Event Description

Pull on your coat and join us for a walk through the heart of Derry’s shirt-making past. Once known as the shirt factory capital of the world, the city’s mills and factories were powered by thousands of women whose graft, grit, and good humour stitched Derry onto the global map.

Led by David from Derrie Danders, this guided tour not only shines a light on the factory girls who kept the machines running and the city buzzing, but also explores Derry’s wider industrial heritage — from railways and shipbuilding to shipping lines and whisky distillation.

After the walk, guests can rest and refuel at the Walled City Brewery with a heartwarming bowl of vegetable soup, perfectly paired with Carrick Foods’ rich Oyster Stout wheaten loaf.

The second part of the experience is hosted by Catherine and Margaret from Shirt Tales NI, a passionate mother-and-daughter team deeply connected to the city’s factory history. Together, they celebrate Derry’s proud shirt-making legacy and the quiet power of community stitching through storytelling, participative craft, gentle humour, and warm hospitality.

Their stories draw inspiration from sewing lessons at First Derry Presbyterian Church, based on the 1831 textbook “The National Female Schools of Ireland: Needlework and Cutting Out Simple Directions”, distributed to National Model Female Schools from 1835. The event also features original “strippy quilts” hand-stitched by factory workers — living testaments to the creativity and craftsmanship that shaped the city.