Housewife Of The Year
Film
8 p.m.
A poignant, often hilarious, and uplifting story of a generation of resilient women and a country in transition.
Between 1969 and 1995, women all over Ireland competed to win the Housewife of the Year, a competition celebrating “cookery, nurturing, and basic household management skills”. Broadcast on RTÉ from 1982, the programmes featured not just the competition itself but also footage of the contestants at home – creating a vivid, nationwide tapestry of ordinary lives.
Here, former contestants share our bewilderment at their acceptance of societal strictures and recount their experiences of marriage bars, contraception, Magdalene institutions, financial vulnerability, marital breakdown, and shame.
Dir. Ciaran Cassidy I Ireland I 2024 I 77 mins
Director Ciaran Cassidy will take part in a Q and A session following the screening.
Film screenings are subject to confirmation/change
A wistful celebration of a generation of Irish women who competed for £300 and a gas stove The Irish TimesSee What's On
