Housewife of the Year

Housewife of the Year was an annual contest for housewives in the Republic of Ireland between 1968 and 1995.[1]

Contest

Candidates were judged on the basis of "cookery, nurturing and basic household management skills."[2]

A series of regional heats produced six finalists. The main task in the final was cooking a meal for four within a two-hour period. The host would then interview the contestants, with personality, appearance, sense of humour, interests and civic spirit all taken into account by the judges. Contestants would also list achievements, such as charity work.[3]

History

The first event was held in the Shelbourne Hotel on 4 November 1968.[4] Among the judges were Frances Condell, former Mayor of Limerick, and athlete Noel Carroll. Brendan O'Reilly of RTÉ hosted the 1969 contest.

In 1972 it was incorporated into the Irish Food Fair in the Mansion House, Dublin.[5]

It was first televised in 1982, with Gay Byrne hosting and The Fureys and Davey Arthur performing.[6] In 1992 a spin-off show was produced, Calor Housewives' Cookery, where past winners and participants showcased recipes.[7] It was last televised in 1994 and cancelled in 1995, to be succeeded for a few years by the Centra Homemaker of the Year.[8]

Some winners parlayed their success in further celebrity and business success, most notably the 1990 winner, Margaret Browne (1954/55–2010; Killeagh, County Cork), who ran Ballymakeigh Country House and later the Green Barn Lifestyle Store Garden Centre and Restaurant, wrote a cookbook (Through My Kitchen Window) and regularly appeared on Derek Mooney's radio show.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] She argued for the need to advance the status of women in agriculture: "a woman must be paid as a staff member for the work she does. That way, women will have the recognition that they deserve."[16]

List of events
Gay Byrne, host in the 1980s and 90s
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
YearVenueWinner
1968Shelbourne Hotel, DublinSylvia Nagle, Killavullen[17]
1969Shelbourne HotelMrs McStay, Ballyfermot[18]
1970
1971Shelbourne HotelMrs. Mary P. O'Connor, Fermoy
1972
1973
1974
1975Jury's Hotel, BallsbridgeFreda Rooney, Rosses Point[19][20]
1976
1977
1978Burlington Hotel, Dublin[21]Margaret Carmody, Skibbereen[22]
1979Dublin
1980Gresham Hotel, Dublin
1981Regina Brennan, Ballybrack
1982Sheila Rohan, Castlegregory[23]
1983
1984Burlington Hotel, DublinMary Holleran, Clonbur[24]
1985
1986National Concert Hall
1987National Concert HallHilda Sheridan, Aughnacliffe
1988Olympia Theatre, Dublin[25]Catherine Walsh
1989Olympia Theatre, DublinMargaret Witherow, Convoy
1990Margaret Browne, Killeagh
1991Gaiety Theatre, DublinElaine Murphy, Carrigaline[26][27]
1992Olympia Theatre, DublinPhil O'Connell[28]
1993National Concert HallAlison Neylon, County Clare[29]
1994University Concert Hall, LimerickHilda Kavanagh, Ballyglass[30]
1995Philomena Delaney, Limerick[31][32][33]

Sponsorship

In the early years it was simply called Housewife of the Year and was sponsored by the Electricity Supply Board, Woman's Way 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. Calor typically supplied a gas cooker as a prize; other prizes included cash and holidays.

Reception

The Housewife of the Year contest attracted controversy from its inception; a 1968 Irish Times editorial said: "Is this then what the nation at present deems the fittest reward for women? Do we, men and women, still think that the woman's place is in the home and only in the home?" and noted the lack of women in political roles in the country.[34]

However, in 1977, it was defended by Senator Mary Harney, who pointed out the importance of housewives and their work to society.[35] Similarly, in 1979, politician Síle de Valera said "a woman whose chooses to stay at home should not feel undervalued or pressurised into thinking that she is less intelligent or less valuable to the community."[36]

In 1986, the Federated Workers' Union of Ireland, representing many RTÉ staff, criticised the show, saying "costly variety productions such as person/nurse/housewife of the year, etc. — sponsored by commercial interests […] [undermine] the editorial integrity and independence of RTÉ."[37] Dave Mulhall of The Irish Times said that the competition's "only reason for existence lies in the promoter's wish to advertise his products," and it was thus inappropriate for a public service broadcaster.[38]

The contest was last held in 1995; it had been criticised by feminists as sexist, while others had complained that too many women with jobs outside the home were taking part: one caller to a radio show complained that contestants "would never get down on their knees to scrub the floor."[39]

After its cancellation, the Housewife of the Year was often cited as an example of an old, pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland, where women's horizons were limited; an "icon of down-home naffness" as Pat Stacey called it in the Irish Independent.[40][41]

Fintan Walsh wrote on Irish "beauty pageants" such as the Rose of Tralee and Housewife of the Year, coining the term “homelysexuality” to describe “a domesticated, marketable, and commercially profitable sexual accent, paradoxically devoid of eroticism” and arguing that “the Irish pageant has regulated the production of a female sexual accent in particular, emptied of depth, eroticism, or even what might be understood as subjectivity.”[42] In 2018, Patrick Freyne described it as "women with the wits to run CERN or perform brain surgery instead demonstrated how to bake a casserole while being patronised by a man in a nice suit."[43]

Cultural depictions

It was cited by Arthur Mathews as partial inspiration for the Lovely Girls contest in the Father Ted episode "Rock a Hula Ted" (principally inspired by the Rose of Tralee pageant).[44]

A 2016 episode of sitcom Bridget & Eamon revolved around Bridget's attempt to win the Housewife of the Year.[45]

The contest featured in a 2019 retro episode of Gogglebox Ireland.[46] The contest also featured in the 2019 novel Colin and the Concubine by Domhnall O'Donoghue.[47]

See also

References
  1. O’Neill, Finola Doyle (August 30, 2017). The Gaybo Revolution: How Gay Byrne Challenged Irish Society. Orpen Press. ISBN 9781786050090 – via Google Books.
  2. Brady, Sara; Walsh, Fintan (August 27, 2009). Crossroads: Performance Studies and Irish Culture. Springer. ISBN 9780230244788 – via Google Books.
  3. "'Rose of Tralee for mammies' that picked out our housewife of year". Independent.ie.
  4. The Irish Times (Monday, November 4, 1968)
  5. The Irish Times (Monday, February 19, 1972)
  6. The Irish Times (Monday, November 22, 1982)
  7. The Irish Times (Tuesday, January 7, 1992)
  8. Archives, RTÉ (July 5, 2012). "RTÉ Archives". stillslibrary.rte.ie.
  9. Through My Kitchen Window
  10. "My heart belongs to Papa's". Farming Independent.
  11. "How a woman and her beautiful dream survived a family tragedy". Independent.ie.
  12. "Chemo, cakes and cancer". Independent.ie.
  13. The Irish Times (Saturday, November 2, 1996)
  14. "Maintaining beauty on a budget". Independent.ie.
  15. "Wonderful legacy of a 'domestic goddess'". Independent.ie.
  16. "Award-winner and family farm entrepreneur". The Irish Times.
  17. "1968 - 04/11 Housewife of the Year D127-5541.jpg | Irish Photo Archive". irishphotoarchive.photoshelter.com.
  18. "Housewife of the Year – 1969 – Brand New Retro".
  19. The Irish Times (Saturday, January 25, 1975)
  20. "Freda leaves a lasting legacy". Independent.ie.
  21. http://www.guaire.org/uploads/2/5/1/3/2513401/guaire_1978_issue_2.pdf
  22. The Irish Times (Wednesday, November 29, 1978)
  23. "Castle House Details | Castlegregory Accommodation | Dingle Way". www.dingleway.com.
  24. "Mary Holleran Housewife of the Year". RTÉ Archives.
  25. The Irish Times (Thursday, January 7, 1988)
  26. The Irish Times (Tuesday, January 28, 1992)
  27. "ICA news: Minane Bridge takes nostalgia trip to mark 60th anniversary". www.irishexaminer.com. April 13, 2017.
  28. Archives, RTÉ (July 5, 2012). "RTÉ Archives". stillslibrary.rte.ie.
  29. "Housewife Of The Year". RTÉ Archives.
  30. The Irish Times (Tuesday, April 19, 1994)
  31. Macsherry, Alva. "Putting fizz into parties". The Irish Times.
  32. The Irish Times (Thursday, April 6, 1995)
  33. Bol, Rosita. "Dining 1990s-style: €1,000 wines, copious courses and butlers by the dozen". The Irish Times.
  34. The Irish Times (Wednesday, November 6, 1968)
  35. The Irish Times (Wednesday, November 16, 1977)
  36. The Irish Times (Wednesday, November 28, 1979)
  37. The Irish Times (Friday, August 2, 1985)
  38. The Irish Times (Tuesday, December 2, 1986)
  39. "A word of apology to the Irish Mammy". Independent.ie.
  40. "Modern tweaks can't hide Rose of Tralee's naffness". Independent.ie.
  41. Harrison, Bernice. "Recycled plots and dowdy frocks: what's up at Downton?". The Irish Times.
  42. McGonigle, Lisa. "Father Ted, sex, girls & Catholicism: 'Doesn't Mary have a lovely bottom?'". The Irish Times.
  43. Freyne, Patrick. "How did intelligent Irish women get through the day in the 1980s?". The Irish Times.
  44. "Should we still be treating Father Ted like a sacred cow?". Independent.ie.
  45. "What to watch on TV this week". www.irishexaminer.com. March 12, 2016.
  46. "Calor Gas Housewife Of The Year offering has Goggleboxers in stitches". Extra.ie. January 9, 2019.
  47. O’Donoghue, Domhnall. "My brothel days shone a red light on Irish sexual hypocrisy". The Irish Times.
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