Ciarán Cassidy told David Hennessy about his documentary Housewife of the Year ahead of it coming to Irish Film Festival London.
Directed by Ciarán Cassidy, Housewife of the Year tells the story of Ireland’s treatment of women through the prism of the live televised competition where a generation of Irish women competed in front of a live audience for the title of ‘Housewife of the Year’.
From 1967 up until as recently as 1995 the Housewife of the Year ran in Ireland.
In 1982 RTE started to televise the event with Gay Byrne presenting.
Contestant after contestant, all regional Housewives of the Year, would join Gay onstage to be quizzed about their marriage, how many children they had and, often, why they hadn’t pumped out more kids.
It celebrated the role of homemaker but it was also at a time when a woman’s place in the home and there was very little choice for a married woman than to be ‘a housewife’.
In the film the former contestants share their direct experiences of marriage bars, lack of contraception, Magdalene laundries, financial vulnerability, boredom, and shame, and, of course, of being contestants in the competition.
It becomes the story of a resilient generation of women and how the country changed with the election of Mary Robinson as President and other major social events.
What set you on this journey to make a documentary about Housewife of the Year?
“It was always in my head because one of my neighbours was a contestant on it.
“People kind of forget it but it was quite a big deal.
“It was on TV.
“It would have been all over the local news and all of that.
“I think the other thing about it is my mum was working in the civil service in Ireland and then when she got married, she had to give up her job.
“I was always kind of aware of that.
“But it was always something that we were conscious of in the house: People were forced out of the workforce and then were back at home.
“I think that was part of the idea but I think then, as a doc maker, it was really just the idea that this archive existed.
“We just thought it was a bit of a treasure trove.
“And the idea that you could tell these various stories using a ‘then and now’ approach was very, very exciting.
“I think we kind of felt, with the archive, there was a huge opportunity but it was really down to the fact that if the women wanted to talk, if they were really going to talk.
“If they said they went up to Dublin, they met Gay Byrne, and it was lovely, you couldn’t really make a film out of that.
“The first lady was Bernie and she says, ‘Oh, I’ll tell you something that I haven’t told anybody before’.
“And she told us the bit in the film where she talked about having a child outside of marriage and then how she was worried that she was in Housewife of the Year.
“I think that was for us where the idea was: That it was looking at what people were seeing on TV and then what the reality was at home.
“I think it was just really an opportunity with the archive.
“That was our entry point.”
The starting point may be Housewife of the Year but, as you say, the film ends up being a portrait of Ireland as times change particularly for women. Subjects like the Magdalene Laundries, mother and baby homes and Catholic Ireland inevitably come up..
“The show started in 1967 and it ended in 1995 and a lot happened over those decades.
“I think the stories that the women told reflect that and I think it reflects what was happening.
“We contacted everybody who was a contestant in it, all the women had stories.
“They always had a lot of opinions and they also had a lot of stories.
“A lot of their stories kind of reflected what was happening in Ireland at that time: There was no family planning so there was no availability of contraception and there were large families.
“There was no opportunity, career wise, for some.
“And I think the stories that spoke of the Magdalenes just kind of reflected some of the things that would have been happening in some small towns to women where they were being punished.
“The story that, I think, maybe jumps out at a lot of people that’s in the film is that the boys that were there that day were not punished but the girls definitely were.
“One of the things we wanted to do was we wanted to show that actually some of the people themselves, like the country, change.
“So I think it does reflect not only how Ireland was but also how people themselves were changing in the country.”
It’s funny to think that it was around as recently as 1995, it’s still very recent history..
“It’s kind of funny as well…
“I think a lot of people, when they look at it, think that when the show went that it would have been a lot of prevailing forces of progression seen it as old fashioned.
“But actually some of the controversy, which is kind of touched on, was that some conservatives were complaining that it was becoming too liberal, the show.
“The thing with it was that they couldn’t win and I think that’s when it came off the air.
“I think everybody is always surprised about how long it survived, up until that point in 1995 but I think you can see how it progresses, that I think they were becoming more and more unsure about what to do and how to format it, and how it was working.
“That kind of reaches its climax which you see in the film.”
Looking at the archive footage were you shocked at the misogyny or the way the ladies were spoken to?
“Yeah, I think there is a couple of moments where I think you see things that happen on stage I don’t think anybody could ever imagine happening now.
“One that jumps out is where the lady has been questioned about the gap that she had in giving birth.
“I think it’s such a personal matter and I think talking about that on a stage in front of a live audience.
“I think the woman had already had three children.
“You don’t really want to be kind of sitting there from 2024 being judgmental.
“That’s never what you want to do but there are some things that you feel you would never see happening now.”
The film deals with important moments in Irish history. There is the election of Mary Robinson and what that demonstrated but also sad events like Ann Lovett and how that forced the country to look at its attitude to sex and pregnancy.
“I think when you look at some of the stories, say early 80s or mid 80s, where you’re talking about Ann Lovett and you’re talking about what Bernie was talking about, the stigma of having a child out of wedlock: There was a sense of shame.
“Ena talks about being born in Bessborough and I think this idea of the way society was structured does feel very heavy and oppressive.
“I think people were very, very conscious of it and the women articulate that.
“I think one of the things that we were always very conscious of outlining is that we didn’t really want it to feel like in 1995, the show was cancelled and all of a sudden we held hands and we walked into a land of equality where everybody was skipping over meadows and living under rainbows.
“I think most women would feel that they’ve got the rough angle of the stick when it comes to childcare in modern workplaces.
“I think there’s a lot of stuff that can still be addressed in Ireland and we really didn’t want it to feel like the ending was parades and a kind of celebration.
“It was leaving a particularly bleak moment in certain respects and I think some of the people have a nostalgia for that time because they were rearing families and they were happy.
“People were around who have died since.
“We tried to capture that as well.
“But I do think socially it was very oppressive and I think moving out of that I just didn’t want it to sound smug either because I just think it’s very easy for us to turn around and be completely blind to the myriad of very serious issues that people are still facing.
“This was a change.
“This was a movement and it was a progression but I think there’s still a long way to go but I think it just kind of marks what was happening in that period between ‘67 and ’95.”
Was there a range of emotions when you approached subjects for the film. I know one lady in the film looks back with a, ‘What were we doing?’ But, as you say, others are nostalgic for that time..
“I think that was something that we tried to put in various cuts.
“The woman you mentioned there was Margaret.
“She spoke so powerfully and straight.
“She was a winner in 1978 and she talked about how she was going along with things and why she didn’t question things.
“And looking back I think that’s something that she has kind of come to a conclusion with over time.
“We wanted to give that sense of how that can happen.
“I’m sure there are loads of people now still doing the exact same thing and in ten years’ time will be going, ‘What was I thinking?’
“So I think it’s kind of relatable in some respects.
“Ena is really interesting because I think she’s very well aware of the mistreatment of people in Ireland and she’s campaigned for Bessborough and she’s also very proud of her time on Housewife of the Year, that was something that we wanted to include in it.
“I think a lot of the women were just really happy with the opportunity to go with all their friends on a bus up to Dublin and have a day on stage.
“It was exciting.
“We wanted to get that in even though it might feel counterintuitive to the overall doc.
“It was just to give a keener understanding about how everybody felt about it because people that we talked to were kind of happy that they’d taken part and found it a positive experience, but also were well aware that there was a denial of opportunity at that moment in time in Ireland and are happier that their children have the opportunities.
“I think it’s very easy to separate all the different things that are going on with the doc.
“One is the social conditions that the women were facing in Ireland.
“Two was just the role of housemakers.
“Three was just about how they were treated by society.
“And then four was this show that existed.
“I think it was just trying to capture that experience.
“We approached maybe 30, 40, women.
“We filmed with 14, ten of them are in the film.
“The idea is just to give their voices and how they felt about living at that period of time and basically what their experiences were of growing up and living in Ireland.”
You can see where Father Ted got their ideas, can’t you. I was reminded a bit of The Lovely Girls contest watching some of the archive footage. I always thought that was poking fun at Rose of Tralee but there is definitey elements of Housewife of the Year.
Judging women on their sense of humour reminded me of Ted Crilly judging the loveliest laugh..
“I think there is a reference to that.
“I think some of the show, where you could win a cooker, or Derek Davis talking about the broccoli can be is funny but one of the things we were very conscious of was we wanted the contestants to be proud of the doc.
“We wanted to present them as well.
“Because looking back at the show, you can’t believe it existed but also it’s really just about trying to explore what was happening at that moment in time.
“If you took that kind of approach, the lovely girls contest, people would be switching off in about 10,12 minutes.
“What you’re trying to do is actually find the kind of character and the reality of what life was like at that time.”
How have your subjects reacted to the finished film?
“We had a screening in Galway that was amazing.
“It was a really positive reaction.
“All the women were on stage and they did a Q and A.
“The women really like it.
“When you ring somebody up and you say, ‘Oh look, we’re doing a doc. Do you remember you were in this show 30 years ago? Now we want to make a doc on it’.
“It’s hard for us to imagine it.
“I’m sure they are going, ‘What are these people doing?’
“And then when we go into their houses, start asking all these kind of personal questions about children, church life, all of these kind of things.
“You would be kind of wondering, ‘Where is this going and what are they up to?’
“But they were all very trusting.
“They all told us their stories and then they saw the film and they loved it.
“So they’ve been at all the screenings and I think they’re kind of all getting different things out of it, but it’s been a really positive experience.
“I think they’re just happy that people are seeing that generation and the contribution that they gave to the country.”
It will be released in Irish cinemas in the coming weeks but what has been the reaction from the wider public so far?
“I think it’s hitting people on different levels.
“On one level I think people just are just looking at a social history and kind of an idea of what was happening then, what is happening now and looking at stories.
“Then I think a lot of people- I kind of notice it where they come out of a screening and people see somebody because it’s really about a generation.
“It is about that generation that were hit by the marriage bar and it is about that generation that were kind of contributing to the show at the start and I think people do know them.
“It could be a grandmother, it could be an auntie, it could be a mother, it can be a sister.
“Some of them may be still around, some of them may not be.
“I do think when people have that in their head, it then becomes deeply personal because it’s documenting a generation and it’s quite a profound thing.
“I think a lot of people just see people because it’s so multi character.
“They see people who they really care about.
“And then we have screened it in Copenhagen and Los Angeles.
“The issues that are raised in it are kind of universal as well, and people get it.
“But when we were in Copenhagen, it was kind of an interesting screening because people are so surprised.
“They didn’t realise Ireland was like that.
“The reactions have been very different from different people due to their own personal circumstances.
“Your readers will know that there’s a whole generation of Irish women over in England who left in the 50s and 60s and would probably would have gone to school with these people and that’s very much another very Irish story.
“We wanted to make something that talks about quite substantial issues but we wanted to make something that would encourage people to go.
“I think it can be funny at times and then it could be quite sad at times and that’s what we felt with the screening at Galway.
“People would be laughing and then a minute or two later, there’ll be a gasp of a breath.
“I think that’s sometimes what we think is good about filmmaking, you can get people to jump around on the spectrum.
“You would only do a doc if you think it’s going to be really, really good, but there has to be reason that brings you into it.
“With this it was just this very unique archive and these big characters and personalities which we were told we would be able to profile.”
Housewife of the Year screens 8.45pm Friday 15 November at VUE Piccadilly as part of Irish Film Festival London (13- 17 November).
For more information and to book, click here.
Housewife of the Year is also in Irish cinemas 22 November.
