Butter Woman, Farmer’s Wife and Housewife of the Year: Tracing Women in Ireland’s Domestic Food History

This article uses three distinct roles to sketch out the influence of women on Ireland’s domestic food history. Drawing on a range of primary and secondary sources including the Irish Butter Museum, the Irish Farmer’s Journal and qualitative interviews the article charts a course for tracing women’s integral role in the maintenance of food culture and traditions through a century of significant social and cultural change. As butter women, farmer’s wives, and housewives, women interacted with state and social structures in ways which demonstrate how patriarchal principles dominated Irish culture and society throughout the twentieth century. The paper concludes that examining these roles demonstrates that women played a more significant role in the history and development of Irish food than has been recognized heretofore.