Dramaturgical Packet.

     Roles of Women and Housewives in 1930s Ireland :

“The typical Irish women had a traditional role of caring for small livestock e.g the poultry, pigs and calves. She would also attend to the vegetable garden and to the growing of fruit. Usually there was no running water or electricity, sanitation was poor and there were few modern conveniences. Due to De Valera's strict Catholic presidency there was also pressure placed by Catholic teaching on the role of the mother. The reality of how many women were 'stay at home' domestic wives and mothers is seen by the most popular female magazines of the time, 'Model Housekeeping' (first appeared in 1927) and 'Everyday Housekeeping' which survived until well into the nineteen sixties.

 

Most women only went to primary school with only a small percent having a higher education. Very few women had careers outside the home and if they did they were nearly always paid less than men for the same work. Instead most rural women stayed at home yet they had a very important role selling eggs, knitting, packing fish, etc. to make extra money in difficult times.

 

Ireland had such a strong Catholic foundation, heavy emphasis was put on both the Virgin Mary and Mother Ireland as representatives of the female Irish population. This resulted in women occupying a unique position in Irish society; women have been recognized, not as subjects with their own identity, but have instead “been reduced to symbols of the nation”.” (Perington) We see this status of women quite well in Dancing at Lughnasa. Four of the women stay home and do household chores, while Kate works as a school teacher, and they have a strong Catholic foundation which restricts them in how they act and dress. To be good Catholic women, they must act with modesty, which Kate emphasises when she scolds her sisters for thinking like "pagans". In terms of work Rose and Agnes knit gloves for extra money, Kate is a  school teacher who will soon lose her job, Maggie tends the chickens, and all the women take turns tending the garden and picking bilberries. None of these women, however, are married, as they are isolated and men are scarce, making their circumstances even more stifling and sad (Perrington).

 

With women's roles mostly in the home, Kate had little opportunity as a schoolteacher. In the 30's there were many restrictitons on employment for women and women made considerably less than men. Women in the workforce made barely enough to survive, maybe around 36 euros a year. One euro is equal to about 1.387 U.S. dollars. In 1932, the marriage bar was passed for teachers, saying that once a woman was married, she could no longer work, and must stay in the home. In 1926, only six per cent of married women worked in Ireland,and working conditions for all women worsened with the Conditions of Employment Bill in 1935. This bill allowed the goverment to further limit empolyment for women. Women were forced to work less influential professions such as nursing, and shop keeping. Kate probably made barely enough money to survive in her teaching job. Wages were extremely low for women, much lower than for men.  A radio in the 1930s would have cost around 6,000-7,000 euros. Kate most likely had to save up for years for a wireless radio. (Ingman)