“JOSEPH STALIN stayed in a Rowton House in 1907. Jack London and George Orwell both wrote of these workingmen’s hostels. Arlington House, the last and the biggest of them, was built by the philanthropist Lord Rowton in Camden in 1905, and has been home to more Irish labourers than any other building outside the Emerald Isle, an Irish charity says. But those who could moved on, and over time a handsome place intended to be a decent haven for low-paid but clean-living workers became the haunt of drunks and drug-abusers. It was known as the biggest doss-house in Europe.

No longer. On June 10th a bright, refurbished Arlington House threw open its doors. It has 95 private units for the homeless (a far cry from the 1,000 it once housed), 35 cheapish studios for young workers, training facilities in catering, building and the arts, and rentable commercial spaces to help pay for it all.”

And the charity refered to in the above article in the Economist is Aisling. The article also refers to “the 21 Irishmen still at newly cool Arlington House, reminders of a bygone age”.

Aisling continues to support the Irish comminity in Arlington House.