This paper examines the relationship between gender composition and rural household strategies in Cavan, a county in north-central Ireland, during the first half of the 19th century. I show that the ratio of adult females to males was highest in small farm households that depended for their survival on intensively deployed family labour in agriculture, flax-cultivation and spinning. By contrast, households without land or with micro-holdings relied on the income from men�s employment as agricultural labourers, supplemented by women�s work as spinners. More substantial landholders employed men as agricultural labourers. In both of the latter categories household labour strategies centred on men�s activities, with women�s work representing an important supplement, whereas in the small-farm category household labour strategies centred on a strategic balance between men�s and women�s labour input. Amongst households engaged in linen weaving the ratio of women to men was lower across all landholding categories. Differences in gender composition resulted from a complex interplay amongst household labour and inheritance strategies in a changing socio-economic environment.