Women and Girls in Jacob's Biscuit Factory, c.1911-1977

Heritage, Dublin City Council

A free public talk by Dr Deirdre Foley, hosted by Dublin City Council's Heritage Office. Part-funded by the Heritage Council.

The Wood Quay Venue

Dublin City Heritage Talks 2026

The Dublin City Heritage Talks free public lecture series aims to showcase heritage projects, topics and new research across Dublin city, and is an action of the Dublin City Strategic Heritage Plan 2024 - 2029. Supported by the Heritage Council.

About the talkJacob’s is remembered by many Dubliners as a benevolent employer. The firm’s concern with welfare, while relatively innovative, was nevertheless paternalist and profit-driven, with a view to forging a loyal and healthy workforce in a city where housing and sanitation were notoriously poor. One of Ireland’s top three manufacturing firms for some time after independence, women and girls consistently made up two-thirds of its staff.This talk will explore the female experience of work at Jacob’s, covering issues of social class, gendered discipline, and discrimination in preference of the male breadwinner. The experience of republican women in the factory in 1916 and beyond is also explored. About the speakerDr Deirdre Foley is a historian of modern Ireland with a particular interest in the legal and social status of women in twentieth-century Ireland. She is a former Roy Foster Irish Government Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and has previously held Research Ireland postdoctoral awards at University College Cork and Trinity College Dublin. Currently she is Principal Investigator of the Research Ireland Pathway Project, 'TÚS: Pregnancy and Giving Birth in Ireland, 1950-2020' at the Department of History, Trinity College Dublin. About the seriesThe Dublin City Heritage Series is a free public lecture series which aims to showcase heritage projects, topics and new research across Dublin city, and is an action of the Dublin City Strategic Heritage Plan 2024 - 2029.The series has received grant support from the Heritage Council. This talk will be recorded and made available online at a later date.ISL interpretation will be provided. Image Credit:'Three female workers packing boxes of ginger nut biscuits', c.1960-1969. Courtesy of Valeo Foods &amp; Dublin City Library and Archive, via the <a href="https://repository.dri.ie/catalog/f188f581x#dri_download_modal_id" title="https://repository.dri.ie/catalog/f188f581x#dri_download_modal_id" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Digital Repository of Ireland</a>.

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Women and Girls in Jacob's Biscuit Factory, c.1911-1977

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Women and Girls in Jacob's Biscuit Factory, c.1911-1977

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