A documentary which is on nationwide release has put the spotlight on Ireland’s treatment of a generation of Irish women. Housewife of the Year 1978 Margaret Carmody from Skibbereen features in the documentary and recalls the competition
A SKIBBEREEN woman who won the Calor Kosangas Housewife of the Year in 1978 is part of a new documentary that puts the spotlight on the unique competition.
Margaret Carmody took the prestigious national title when she was in her 20s, and a mother of five, and she’s now back in the spotlight with Housewife of the Year, a documentary which hit Irish cinemas this month.
Directed by Ciarán Cassidy, it tells the story of Ireland’s treatment of women through the prism of a unique competition where a generation of Irish women competed in front of a live audience for the title of ‘Housewife of the Year.’
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.
Four other Cork women feature in the film with Margaret – they are Miriam Fitt and Ellen Gowan from Castletownbere and Ena Howell from Grenagh.
Margaret was encouraged to take part by her own mother, also Margaret (Donovan), from Burgatia, Rosscarbery.
‘She was a great homemaker and mother and role model. Initially I thought it wasn’t something I could do, I’d have been shy and quiet but she really encouraged me so I put my best foot forward and gave it a go,’ said Margaret.
The competition comprised a cooking section, worth one third of the points and an interview, worth two thirds.
‘You had to cook a two-course meal for four people. I made a chicken dish where I pulled the chicken apart and stuffed the various pieces and served it with a velouté sauce, on a bed of savoury rice. For dessert I did a sweet pastry base, with a choux pastry ring, filed with fruit mousse. Looking back now I made it very hard for myself!’ she said.
She took part the year before the competition became televised and presented by Gay Byrne, and her interviewer was RTÉ presenter Jim Sherwin.
‘It was in the Berkley Court Hotel in front of a packet audience. My prize was a Calor Kosangas cooker and £500 and I was also on the cover of Woman’s Way magazine,’ she said.
After winning, Margaret was invited to lots of ICA meetings and Ideal Home Exhibitions where she would do cookery demonstrations but for the most part, life went back to normal. Herself and her husband, Kerryman John, grew their family to seven and it was a busy household.
Herself and John were also entrepreneurs, running a Centra in Skibbereen for many years, followed by a bar and restaurant in Carrigaline.
‘After that I did a degree and masters in UCC in social work and I now work with the probation services. I worked for three and a half years in Cork prison and now I’m based in Cork city, supervising clients in the community, writing court reports, that sort of thing.’
John, who was very involved in GAA in Skibbereen, sadly died five years ago, which Margaret said left a ‘void’ in her life.
‘But I love my work, I feel that I’m useful in what I do. I like being busy. I grew up on a farm and work is a part of me. I like being productive and I feel that as a person, you grow by doing,’ she said.
She is a strong believer in living a full life, regardless of age.
‘Women are not just housewives, it’s not just about existing, but living your life for as long as you can,’ said the grandmother of 12.
Growing up, she was one of six children and attending further education back then was not an option.
‘There was no hope of going to college, even though we were good at school, because of financial restrictions. We were typical of so many other families in the area small farmers struggling to make a good living, but I was fortunate to have the chance later in life. John was very forward thinking and very supportive in everything I did,’ she
said.
Miriam Fitt from Castletownbere who took part in the Calor Cozangas Housewife of the Year in 1990. (Photo: Michael Mac Sweeney/ Provision)
When she got a call some time back from the producers of the documentary, she didn’t hesitate to get involved.
‘I just thought why not!? In many ways it’s been lots of fun revisiting that chapter,’ she said.
Reflecting on life as a housewife in the 70s, compared to life now, she says there’s positives and negatives to both eras.
‘Every generation has its own challenges, that’s the way it is,’ she said.
Ciarán Cassidy said it was a privilege to get to know such an ‘incredible group of women’ such as Margaret.
‘It’s the story of a resilient generation of women and how they changed a country. Our film is a love letter to a generation of Irish women,’ he said.
The documentary has already won Best Irish Feature Documentary at the Galway Film Fleadh 2024 and screened at the Cork Film Festival.
It shows this at the Omniplex in Mahon Point until November 29th, the Arc Cinema in Cork until December 1st, and will be screened in the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork from December 8th to 10th.
