I can always remember my mother saying, “this is heaven, this has to be heaven...because it took the drudgery out of the hard work people had to do.
- Maureen Gavan, Interviewed February 2017

Rural electrification changed the lives of women in Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s, where everyday items such as the washing machine relieved them of the hardship of many labour intensive household chores.

Kitchen Power: Women's Experiences of Rural Electrification looks at the ways in which these products were advertised and promoted as part of a modern lifestyle, and how the advertising fantasies translated into the reality of the average rural Irish kitchen.

ONLINE EXHIBITION: Much of the content of Kitchen Power has now been made available as an online exhibition. 

  
The exhibition, which has been developed by the Museum in partnership with Kingston University and the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and with support from the ESB, Irish Farmer's Journal, Age & Opportunity, and GMIT Letterfrack, is the flagship temporary exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life this year.

As part of the exhibition visitors will be transported back in time with objects and advertisements of the era, a 1950s ESB/ICA model kitchen reconstructed by GMIT Letterfrack, textile art work commissioned by Age & Opportunity and stories from those whose lives were intrinsically changed by this dramatic shift in Irish culture.
For more information, visit the Electric Irish Homes website, and for information on the textile art project visit Our Irish Heritage.