Analysis: a dismissal of the competition from today's vantage point ignores the otherwise unmarked lives of Irish women in those decades
By Shonagh Hill, Trish McTighe and Gemma Carney, Queen's University Belfast
Many people will have memories of watching Ireland's Housewife of the Year competition which began in 1968 and was televised from 1982 to 1995. Post-Celtic Tiger, if remarked upon at all, it is framed as a reminder of a retrograde and best forgotten Ireland, most famously in the 'Lovely Girls' competition in an episode of Father Ted.
But a wholesale dismissal of the competition from today’s vantage point ignores the otherwise unmarked lives of Irish women in those decades. Following the establishment of the Irish Free State, opportunities for women to engage in the public sphere were curtailed by a raft of legislation including the 'marriage bar'. Woman’s 'life within the home’ was enshrined in Article 41.2 of the Constitution. Yet the reality of many women’s lives meant that they did not conform to this idealised femininity.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Nine O'Clock Show, Maura Derrane talks to former Calor Housewife of the Year winner Jane Kelly and Dr Shonagh Hill about the competition
The lived experiences of the women who participated in Housewife of the Year form a vital archive of this period of Irish history and the competition – somewhat unwittingly – documents the underacknowledged realm of the domestic. At a recent symposium at Queen's University Belfast, the winner of the 1972 competition, Jane Kelly, discussed how her experiences did not fit the simplistic image of the oppressed housewife.
Jane relished the competition and the opportunity to bring her culinary and creative skills to the fore: her winning dish was roast pheasant dressed with its own feathers. She crocheted the dress she wore for the interview in the Burlington Hotel that evening. The audience was made up of 2,000 people, many of whom were members of the Irish Countrywomen's Association, housewives from all over the country.
While Jane was married and therefore most certainly qualifying as a housewife, she had one of the few jobs (teaching) that was allowed by the marriage bar. She took time off work to take part in the regional competition and to travel from Limerick to Dublin for the final. She found it be a positive experience, although she did sense resentment from other contestants that she did not work full-time in the home.
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From RTÉ Archives, an episode of Calor Housewives Cookery in 1992 features Housewife of the Year 1979 Ann Foley from Co Wexford prepping a seafood cocktail starter
She said it was nothing like a beauty pageant: 'more like Masterchef – very competitive and focused on cooking’. Her experience highlights that there is no such thing as ‘just a housewife’ and that disregarding the competition dismisses the lives and labours of Ireland’s women.
The competition was a rare and valuable opportunity for middle-aged women to assert their visibility and the cash prize was not to be sniffed at. In its early years, Housewife of the Year was sponsored by the Electricity Supply Board, Woman's Way magazine and food manufacturers McDonnell's of Drogheda. From 1978 it was known as the Calor Kosangas Housewife of the Year, shortened in 1990 to Calor Housewife of the Year. Commercial interests were always present but had even more influence once the competition was broadcast and winners engaged in marketing and promotional work in the year following their win.
Jane attested to the strong focus on cookery skills in the early years of the competition and lamented the loss in emphasis on this once the event was televised. The broadcast was more pageant-like with greater focus on the on-stage interview and presenter Gay Byrne's opening question was often about marriage or courtship. While there was an opportunity for contestants to banter with Byrne and demonstrate their interests through a short performance such as a dance or poetry recitation, the focus remained on their family. The commercial and patriarchal framing was, arguably, at odds with the women’s narratives and this is perhaps one source of our discomfort while watching clips today.
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From RTÉ Archives, a compilation film with highlights from the regional finals of the 1993 Housewife of the Year competition
TV programmes like Home of the Year and Masterchef demonstrate the continuing cultural relevance of performative domestic skills. However, the valorisation of the daily grind of cooking and cleaning that happens in every home remains elusive. Humble bragging with photos of domestic crafts and cookery on Instagram may be allowed, but only if made palatable enough to induce a little FOMO.
But while the world has utterly changed in some ways, we seem not to have evolved at all when it comes to valuing women's unpaid work. As women of a younger generation, Jane’s interview made us acutely aware of the skills that have been lost and devalued, particularly domestic science, and that this has been cemented by narratives that place the figure of the housewife in opposition to the feminist.
How might current generations of feminists reclaim this knowledge and pass it on to future generations? A thorough examination of domesticity across the 20th century needs to pay attention to the complexity and value of lived experiences and to centre on the participants of Housewife of the Year as the experts.
The authors are keen to hear from anyone who participated in the competition or was involved in any capacity. Please contact t.mctighe@qub.ac.uk, g.carney@qub.ac.uk and s.hill@qub.ac.uk
Dr Shonagh Hill is a Research Fellow in the School Of Arts, English And Languages at Queen's University Belfast. She is a former Irish Research Council awardee. Dr Trish McTighe is a Lecturer in the School Of Arts, English And Languages at Queen's University Belfast. Dr Gemma Carney is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen's University Belfast. She is a former Irish Research Council awardee.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
