The Irish family, marital breakdown and the Josie Airey case, c. 1974-1981

Abstract

Centring the role of women, particularly Josie Airey, this article outlines the activism and legal process that led to improvements in family law and the provision of civil legal aid for the first time by the Republic of Ireland. In tandem with the gradual liberalisation of Irish family law, the question of the provision of civil legal aid was set alight by the legal proceedings brought against the state by Josie Airey, which went all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in 1973; though a ruling was not issued until 1979. In a country where society, the polity, the Catholic hierarchy and the Constitution demonstrated a deep fealty to the heteronormative model of family within marriage, and where a constitutional ban on divorce remained intact until 1996, this article explores the contextual significance of these developments in Irish society. Part one provides a systematic analysis of the changing legal status of married women from 1964-1976, connecting these changes directly with feminist activism. Part two examines the formation of the Free Legal Advice Campaign (FLAC), the Josie Airey case and the resultant limited system of free legal aid provided by the state from 1980. It is argued that feminist activism and the additional statutory pressure of Ireland’s status as an EEC member state were key factors for reform. Crucially, this research places the outcome of the Josie Airey case in the historical chronology of the expansion of married women’s rights, underscoring its importance in terms of public awareness of the intransigence of the Irish state in this area.