Anne Burke from Ballybrittas was found guilty of the manslaughter of Patrick Burke in August 2007 by reason of diminished responsibility.
The Central Criminal Court heard Anne Burke hit her husband 23 times on the head with a hammer.
There was medical evidence from both the prosecution and the defence that she was suffering from a major depressive illness at the time.
Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said that her illness and her domestic circumstances could not excuse or condone what had happened.
He said it was not lawful for people to take the law into their own hands no matter how difficult their life was.
Justice McCarthy said however, it was significant that the couple's four children were at one in saying they did not want their mother to go to prison.
Afterwards, Patrick Burke's brother, Tom, said he and his two sisters were very disappointed with the sentence and what they said was the further assassination of their brother's character.
