Irma Barlow Irma ( formerly Freda ) Barlow ( née Ogden ) was a Coronation Street resident in the late 1960s and early 1970s . The eldest of Stan and Hilda Ogden ' s children , Irma married Ken Barlow ' s footballer brother David in 1965 and the couple ran the Corner Shop together until 1968 , when they emigrated to Australia . Their son Darren was born there later in the year . In 1970 , the Barlows were involved in a car crash which only Irma survived . Irma returned to Weatherfield and bought into the Corner Shop , working there with co - owner Maggie Clegg . In 1972 , Irma sold her share and moved to Wales , deciding to leave Weatherfield behind for good . Bubbly , cheeky and down to Earth , Irma had a rocky relationship with her quarreling parents and hoped for a better life than theirs . After her move to Wales , she stayed out of their lives , on the day of Stan ' s funeral in November 1984 , Hilda received a telegram from Irma in Canada where she had now chosen to settle down and start afresh . Biography . 1946 - 1965 : Early life . Freda Ogden was born on 28th September 1946 , the eldest child of Stan and Hilda Ogden . Freda was like her parents in some ways , less in others ; the Ogdens lived in near - poverty as neither parent brought in much money and lazy Stan was a heavy drinker and was occasionally violent to his family . Nevertheless Hilda was dedicated to Stan and stood by him but Freda was sick and tired of his excuses and in 1961 left home , having had enough . In 1964 , Stan , working as a long - distance lorry driver , tracked down Freda , now having changed her name to Irma , to Weatherfield , where she had taken on jobs at the Corner Shop and Rovers Return Inn in Coronation Street after being a machinist at Elliston ' s Raincoat Factory . Irma ' s brother Tony and sister Sylvia had been taken into council care , but Stan swore he had changed and bought a house in the street , No . 13 , promising a fresh start for the family . Irma had her doubts but moved into the house with Stan , Hilda and her younger brother Trevor . At Christmas , Irma went out with footballer David Barlow , who was in town visiting his family . The Ogdens approved of David because of his money , but Irma found out David was suspended for accepting a bribe - which he was later cleared of . David returned to play , but when he came back permanently , retiring from football , he took Irma out again , having been impressed that she had stood by him during the bribe fiasco . Irma liked David ; he was steady and reliable . He and his brother Ken were successful though Ken thought the Ogdens were too common . When shop owner Florrie Lindley emigrated to Canada in 1965 , Irma continued at the shop under new owner Lionel Petty . Lionel ran the shop like a military base and Irma didn ' t warm to him . 1965 - 1966 : Marrying David . David popped the question to Irma during a trip to the Blue John Mines . Irma immediately accepted , flattered that somebody like David would be interested in her . However , their engagement wasn ' t a bed of roses as when David didn ' t like Irma excluding him when she went dancing . Irma didn ' t like his reaction and returned the ring , but they made up when David apologised . As traditionally the bride ' s father paid for the wedding , Stan was panicking about the cost , but they eventually got married in secret at Ridgeway Road Registry Office , tired of their families taking potshots at each other . David ' s footballer friends acted as witnesses . Their families and friends found out and surprised the couple by showing up after the wedding and holding a surprise reception . David and Irma looked forward to a well - off new life in Cheshire , but while playing football , David was injured and the doctor told him his football days were over . The Barlows couldn ' t afford the house they were interested in anymore and had to remain at 17 Ackroyd Street where they had been living for a while . When Lionel Petty announced he was moving , Irma convinced a reluctant David that they should buy the shop - David had higher aspirations than living in Coronation Street and buying the shop would be as much as accepting a mediocre lifestyle . Irma talked him round as no other work was coming his way . By 1966 , Irma was getting bored with the shop . She and Lucille Hewitt got jobs as machinists at the new PVC factory across the street , leaving poor David with Hilda as his new assistant . Irma found the work hard going and kept burning the plastic and she was warned by works manager John Benjamin , who told her to work faster or she would be sacked . After blowing up her machine , Irma was moved to folding plastic , which she was better at , but she soon got fed up with the factory and went back to the shop . Irma was friends with Ken ' s wife Valerie , and the two sometimes went out . Flirty Irma enjoyed the attentions of Ron Jenkins and Brian Thomas when she and Valerie went to the cinema . Ron tried to make a date with Irma and stole her compact , refusing to give it back until she agreed to a date . Realising she had put her foot in it , Irma introduced Ron and Brian to Ken and David , scaring them off . 1967 - 1969 : Baby talk . In 1967 , Irma told David she wanted to have a baby in two years . Irma got pregnant but miscarried after four months - David was keen to try again but Irma was convinced her miscarriage meant she couldn ' t have children . David held out , hoping Irma ' s decision would change over time but looked into other options for them , including fostering , which they pursued , fostering Jill Morris for a few days over Christmas . David still had his ambitions of a better life , preferably in football , and went on to manage the all - woman Weatherfield Hotspurs . Irma didn ' t like the thought of David working with so many women and joined the team but was terrible at football and quit . In 1968 , even David was getting bored with the shop and was interested in playing football for a team in Australia , considering himself recovered from his earlier injury . Irma didn ' t want to live in a foreign country but was talked round by David and the couple sold the shop to Les and Maggie Clegg . The couple ' s move to Australia was a happy one at first . Irma got pregnant again and they had a son , Darren , born later in 1968 . In 1969 , Irma briefly came up to Weatherfield over Christmas . 1970 - 1998 : Life after David . The Barlows ' new life came to an end in 1970 when a car crash took the lives of both David and Darren . Bookie Dave Smith loaned the Ogdens £600 for Hilda to fly to Australia and bring Irma home . Irma soon found herself back in the shop when Stan bought a 30 % share using money the residents had raised for him to pay Dave back . Irma worked at the shop to pay Dave back the money herself and after a few weeks Dave asked her out . Irma accepted for the fun of it but put an end to the relationship when she found out that as stake for the £600 Dave had acquired the deeds to Stan and Hilda ' s house . Having apparently moved on from her grief rather quickly , Irma moved into the shop flat with Bet Lynch . However , Irma was suffering from depression and when reminded of her losses she got confused and kidnapped toddler Anthony Lock from outside the post office , thinking he was Darren . Irma continued seeing men , including Billy Walker and Joe Donelli . Joe had killed Steve Tanner in 1968 but got away with it , and confessed the murder to Irma , telling her he would kill her if she told anyone . The next few weeks were hell for Irma as she lived in fear of what Joe would do . Ultimately he took Irma hostage in the shop flat , holding a pair of scissors to her throat . Joe eventually shot himself inside Minnie Caldwell ' s house after Stan volunteered to replace Minnie as his hostage . In 1971 , Irma disappeared , but contacted Maggie to ask her to buy her out of the shop . Irma started a new life in Llandudno and never returned to the Street . Irma was still alive as of 1998 , when Betty Williams visited Hilda . Hilda mentioned that Irma was still a " Barlow " , presumably meaning that she had never remarried . Personality . Irma was born into a low income family and quickly learned to rely on herself after leaving home at fifteen . She was usually responsible in matters of work and money and instinctively dealt with hardships by herself , preferring to muddle through silently rather than ask for help . She was also frequently pessimistic and prone to sulking when things didn ' t go her way . Most of the time , however , she was bubbly and friendly , always on the lookout for a good laugh . Her desire to simply enjoy life drove many of her pursuits , although it also meant she was easily bored and often flighty . Her personality attracted her to the apparently desirable lifestyle as the wife of footballer David Barlow , as the experience of being raised by Stan and Hilda showed her the kind of life she didn ' t want . Family and friends . Upon their arrival in Coronation Street in 1964 , Irma saw little of her mischievous brother Trevor and nothing at all of Tony or Sylvia . She lived with parents Stan and Hilda until 1965 , when she moved in with David . Her relationship with Stan had suffered from years of enduring Stan ' s drunken , and often violent , behaviour as a little girl , which Hilda had put up with as she tried to keep the family going . As a teenager and twentysomething , Irma knew that Stan wouldn ' t change his layabout , workshy ways and most of the time was simply bored of his excuses . Irma got on well with Hilda most of the time , but often joked about Hilda ' s loud , usually public , ranting either at Stan or on his behalf against others . Hilda was hurt when Irma broke off contact in the 1970s and never visited . Irma ' s closest friends in the Street were David ' s sister - in - law Valerie Barlow , Maggie Clegg and Bet Lynch . Her godfather was Bernie Sparks . Hobbies and interests . Irma played one of the ugly sisters in the Street ' s production of " Cinderella " . At the Rovers Christmas concert in 1969 , Irma was Hylda Baker to Bernard Butler ' s Cynthia . At a fancy dress party at the Mission in 1966 , Irma was a Flapper girl . Quotes . " Eh kid , d ' you mind looking out the window and telling us if there ' s a fellah outside ? " ( First line , to Valerie Barlow ) " He ' s right though , in ' t ' e Eddie ? this club is yer last chance . " ( Final line , in reference to Dave Smith ) .