Emmet Donnelly

Very good letter from @MaryKenny4 responding to Fintan O'Toole's condescending piece about housewives the other day. Sir, – Since Fintan O’Toole mentioned me in dispatches (“Ireland was once the tradwife capital of the world. Worse, they were happy”, Opinion, September 2nd), I may be allowed a further comment on the issue of the Irish housewife. Many Irish women of my generation did indeed rebel against the restrictions placed on women’s roles, and especially on archaic attitudes to married women; but I think our endeavours were intended to open up more opportunities not to disparage women who were home-makers or, in that somewhat patronising word, “housewives”. Nor should women who managed the home and raised families be disparaged retrospectively. Forty years of marriage taught me that someone has to keep the home fires burning, and it’s an accomplishment to do it successfully. Ireland in the 1990s and 2000s produced a terrific generation of educated and clever young people who enabled the prosperity of modern Ireland. This flowering of a high-achieving Irish generation was often made possible by the dedication of mothers at home who prioritised education and provided encouragement and stability. I heard the late Christina Murphy, education expert at The Irish Times, say it was the mothers’ energetic pursuit of education that drove standards. Newspaper items about “happiness” surveys are often somewhat superficial: “by their fruits ye shall know them” may be a better guide. – Yours, etc, MARY KENNY,