The missing tales. 3 years in the making Pauline finally comes clean to Jeanie and Marie-Louise as to exactly why this episode has taken so long to finish. For the tape and yes there was a tape, Pauline and Jeanie met with Factory Girls Mary White and Clare Moore back in the Summer of 2020. 

Since then the TDGs have talked about Derry's shirtmaking history and the legacy it has left in the town. Episode 62 Shirt Tales Part 1 takes a deeper dive into the factual history of the shirt making industry in the City. This episode Shirt Tales Part 2 is a much more human story of the factory girls, their lives, loves, hopes, dreams and the serious craic that was had in and out of the workplace. 

Buckle up, these women worked hard, played harder and kept food on the table for many a Derry family. Often the only wage earner in a household the young girls thought nothing of handing over an unopened wage packet at the end of the week to be given back a small allowance from the contents.

Mary and Clare reminisce about the pride they had to be wage earners and the camaraderie they shared with the generations of women employed in the factories. Every word resonates with a shared lived experience that makes you realise that ‘Derry Girls’ has these women right at the centre of its heart, soul and craic.

Notes:

Factories Girls artwork - https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/derrys-factory-girls-sculpture-moves-27359087?fbclid=IwAR3eYR0-lrZW_petqwSQDxnQjgAjbsETfuDcZ0zSgwXWL1aCaPBIrWVdcj8

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49740625

Friday 28th July Derry Journal

https://www.derryjournal.com/news/environment/factory-girls-public-artwork-on-course-for-completion-in-spring-2024-4236039?fbclid=IwAR13jVUO57efqaVRgOGRBpfu4moqY0CfRvwtxHi9IHr5aczpbWX9TPceyZM

Could be Tillie and Hendersons or Ebrington factory horn. 

https://twitter.com/AodhanRob/status/1250864238211616768

Women inspired walk in Derry - Derry Danders

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/new-derry-walking-tour-shines-26399896

Article by Naomi Petropoulos  https://deindustrialization.org/honouring-the-original-derry-girls-the-resurgence-of-the-commemoration-and-celebration-of-shirt-making-in-derry-northern-ireland/

Friends of the Factories  https://www.friendsofthefactories.com/  https://twitter.com/FOTF21

Derry’s Dance Halls of Romance - Willie Deery  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Derrys-Dancehalls-Romance-Willie-Deery/dp/1906271410

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Springtown-Camp-Inside-Willie-Deery/dp/1906271305 

http://springtowncamp.com/willie-deery/280.html

The Town I loved so well - written and performed by Phil Coulter (from a few years ago) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAqOC5iJ5o8

TDGs EP62 - Shirt Tales (Part 1) - Pauline chats with Yvonne Norris and Naomi Petropoulos. Who are experts on the story of Derry’s shirt factories it’s a great introduction to a vital story in Derry’s history. Lots of info in the notes for this episode. 

TDGs EP20 - The Forces are with us - we find out about the overseas forces who were based in Derry during and after WW2.