Women's Roles
In Ancient Ireland, women
enjoyed many freedoms, comparatively. They were allowed to separate from their
husbands, they retained all their property women could take things to court,
own property, and most importantly, although man was given "headship"
of the family, man and woman were considered equal and man was given no more
power than woman. Catholicism changed most of that.
By the 1930s, while women still had behind-the-scenes matriarchal power, men
ruled the country, and for the most part, wanted little or nothing to do with
women most of the time. Most Irish men marry late and many Irish women, because
they outnumber men, are spinsters. The only hope for many of the average, poor
Irishwomen is marriage, although conditions for these women often go from bad
to worse after marriage. Marriage is often seen a straight jacket. These are
times before birth control pills, when Catholic women considered it out of the
question to use any other means of birth control besides abstinence. Many children
meant many mouths to feed in a poor country. Irish mothers, being unable to
control their husbands, whom they would allow to do as they pleased and simply
be thankful that they had a husband, would often become very controlling of
their sons, hence the stereotype of the overbearing Irish mother. Large families
were common, and something to be proud of, but at the same time, expensive.
Women were often left to deal with the consequences, as most men in the country
had a notorious reputation for assuming power but no responsibility.
