A Co Derry woman who helped to establish one of the leading names in the North’s shirt-making industry will be recognised this week over 100 years after her death.
Pioneering Bridget Desmond started out as a shirt distribution agent in Claudy.
Over the next two decades she laid the foundations for what became the famous Desmonds factory.
Mrs Desmond died in 1911, but on Friday International Women’s Day – a blue plaque will be unveiled in Claudy to her memory.
Her grandson Sir Denis Desmond, the former chairman of Desmond & Sons Ltd and who will be at the event, said: “It is a great honour for my grandmother to be remembered in this way.
“When she started out in 1885, it was extremely unusual for a woman to be starting her own business.
“She died in 1911, so obviously I never got the chance to meet her, but her story has been carried down the generations.”
He added: “I’ve always had a photograph of her around my desk. It’s always important in life to remember where you have started out from.”
The honour has been organised by the Ulster History Circle, which organises blue plaques in public places across the nine counties to celebrate people of achievement.
Dr Myrtle Hill from the organisation said: “The life and work of this remarkable woman had a lasting impact on Claudy and the wider community, and it is particularly pleasing to honour her contribution to the working women of the area on International Women’s Day.”
Bridget Desmond was born in Killygordon, Co Donegal, in 1862.
By 1881 she and four of her siblings – Patrick, Felix, Joseph and Susan – were living and working in Glasgow.
While employed as a domestic servant in the city, Bridget met and married John Desmond in 1884.
Mr Desmond brought his new wife back to his home village of Claudy in Derry.
Their first child John was born in August 1885, but the baby died four weeks later.
At around that time, Bridget set herself up as an agent for Tillie & Henderson and on a weekly basis went out to collect pre-cut shirts from Derry, driving her pony and trap.
After bringing them back to Claudy, Bridget distributed the material to local women who took them back to their homes, sewed them together and then returned them to Bridget for quality checking and for payment.
Over the next 20 years, and with 13 children, John assisted her in the conversion of outbuildings at the rear of their home.
She moved the workers into these and expanded this aspect of the business.
However, in August 1911, just as the business was flourishing and shortly before the first factory opened, Bridget died aged just 49.
The Ulster History Circle said: “With her enterprising skills, foresight and determination into shirt making in Claudy, there is no doubt that Bridget laid the foundations of Desmonds.
“Desmonds and their shirt making factories were to become Northern Ireland’s largest privately-owned company, with a turnover that regularly exceeded £100 million, employing over 3,000 people and ranked as Marks & Spencer’s fifth largest supplier.
“So from the lady who could be seen with her shirts in her pony and trap on the road to and from Londonderry, the Desmond Dynasty was born.”
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