Sarah Doherty fought for the rights of women workers in Derry for more than fifty years, beginning when she was still a teenager in a Londonderry shirt factory and continuing until her death in 1947. On Wednesday, the Ulster History Circle honoured her with a blue plaque in her home city, recognising a contribution that had long gone unmarked.
She entered the workplace in the late 19th century, when equal pay and workplace rights were beyond the reach of most female workers. Over the next five decades, she dedicated herself to improving pay and conditions for the women who helped power one of Ireland's most important industries.
Her great-niece Gabrielle Deans said Doherty was a campaigner for women's rights
"without being named that at the time"
"She has a great legacy. She worked in the shirt factory all her life and was very, very vociferous about demanding better conditions for the shirt workers in Derry.
"In particular the women who were not well paid and not well paid in comparison with similar workers in England,"she told BBC Radio Foyle.
Gabrielle Deans says she is incredibly proud that Sarah Doherty's legacy is now being recognised and honoured
On Wednesday, the Ulster History Circle honoured Doherty with a blue plaque in her home city, recognising a contribution they say should not be overlooked.
Born into a working class family in Derry's Bogside in the summer of 1884, Doherty was around 14 when she first went out to work. By then, Derry was a globally-renowned centre for shirt-making, with the industry developing from the late 19th Century.
By the 1920s, there were more than 40 shirt factories in Derry, employing thousands of workers, with thousands more servicing the industry from their homes.
By the 1920s, there were more than 40 shirt factories in Derry
At its peak, more than 18,000 people worked in Derry's shirt-making industry, the vast majority of them women.
Doherty first got involved in the fledgling trade union movement during a shirtcutters' strike of 1913, becoming organising secretary of the Derry branch of the Tailor and Garment Workers Union in the 1930s. She would also become secretary of the Tailor and Tailoresses Society and a member of the Shirt Making Wages Council.
Derry's
"factory girls"were the backbone of the once thriving industry
Doherty argued that women, who made up the overwhelming majority of the workforce, should organise collectively through trade unions.
Writing in 1932, she said:
"Owing to the scarcity of employment, considerable apathy exists among the workers with regard to trade unionism.
"They do not seem to realise that the period of bad trade is the most dangerous time for wage earners, and is the time of all others when they should rally to their union. We are at present engaged in an organising campaign…"
By the mid 1940s trade union membership had doubled among the working women of Derry.
Deans said she first became aware of her great-aunts' work and legacy when a relative had pulled together some family history and from doing some research of her own.
She remembers too, her father speaking of her great aunt.
"I remember my father Tom mentioning her as he was also involved in building trade unionism, but not much else. So I was very pleased to discover how active she had been, and how she worked hard to get better conditions and pay for the factory girls especially,"she said.
Deans added:
"That attitude has come down through the years and the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of her brothers and sisters still figure prominently in the political and community life of Derry to the present day."
Doherty's family, she said, are
"very proud"that Doherty's legacy is now being recognised and honoured.
Chris Spurr of the Ulster History Circle said Doherty was
"was a trade unionist who campaigned for women's rights, but first and foremost she was a Derry shirt factory girl, one of the thousands whose working lives remain forever stitched through the fabric of the city"
Doherty, who never married, died in 1947. She is buried in Derry's City Cemetery.
Who was Sarah Doherty?
Born in 1884, Sarah Doherty grew up in a working class family in Derry's Bogside and entered shirt factory work as a teenager. Her life and work became tied to an industry that employed thousands of women and shaped the city's economy for decades.
She became involved in trade unionism after the 1913 shirtcutters' strike and later held key roles in the Derry branch of the Tailor and Garment Workers Union, the Tailor and Tailoresses Society, and the Shirt Making Wages Council.
Her campaigning focused on the conditions and pay of women workers, who made up the overwhelming majority of the shirt-making workforce. In a city where more than 18,000 people eventually worked in the industry, Doherty was among those who pressed for collective organisation and better treatment for the women who kept the factories running.
By the mid 1940s, trade union membership had doubled among working women in Derry, reflecting the broader effort to organise women in an industry that had long relied on their labour.
Her story, said her family, remained little known for many years before being rediscovered through family history research and her own political and community legacy.
How did her family remember her?
Gabrielle Deans said she learned more about Doherty by combining family history with her own research, after only hearing limited references to her from relatives. Her father Tom also mentioned her because he was involved in building trade unionism.
"I remember my father Tom mentioning her as he was also involved in building trade unionism, but not much else. So I was very pleased to discover how active she had been, and how she worked hard to get better conditions and pay for the factory girls especially,"
Deans said the values Doherty stood for had continued through later generations. She added that the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of Doherty's brothers and sisters still played prominent roles in Derry's political and community life.
"That attitude has come down through the years and the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of her brothers and sisters still figure prominently in the political and community life of Derry to the present day."
She also said her family was
"very proud"that Doherty's legacy was now being recognised and honoured.
Why does the blue plaque matter?
The blue plaque from the Ulster History Circle formally recognises Doherty's contribution to Derry and to women's labour history. Chris Spurr said the honour was for a woman whose work had often been overlooked despite its importance to the city.
"was a trade unionist who campaigned for women's rights, but first and foremost she was a Derry shirt factory girl, one of the thousands whose working lives remain forever stitched through the fabric of the city"
The unveiling drew crowds to Shipquay Street on Wednesday as the city marked the recognition of a woman who spent much of her life arguing for better conditions for shirt workers.
Crowds gathered in Shipquay Street to watch the blue plaque unveiling on Wednesday
Doherty never married and died in 1947. She is buried in Derry's City Cemetery, where her life now sits within the wider history of the city's once-thriving shirt industry.
By the 1920s, there were more than 40 shirt factories in Derry
Derry's
"factory girls"were the backbone of the once thriving industry
"She has a great legacy. She worked in the shirt factory all her life and was very, very vociferous about demanding better conditions for the shirt workers in Derry.
"In particular the women who were not well paid and not well paid in comparison with similar workers in England,"
"I remember my father Tom mentioning her as he was also involved in building trade unionism, but not much else. So I was very pleased to discover how active she had been, and how she worked hard to get better conditions and pay for the factory girls especially,"
"That attitude has come down through the years and the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of her brothers and sisters still figure prominently in the political and community life of Derry to the present day."
"was a trade unionist who campaigned for women's rights, but first and foremost she was a Derry shirt factory girl, one of the thousands whose working lives remain forever stitched through the fabric of the city"
Key Facts
- Sarah Doherty was born in Derry's Bogside in the summer of 1884 and started work at around 14.
- She was involved in the 1913 shirtcutters' strike and later held union roles in the 1930s and beyond.
- By the 1920s, there were more than 40 shirt factories in Derry and more than 18,000 people worked in the industry at its peak.
- Trade union membership had doubled among working women in Derry by the mid 1940s.
- Doherty died in 1947 and is buried in Derry's City Cemetery.
