Ireland in the 1930s - 1940s
he
daily life of a rural Irish community during the 1930s and 1940s,
before the advent of widespread electrification and mechanisation,
is portrayed at Muckross Traditional
Farms. This page will provide you with a brief account of
life in Ireland during that period.
The
Political Scene - A Brief Sketch
The
Irish Free State came into being at the end of 1922, following
the signing of a Treaty with England in December 1921. This Treaty
granted dominion status within the British Empire to 26 of the
32 counties of Ireland. It brought to an end the War of Independence,
which had commenced against the British in 1919. Then followed
a bitter and traumatic Civil War, between those who supported
and those who opposed the Treaty. The Civil War lasted until May
1923. The anti-Treaty faction opposed the Treaty on the grounds
that it did not grant full Irish Independence.
The
Cumann na nGaedheal party, under the leadership of William Cosgrave,
ruled the new state for ten years from 1922. This party was conservative
in outlook and concentrated on consolidating the country's economy
and its institutions. The party ruled largely without opposition
until 1927. The previous year, Eamon de Valera had founded a new
party, called Fianna Fáil. De Valera had led the opposition
to the Treaty and had fought against the Government forces during
the Civil War. His party won 44 seats in the general election
of 1927.
When
Cosgrave called an election early in 1932. Fianna Fáil
won 72 seats. They formed a Government with the help of the Labour
Party. De Valera served as President of the Council of the League
of Nations in 1932 and later as President of the Assembly. Fianna
Fáil remained in power during the years of the Second World
War, in which Ireland remained neutral. The war years were known
as the 'Emergency' in Ireland. In the general election of 1944
Fianna Fáil once again were returned to power. However,
they were defeated in early 1948 and an 'inter-party' or coalition
Government was formed of several parties, under the leadership
of John A. Costello. On Easter Monday, 1949, the 26 counties of
Ireland became a Republic.
< u>Agriculture
Ireland
in the early 20th century was a poor country. The levels of poverty
in many isolated rural areas were exceptional by western standards.
In 1930, the total population was just under three million. The
great majority of the people were living in the countryside, or
in country towns and villages. Dublin, the capital city, had a
maximum population of about half a million people.
In
1930, the majority of Ireland's population occupied small agricultural
holdings. Over a period of about 40 years, from the end of the
First World War (1918), there was a general movement towards a
consolidation in farm size. By the mid 1950s, 45% of farms were
in the range of 30 to 100 acres. The total area occupied by both
tillage and pasture in the 26 c ounties, in 1930, amounted to
about 11 million acres.
Pasture
was dominant, while the cultivation of grain continued to fall
as it had since the Great Famine of the 1840s. Just over a million
acres of grain crops were grown in 1921, this had fallen to just
over 750,000 acres by 1931. In January 1930, the Honorary Secretary
of the Irish Grain Growers Association appealed to Irish farmers
to maintain at least the 1929 acreage of grain crops. The American
economy had collapsed in 1929 and was succeeded by a worldwide
depression. Irish farmers had received a poor return for their
192 9 crop. Indeed, in many cases, they had found it difficult
to secure a market for it.
The
number of cattle declined in the country from 4.4 million in 1921
to just over 4 million in 1931. Milch cows accounted for three
quarters of these. The number of horses also declined slightly
during this decade. However, at the same time, pigs and poultry
experienced a sharp increase in numbers. The number of poultry
rose by almost six million between 1921 and 1931.
Between
1926 and 1936 the total number of men and women employed in agriculture
fell from just over 644,000 to just over 605,000. This trend later
accelerated, partly due to increased emigration during the Second
World War (the Emergency). Wages were low for a farm labourer;
earnings could amount to less than 15 shillings a week.
During the war years, the area of land under tillage rose dramatically.
In 1939 the total area of tillage (including grain, root and green
crops and flax) amounted to 1.5 million acres. This had increased
five years later to 2.6 million. Wheat production rose dramatically
but this did not prevent the introduction of bread-rationing in
1942. Tea, sugar and butter were also rationed. Meat remained
plentiful. Private motoring almost completely ceased in 1943 and
gas and electricity supplies were drastically cut. The export
of live cattle and meat products continued to form the basis of
the export trade between Ireland to Britain. The summer of 1946
was one of the wettest on record and the wheat harvest was meagre.
Bread rationing was, once more, introduced. In addition, there
followed a particularly hard winter, fuel supplies were scarce
and in early 1947 transport and industry almost ground to a halt.
Home
and Family Life
Within rural Ireland there was a pattern of late marriages and
a very high birth-rate within marriage. The rate of emigration,
especially for single women, remained high during the 1930s and
1940s, with England the main destination. There was also a movement
into urban centres from rural areas. By the 1940s it appears that
a general discontent with their conditions was becoming evident
among the rural population.
On
the family farm, the woman of the house was usually responsible
for the care of the small livestock, the poultry, pigs and calves.
She would also attend to the vegetable garden and to the growing
of fruit. Usually there was no running water or electricity, sanitation
was poor and there were few modern conveniences. Few women worked
outside of the home and they usually lost their jobs on marriage.
For instance, women teachers, who qualified after the 1st January
1933, were obliged to retire when they married. From the early
1940s on, sympathy was growing for the woman in the home and the
difficult conditions under which she had to labour.
Tentative
suggestions had been made, following the First World War, for
harnessing Ireland's abundant water supply for the generation
of electricity. In 1925 construction had commenced on the main
power station at Ardnacrusha, near Limerick. This was completed
late in 1929. In 1927 the Electricity Supply Board was established.
In the early years, electricity was provided mainly to the towns
and villages, by 1943 about 95% of urban populations had a supply.
However, only about 50% of the population as a whole were connected
to the network.
Obviously
the inst allation of electricity and the provision of a water
supply on tap were to have a dramatic effect on the domestic scene.
Comparisons, like the following, were drawn between the lives
of urban and rural women.
'Nowadays
town houses are built for convenience and labour saving, for comfort
and economy in the running of them. The townswoman has a supply
of running water, a neat range that will not burn much fuel and
will supply hot water to wash-basin and bath in the bathroom and
to the wash-up sink in the kitchen or scullery. She has hot and
cold water, good sanitation, electric light, a plug for her electric
iron, cupboard space and plenty of shelves. All this makes heaven
for the town home-maker. And all this goes for the plain workman's
wife as well as for the doctor's wife in Merrion Square.
The
country woman then must drag in the cold water from outside the
house. For every basin of hot water she wants, she must lift a
heavy kettle on and off the fire. On washing-day, washtubs must
be filled and emptied time and again; what it costs in labour
to keep her churn and milk vessels clean!
The
open fire-place in the country house looks grand and when we think
of the lovely cakes that come out of the pot-oven, it makes us
quite sentimental - but the truth is that half the heat goes up
the chimney with the draught and the old pot-oven is unwieldy
and clumsy and out of date.
Now
when night falls, the townswoman, presses a button and at once
there is a light and cheerful glow about her. The countrywoman,
like the Wise Virgin in the gospel, has had to clean and tend
and fill her lamp before lighting it or else she has to depend
on her halfpenny dip. Millions have been spent on the Shannon
scheme but it is n ot the countrywoman who has the benefit of
it.'
(Muintir na Tíre Official Handbook, 1941).
The
rosy picture of urban living, as depicted above, was often very
far from the truth. Dublin contained some of the worst slums in
Europe, with many people living in squalid tenements, without
even the most basic of facilities.
In
terms of health, heart disease, tuberculosis and cancer were the
big killers. The first Irish Hospitals Sweepstakes was organized
in 1930 and proved a huge success. After 1933 the Hospitals Trust
Board administered the funds realised from the sweepstakes to
hospitals. The sweepstakes were based on the main annual horse
races. Non-contributory pensions for widows were introduced in
1936. Children's allowances were introduced in 1944. They were
generally paid to the father for the third and every subsequent
child.
In
1926 the School Attendance Act made school attendance compulsory
on all school days for children between the ages of six and fourteen.
The primary school programme consisted of attendance for five
or six hours, five days a week for a minimum of 190 days a year.
The subjects studied included, Irish, English, Arithmetic, History,
Geography and Music. Girls also received instruction in needlework.
In the late 1920s, the Department of Education had introduced
the Primary School Certificate examination. This examination was
voluntary until 1943 when, despite strong opposition, it became
compulsory for all children who had reached sixth class. Only
a small percentage of children proceeded into post-primary education.
As late as 1957 only 10,000 students sat the Leaving Certificate,
which marked the end of a pupil's secondary education.
Social
Life
People
amused themselves in a variety of ways. In the early 1930s, few
people had access to radio. The state-run station, known as 2RN,
was a division of the Post Office. In 1932 only about 5% of households
held radio licences and most of these were in the east of the
country. This number increased to 100,000 following the opening
of a new transmitter in Athlone in 1933.
Cinema
was a very popular form of entertainment. It provided a glimpse
of more glamorous lifestyles, far removed from everyday Irish
life. But in some quarters Cinema was seen as a bad influence.
It was believed to have a demoralising effect on the young, undermining
their Christian standards of morality and decency.
In
the countryside, crossroads dancing was a frequent pastime and
often a platform was erected for this purpose. H. V. Morton described
one on his visit to Killarney in 1930. It was situated just outside
Killarney, on the far side of the bridge leading to Muckross.
Morton visited this platform one Sunday hoping to see some dancing,
but was to be disappointed on this occasion. There he found 12
youths sitting on a wall, but there was not one girl. One boy
had a fiddle, another a concertina. A number of girls eventually
appeared on the scene, but unfortunately, they passed right on
by. Disappointed, the boys packed up their musical instruments
and departed. Morton referred to the marked segregation of the
sexes, which he described as 'a remarkable feature' of the Irish
countryside.
Sport
was popular. Gaelic football, hurling and soccer were all played
and the Annual Horse Show in Dublin was a big event. Card playing
at night was also popular among men. The big sporting occasion
of 1932 was the Tailteann Games. These can be compared to an Irish
version of the Olympic games, which that year, took place in Los
Angeles. The Tailteann Games were previously held in 1924 and
1928.
Kerry's
All-Ireland Senior Football titles, 1930 - 1950:
1930:
Kerry 3-11 Monaghan 0-2
1931: Kerry 1-11 Kildare 0-8
1932: Kerry 2-7 Mayo 2-4
1937: Kerry 4-4 Cavan 1-7
1939: Kerry 2-5 Meath 2-3
1941: Kerry 0-7 Galway 1-3
1941: Kerry 1-8 Galway 0-7
1946: Kerry 2-4 Roscommon 1-7 (draw)
<
b>1946:
Kerry 2-8 Roscommon 0-10 (replay)
