Labour pains Delving into The (in)visibility of paid labour: Women’s working lives in Ireland, c 1965- 1990 , Dr Deirdre Foley, from Trinity’s Department of History, unveils the legal and societal dimensions that shaped women’s experiences in the workforce In 1974, a Mrs Kiernan was shortlisted and interviewed twice for the position of dental receptionist at a practice in Co Louth. She was offered the job, but the offer was subsequently rescinded by letter from one of the dentists at the practice. The letter, which survives in the papers of the Department of Labour at the National Archives, stated: Having had more time to think of it in relation to your married status with as yet no children at the moment, balanced against the difficulty of training someone into the intricacies of the position, I regret that I feel that it would not be satisfactory and I would constantly be wondering if you would come to me and say you’re leaving because you were pregnant, and I would then be faced with the problem of finding someone else and the difficulty of retraining. 1 Mrs Kiernan forwarded the letter to the Department of Labour, claiming discrimination on the hypothesis of a future pregnancy. Her situation, whilst inequitable, was nevertheless perfectly legal in 1974. This incidence, and indeed countless others which are not recorded in state archives, sheds light on women’s acutely inferior legal status in the workplace before gradual reforms, and further reflects deeply entrenched attitudes towards married women and mothers at work. My current project, funded by the Irish Research Council, is the first comprehensive historical study of women’s paid work in Ireland between 1965 and 1990. The research explores the outcome of an increasing female presence in the Irish workforce and the impact of employment equality legislation introduced in the 1970s. The presence of the civil service marriage bar from the foundation of the state until 1973 is well known. The marriage bar had legal authority only in 1 McDermott Dental Surgeon’s letter to Mrs Kiernan, Dundalk, Co. Louth, 3 December 1974, National Archives of Ireland (NAI), Department of Labour papers, 2007/109/6.
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