Housewife of the Year

The award for Housewife of the Year started in Ireland in 1968 and would be an RTÉ mainstay by the 1980s, when it became a popular televised event presented by the venerable broadcaster Gay Byrne. The show drew controversy and derision as well as big viewing figures and keen participants before it was gradually phased out by 1995. With inventive use of archive and frank testimony from Housewife of the Year competitors representing many of the towns and counties of the country, filmmaker Ciarán Cassidy delivers the story of the contest while unveiling a fascinating feminist history of the Republic, from Magdalene convents to societal changing referendums, in the process.