'It is absolutely fitting that she be remembered': Blue plaque to honour forgotten Northern Ireland trade union pioneer

A pioneering Londonderry shirt factory worker, trade union leader and women's rights campaigner who dedicated her life to improving conditions for thousands of workers is to be honoured with an Ulster History Circle Blue Plaque.

Sarah Doherty, who spent more than three decades campaigning for fair pay, better working conditions and stronger trade union representation for women employed in the city's shirt-making industry, will be commemorated at 16-18 Shipquay Street today (Wednesday) – the anniversary of her birth.

The plaque recognises a woman whose contribution to the labour movement has often been overlooked despite the significant impact she had on the lives of generations of workers.

Born in the Bogside on July 22, 1884, Sarah was the third daughter of 13 children born to Manasses and Sarah Doherty. Like many young local women at the time, she entered the city's thriving shirt industry as a teenager, beginning work in a factory at around the age of 14.

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Londonderry had become the UK's leading centre for shirt and collar manufacturing, employing around 18,000 people at its peak in the 1920s. More than 90% of those workers were women, many of whom endured long hours and low wages.

It was in this environment that Sarah became involved in trade union activity, joining the movement around the time of the famous Shirtcutters' Strike of 1913. Determined to improve the lives of women who were routinely paid less than men and earned lower wages than workers in similar industries elsewhere in Britain, she became one of the city's leading labour organisers.

In 1932 she was appointed organising secretary of the Londonderry branch of the Tailor and Garment Workers Union, taking on the difficult task of recruiting members during one of the most challenging economic periods the industry had faced.

Despite her efforts, declining employment in the industry led to her redundancy in 1934. Rather than step away from the movement, she continued serving as branch secretary on a voluntary basis, determined to continue fighting for workers' rights.

She also served as secretary of the Tailor and Tailoresses Society and represented workers on the Shirt Making Wages Council, becoming a respected voice in negotiations over pay and factory conditions.

In 1939 she returned as secretary of the Lodonderry branch of the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union, where she helped reverse declining membership and successfully strengthened the organisation. By 1946, union membership had doubled in just one year.

Sarah never married and devoted much of her life to campaigning on behalf of others. She continued working until her health deteriorated and died in a Belfast nursing home on October 24, 1947, aged 63. She is buried in Londonderry’s City Cemetery.

Her grandniece, Gabrielle Deans, said researching her great-aunt's life had revealed the remarkable contribution she made to improving conditions for working women.

"When I first began to look at the life of my great aunt Sarah Doherty I actually knew very little about her. 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.”

Trade unionist Daisy Mules described the blue plaque as a fitting tribute to a woman whose contribution had largely gone unrecognised. “As for many women of that era, little is known about her life, other than what was recorded in the Derry Journal and by word-of-mouth from relatives.

"It is absolutely fitting that she be remembered with a blue plaque, honouring her service to the shirt factory workers.”

Ulster History Circle chairman Chris Spurr said Sarah Doherty's story was inseparable from the history of Londonderry itself: "She was a shirt factory girl, one of the thousands whose working lives remain forever stitched through the fabric of the city.

"The Ulster History Circle is delighted to commemorate this renowned campaigner with a blue plaque on the building where she worked as a trade union Organising Secretary, and the Circle is grateful for financial support towards the plaque from Derry City and Strabane District Council, and to the Inner City Trust for their kind assistance.”

The plaque will be unveiled at 2pm today (Wednesday) at 16-18 Shipquay Street.