"Years ago, while traveling with my family along Ireland's west coast, I spotted a curious billboard. It was blue and hot pink, and showed a man with shoulder-length hair and a gray beard smiling out from the roadside. It was for a matchmaking festival — Europe's largest, our tour guide assured us. The man in the photo was Willie Daly, the town's resident matchmaker."
"Lisdoonvarna, a village of fewer than 1,000 people, sits not far from the Cliffs of Moher, where the land falls into the Atlantic as if the world itself ends there. A single street, a scatter of pubs — and, for one month each year, a transformation as it becomes home to Europe's last great matchmaking festival. The tradition stretches back more than 150 years, when farmers came after the harvest to find wives."
"At a crowded hotel bar, three women from County Kerry sit watching couples dance the Irish jive, an upbeat couples dance that resembles the Lindy Hop. Geraldine Beirne, Marie Walsh and Nora O'Sullivan say they've been coming since their 20s. Now in their 60s, they still return each year. No, not for men, they insist, but for the laughter, the music — and the company."
Lisdoonvarna, a village of fewer than 1,000 people on Ireland's west coast near the Cliffs of Moher, hosts Europe's largest matchmaking festival for one month each year. A single street and a scatter of pubs transform as thousands descend for music, dancing and courtship. The tradition stretches back more than 150 years, when farmers came after the harvest to find wives. The festival retains an old-fashioned earnestness, with people still choosing to meet face-to-face. Regular attendees return for the laughter, the music and the company; some have met spouses there.
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