The Timeline
Dubarry of Ireland was founded in Ballinasloe, Galway, in 1937, as a joint venture between a family from Northampton and the local Chamber of Commerce. The new owners aimed to infuse a European flair to distinguish the brand from other Irish counterparts, leading to the company's name inspired by the French courtesan Madame du Barry.
Madame du Barry originally Jeanne Becu married Comte Guillaume du Barry in 1768, thus inheriting the title of ‘Madame Dubarry’.
1937
Dubarry of Ireland is established as a co-operative factory in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway. A joint venture between the local Chamber of Commerce and a family from Northampton, the home of English footwear production. The exacting skills of the local craftsmen and women soon earned Dubarry a reputation for excellent workmanship in the design and manufacture of fine leather shoes.
1962
Dubarry purchases Norvic Ltd. and reduces production range to specialise in moccasins, producing 10,000 pairs per week for export to Scandinavia, UK, Belgium and Holland. A second plant is purchased in Westport in 1970 in a bid to increase production capacity.
1983
Management buy-out of the family owned company, including then accountant and now Managing Director, Eamonn Fagan. Dubarry introduced the now famous NonSlip-NonMarking™ deck shoe sole, and production of the ‘Broga’ style - now ‘Admirals’ - begins. The company move to their new purpose-built headquarters in Glentaun, Ballinasloe to mark 50 years in the town later in the decade. Investments are made into new high-tech machinery and computer aided design systems.
1990
Dubarry launch the Shamrock 2000, the world’s first performance sailing boot using GORE-TEX technology, and featureing their patented sole unit. Following the success of Shamrock, with many customers then wearing them outdoors, Dubarry develop the Huntsman and Huntima - which are now know as Galway and Kildare three years later after the initial launch of the Shamrock. Dubarry ends the 90’s moving manufacturing from Ballinasloe to contract partners in Portugal due to a combination of increasing costs and shortage of skilled workers in Ireland
2000
In the year 2000 after years knocking on doors and attending Trade Shows across the UK and Europe, Dubarry launches their Events Marketing Strategy to help create product and brand awareness in Direct to Consumer (D2C) initiatives. Mid-way through the decade Dubarry expand into the world of leather goods and accessories to sit alongside their footwear collections. In 2007 Dubarry introduces its first clothing range and due to the positive reaction and sales growth over the following couple years, an exclusive tweed collection follows in 2010. 2009 also saw the establishment of a wholly owned marine subsidiary in the United States known as DUSA. Dubarry move to Pennsylvania to combine with their country operation.
2010
Having built up a strong reputation within various sailing forums, Dubarry decides to release a new superior sailing boot to market. To plaudits from sailors around the world Dubarry launches the Crosshaven, its most technically advanced performance sailing boot to date. The boot is crafted for performance sailing and features numerous details such as the NonSlip-NonMarking™ sole, GORE-TEX lining, D-Chassis system for extra heel protection and support all the way down to a high reflective fabric running around the circumference of the boot for maximum visibility. The boot has become well-known in performance sailing circles and is worn by different teams during international sailing races such as the Ocean Race.
2012
To coincide with 75 years in business, Dubarry develop an outerwear collection featuring GORE-TEX for the first time. Soon afterwards Dubarry open their first ever retail venture in Dublin, Ireland. A second store follows in 2013. Following the positive reaction to the College Green flagship in Ireland’s capital, Dubarry open their second store in the highly regarded Duke of York Square in Chelsea, London.
2016
Dubarry complete their retail expansion to date by launching a boutique offering along Montpellier, a beautiful area in the equestrian-renowned town of Cheltenham. September 2021 saw us rubber stamp a new store location in Cheltenham, upgrading our existing boutique on Montpellier to a store 4 times the size which is located on the main thoroughfare of Promenade in the centre of town
2017
Show Circuit teams expand to include UK, Ireland, USA, Germany, Holland, Scandinavia and France. On top of that, a subsidiary company is formed to oversee operations across Mainland Europe, located outside of Utrecht in the Netherlands.
2018
Dubarry commence research and product development work on an Aquatech Clothing collection to run alongside their Performance Sailing Boots. This was done with the assistance of selected distributors servicing the Super Yacht and Performance Sailing markets. The Aquatech collection was successfully launched into market in 2020 despite the market uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
2019
Dubarry re-platform their online operations via a significant investment in eCommerce infrastructure and personnel, with the ability to handle multiple fulfilment locations, languages and currencies.
2020
The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 saw the greatest disruption to Dubarry’s business in its history. With a huge commitment from its loyal staff in all locations the essential services were maintained, albeit in very different and challenging cirsumstances. The eCommerce investment of 2019 allowed Dubarry to benefit from the swing of customers to online platforms with the majority of ‘brick & mortar’ retail closed for the following 9 months.