Organ Donation and Transplant Ireland

Organ donors save lives. Making the decision to donate organs is the most important gift we can ever give. Making friends and family aware of how you feel and your wishes on organ donation are the key steps towards saving lives.

Donation greatly enhances and in many cases, saves the life of the person who receives the transplanted organ.

Hear stories from our patients, families and staff through the YouTube playlists below.

Organ donation - Patient stories

Organ donation – Donor families stories

The national team of Donor Coordinators from Organ Donation Transplant Ireland manage the overall process of donation and retrieval in Ireland. They work closely to support families at the time of their loss and throughout the journey of donation.

There are specialist organ donation personnel based in the hospital groups nationally to assist with organ donation. They include six Organ Donation Nurse Managers in addition to six Clinical Leads in Organ Donation. They provide support, advice and healthcare staff training and education to ED, theatre and in particular the Intensive Care Units in each hospital nationally.

Furthermore, they assist with the organ donation referrals and ensures each family is offered the option of considering organ donation and are supported with that decision.
Organ donation and transplant surgery are well established in Ireland. There are three specialist transplant centres in Ireland.

The National Kidney Transplant Service is located in Beaumont University Hospital where both living and deceased kidney transplants occur. Paediatric kidney transplants are carried out in Temple Street Children’s University Hospital.

The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital hosts the National Heart and Lung Transplant Service. The specialist transplant team perform both heart and lung transplantation surgery for patients from all over Ireland.

The National Liver Transplant Service has been running at St. Vincent’s University Hospital since 1993. More recently, in 2016 the National Pancreas Transplant Centre moved to St. Vincent’s University Hospital.