The Irish Housewives Association (IHA) was an influential pressure group founded in 1942 to speak out about injustices and the needs of Irish women, inside and outside the home.Hilda Tweedy obituary, ''Irish Times'', 9 July 2005. The organization continued until 1992, when it dissolved itself.

History

The IHA was founded by

Hilda Tweedy Hilda Tweedy, ''née'' Anderson (1911–2005) was an Irish women's rights activist. A founding member and leader of the Irish Housewives' Association (IHA), she was active for decades advocating for the rights of women on a diverse number of iss ...

along with Andree Sheehy-Skeffington, Susan Manning, and Louie Bennett. The group organized a 'Housewives Petition' sent to the Government before Budget Day in 1941. Later that year over 600 additional signatures were collected. Initially known as the Irish Housewives Committee, the group was formed at a meeting on 12 May 1942. They initially campaigned for school meals, free travel for pensioners, and consumer protection. In 1946 the organization renamed itself Irish Housewives Association. In 1947, the IHA affiliated to the

International Alliance of Women The International Alliance of Women (IAW; french: Alliance Internationale des Femmes, AIF) is an international non-governmental organization that works to promote women's rights and gender equality. It was historically the main international org ...

. Members of IHA, Beatrice Dixon and Kathleen Swanton began a campaign to have women serve on juries in Ireland. In 1957, Dixon went on to become the first women to serve on a jury. From 1954 until the early 1960s, the IHA was infiltrated and investigated by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid's Vigilance Committee for communist activity. In 1968, the IHA played a leading role in the setting up of the Council for the Status of Women (now the

National Women's Council of Ireland The National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) is a representative organisation for women and women's groups in Ireland. It was originally known as the Council for the Status of Women. Policies The mission of the NWCI is to achieve women's equa ...

). In 1992 the IHA dissolved itself.

References

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Housewives A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying a ...

Organizations established in 1942 1942 establishments in Ireland