Former workers in Derry’s shirt factories are being invited to take part in a major project depicting the history of the industry in the city.
Shirt factory workers on the steps of Tillie & Hendersons in Carlisle Square.
In its heyday 10,000 people worked in more than 30 shirt factories in the city and although it no longer plays a dominant role, the industry’s impact on the social, economic and cultural environment of the city has been vast.
The award-winning BT Portrait of a City team, in partnership with Holywell Trust’s Stitching the City Together Project and Derry City Council Museum Service, is calling for people to come forward and submit their shirt factory memorabilia for inclusion in their digital archive.
They are looking for artefacts, photographs and documents that relate to working and social life in the shirt factories over the years.
Clear Out Your Drawers! is being held at artist Rita Duffy’s Shirt Factory Project, Patrick Street, this Friday, 11 October, from 2.00pm to 400pm.
People can take along their memorabilia and the team will scan or photograph the material or record memories! Or just go along to see the Shirt Factory Project, chat to former shirt-factory workers, look through the digital archive, listen to oral histories and talk to the Clear Out Your Drawers! team the collection.
Clear Out Your Drawers! project manager Anne Montgomery said: “The outcome for the day will help keep a record of what shirt factory memorabilia is left in the city – in the homes of former workers and managers – and help to ensure the history and heritage of the shirt factories is recorded for posterity on the BT Portrait of a City digital archive.”
Derry’s reputation as the shirt-making capital of the world began in the mid-19th century when Tillie & Henderson, McIntyre, Hogg & Marsh, Welch Margetson and others raised a ring of factories within and beyond the city walls, while a number of smaller concerns continued to flourish. In its heyday 10,000 people worked in more than 30 shirt factories.
The project is supported by Derry City Council’s Heritage and Museum Service and Council archivist Bernadette Walsh will also be present on the day to talk to visitors who may wish to donate items to the museum and archive collection.
