Women in Ireland

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the Irish constitutions restricted the prescribed roles of women to the house, but this is not very different than the rest of the world at this time. The author points out that, in both of the Irish states, the churches, both Catholic and Protestant, were closely connected to the state; both churches interpreted the role of the woman to be only within the house; however, over the years, this strong relationship of church and state has diminished and women's roles have changed. The paper relates that today, increased internationalization of the Irish culture has produced a startling openness and liberalism compared with three decades ago; the idea of male dominance and confining women to their homes has been replaced by access to contraception and open opportunities in education and employment.

From the Paper:

"At one point, Ireland had the highest birthrates in Europe due to the low social and economic lives of the women. With time, the social and economic lives of the women improved and now the birthrate has been reduced to about half of what it was nearly four decades ago. Back then, women were not allowed to use contraceptives and thus due to high birthrates many faced deaths and other medical conditions. It was until 1979 that contraceptives were forbidden in Ireland and divorce was declared to be unconstitutional. This was due to the close association of the Church to the State. Today one can find numerous family planning clinics operating throughout the country and after extensive debate, divorce has been declared to be legal and constitutional."

More papers on Women in Ireland:

• Essay # 91283 : "Women in Ireland"
• Analytical Essay # 138298 : "The Status of Women in Early Irish Society"
• Research Paper # 50457 : "Women in the National Liberation Struggle"

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