The Newbridge Ladies: Kathleen Reagan, Fidelma McGroary, and Linda Maguire.
Since the 1930s, many Irish newlyweds were choosing their silver pattern from a small company in Newbridge, County Kildare, that grew out of an economic vacuum after the British Army abandoned its garrison there in 1921, leaving Newbridge in financial crisis.
It didn’t take long for Newbridge Silverware to take over the cutlery market from the English companies, such as Sheffield, to become the iconic Irish wedding gift. But it wasn’t until the 1990s that Newbridge made a move that gave the company, feeling the pinch of cheaper foreign imports, a whole new life. It started when one of the company’s craftsman started playing around with the scraps of silver left on the factory floor, making pendants and bracelets out of the valuable detritus of soup spoons and butter knives. Owner William Doyle knew a good idea when he saw one, and the Newbridge Jewelry line took off.
Until this year, though, if you wanted a piece of Newbridge, you’d have to get it on your trip to Ireland or in one of the rare shops in the US that carried it. Today, thanks to an Erdenheim woman, Linda Maguire, you can get a Tara pendant, Rose earrings or a sterling silver baby frame right in your own livingroom.
Maguire recently founded Curragh LLC, the only company in the US licensed to sell Newbridge, and she’s taking a page from hugely successful companies like Silpada, Pampered Chef, and Avon and going the home show route.
A jewelry designer herself, Maguire had a special place in her heart for Newbridge. Her husband, Paul, a native of Newbridge, often bought a piece for her when he was home for a visit. “I absolutely love Newbridge and always have,” Maguire said as she took a moment from toting up a jewelry order at a recent Newbridge party hosted by the Philadelphia Rose of Tralee Centre to talk about her brand new venture. “It’s a simple, classic design, and even though it’s very modern for the most part, it does harken back to traditional Irish images.”
Many pieces are the modern equivalent of Celtic knots, spirals, and the interlacing Book of Kells calligraphy patterns that are so recognizably Irish. Even more modern is the giftware, also sold a home shows, from executive desk clocks to baby gifts to wine holders. But there are also replicas of vintage items—Grace Kelly’s string of pearls and pendants based on William Doyle’s Paris flea market finds—as well as the chunky bead bracelets that have become so popular in the US. And they’re all relatively modestly priced.
If Paul Maguire hadn’t been buying his wife a piece of Newbridge the last time he was in Ireland, there might not be a Curragh LLC. “Paul and William Doyle went to school together,” explains Maguire. “He hadn’t see the Doyles in 30 years and be was buying me a bracelet when he ran into Oonagh Doyle (William’s sister).”
The idea that eventually became a serious move to market Newbridge in the US came with the innocent question Paul Maguire asked. “Why don’t you think about coming into the US market?”
And the home show seemed like the perfect fit. “I’d done them before with my own jewelry,” says Linda Maguire. “Home shows and fundraisers are a big area. I remember doing one to benefit Heifer International. It was very successful.”
When Linda Maguire set up her company, she called her sales people “Irish ambassadors” and the two in the Philadelphia area really are Irish—Kathleen Regan and Fidelma McGrory, both immigrants. She also created an incentive program for the home hostesses who can earn up to a 50 percent discount on any Newbridge silver product—with lots of smaller discounts, depending on how much is sold at the show.
“It’s a really attractive program and women seem to really like it,” says Maguire. Around her, the din of chatter had died down as the party-goers got down to the serious business of actually deciding what to buy, their heads bowed over their catalogs and order forms. “I think it’s going to be very successful.”
To find out more about Newbridge in the US, you can contact Linda Maguire through her website.
Check out our photos of the Newbridge party that was a fundraiser for the Philadephia Rose of Tralee Centre. (Newbridge is a longtime sponsor of the Rose of Tralee Festival and Pageant in Ireland.)