CLODAGH, a Curious Dog Films Production for RTÉ and BAI, airs on Thursday 5th May, at 10.15pm on RTÉ One. This special documentary looks at the remarkable life of CLODAGH who has been a trailblazing Irish designer over the decades. Today, based in New York, she is ranked in the top 100 Interior Designers in the World.

Brief Synopsis

This unique documentary celebrates the work of one of Irelands greatest living female designers. Clodagh has been an International design icon for over half of the 20th century. She continues to defy all barriers of gender, age and race to forge a critically acclaimed global career. We explore what drives this single-minded designer.

Named among the Top 100 Designers in the World by Architectural Digest and already inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame, Clodagh, as she’s simply known, is an internationally recognised interior designer. This is the story of an extraordinary Irish woman and artistic trailblazer who continues to inspire modern designers worldwide. It is the story of how courageous difficult personal decisions she has made throughout her life, have impacted her and her family and define how she views the world today.

As a 17 year-old she appeared to have it all when she set up her own fashion label. But that was the 1950s when women were supposed to take a back seat to their husband's careers. Not the ambitious, independent Clodagh. Although she managed a busy home life with three children, she was part of a glamorous and hectic social scene, and by the 1960’s she was a household name in Irish fashion while exporting her garments all over the world.

However, all was not well in her world. Her marriage was failing and unable to divorce in 60’s Ireland she asked for a legal separation. Clodagh had to live with her husband for a further five years. On separating, a trip to glitzy Mojacar in South East Spain in 1971 presented a life-changing moment. A chance meeting with an American screenwriter on a beach in Spain led to a move to the US where she reinvented herself as an interior designer. By 1971, she had changed countries, careers and husbands in one year. Personal tragedy followed but Clodagh, in typical spirit, powered on.

Clodagh, who has been living and working in New York for the last 40 years is at the top of her game. She is recognised as one of America's most successful interior designers, renowned for spas, hotels and private residences all over the world.

But how did a young girl from the west of Ireland achieve the unlikely status of becoming one of the world’s top designers, carving out an illustrious career that spans six decades? Incorporating archive footage from two BBC films made about Clodagh in 1966 and 1989, welcome to the unique world of this inspiring woman.

Tune in Thursday 5th May, at 10.15pm on RTÉ One.