Greystones Film Club: Housewife Of The Year

In the Ireland of today, it might look like a lost episode of Father Ted but there was a time when Housewife Of The Year ruled the waves on RTÉ. Basically The Rose Of Tralee for Irish mothers and wives who were a dab hand at keeping the house nice and tidy. And hot meals on the table three times a day, of course.
Filmmaker Ciarán Cassidy clearly wasn’t just looking for laughs with his eponymous documentary, speaking to former contestants in a competition that ran from 1969 to 1995, moving up quite a few gears when RTÉ began broadcasting it annually in 1982. 

These ladies share our bewilderment at their acceptance of societal structures and recount their experiences of marriage, contraception, Magdalene institutions, financial vulnerability, marital breakdown and shame.

It makes for a surprisingly warm and affectionate experience. And yep, there are laughs too.