998, later completing an MA in industrial relations and a Higher Diploma in employment law and qualification in Economics. She was Director of Industrial Relations from 2008 until 2018 when she was appointed General Secretary, of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organsation (INMO).

As general secretary, she has overall responsibility for the organisation, leading INMO’s advocacy on national nursing policy and through various public sector pay agreements. In 2019, she led the organisation’s first strike in two decades – gaining pay increases and staffing improvements for nurses and midwives.

She is one of two Vice Presidents of ICTU Ireland’s trade union federation and Co-chair of Ireland’s Emergency Department Taskforce.

She has long supported the promotion of human rights, equality and social justice both in Ireland and internationally in accordance with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions charter.

Jerry Conlan has been a Director of McAuley Place since July 2024.
Jerry served at the forefront of many industries. His expertise is in commercial property development and was behind the development of Millennium Business Park in Naas and retail parks in Kildare & Waterford. He led teams in the hospitality industry, in the private hospital sector and was involved in office blocks in Dublin and has driven significant property companies abroad. 

He fundraised for building Orphanages in Sri Lanka since the Tsunami in 2004 and to date, a number of orphanages and training colleges have been built.

He is Director of Tiglin, a registered charity in Ireland that helps people overcome addiction, homelessness and other life-controlling issues.

He is a Kildare native and keen golfer.
 

Susanna Cawley has been a member of the Board of McAuley Place since April 2024

Qualified as a practising solicitor in February 1997. She has a degree in Economics and Politics and a masters Degree in Economics.

Susanna qualified as a practising solicitor in February 1997. She has a degree in Economics and Politics and a masters Degree in Economics. She was a member of the lecturing department of Economics in UCD for a two year period and uses her experience from this job in her legal practice. Susanna is a partner in Coonan Cawley Solicitors and practises in the area of private clients and commercial law. She also focuses on the provision of a wide range of services including financial, tax and estate planning including wills, administration of estates, conveyancing both commercial and private, agricultural property, commercial law, company law and family law.

Susanna holds a number of positions as Trustee and Director on boards including the Board of Timoney Leadership Institute, a charity promoting effective, ethical leadership in business and industry.