{"id":101945,"date":"2026-10-01T16:18:06","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T16:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/for-hopeful-romantics-a-small-irish-town-and-its-mystical-matchmaker-are-here-to-help\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T16:18:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T16:18:06","slug":"for-hopeful-romantics-a-small-irish-town-and-its-mystical-matchmaker-are-here-to-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/for-hopeful-romantics-a-small-irish-town-and-its-mystical-matchmaker-are-here-to-help\/","title":{"rendered":"For hopeful romantics, a small Irish town and its mystical matchmaker are here to help"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><em>Lisdoonvarna, Ireland \u2014<\/em>\u00a0For nearly two centuries, a small Irish town has lured singletons to a festival every September that sees hopeful romantics seek their one true love.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The monthlong matchmaking festival that started in 1857 has <a href=\"https:\/\/matchmakerireland.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">become a global event<\/a>, attracting over 60,000 visitors annually to the rugged landscape of County Clare, and specifically to the tiny town of Lisdoonvarna.<\/p>\n<p>The festival even broke into American pop culture, featuring several years ago on the sitcom &#8220;Schitt&#8217;s Creek.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In many ways, it&#8217;s an old-world solution to modern dating. There is no app and no algorithms, just a chance to meet a match organically, through Irish traditional dancing and music, speed dating\u00a0<em>\u2014<\/em>\u00a0or through the matchmaking skills of 83-year-old local legend Willie Daly.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/10\/01\/b0a4654d-359a-46f0-bcd0-df18f7a3caca\/thumbnail\/620x465g2\/6cf0a5a986a0f6c85da9aed4a98a0759\/ireland-matchmaker-daly-1247069378.jpg#\" alt=\"Ireland's traditional match maker \" height=\"465\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/10\/01\/b0a4654d-359a-46f0-bcd0-df18f7a3caca\/thumbnail\/620x465g2\/6cf0a5a986a0f6c85da9aed4a98a0759\/ireland-matchmaker-daly-1247069378.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/10\/01\/b0a4654d-359a-46f0-bcd0-df18f7a3caca\/thumbnail\/1240x930g2\/72f77663e38aafc52664554f5df6082a\/ireland-matchmaker-daly-1247069378.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">Irish traditional matchmaker Willie Daly is seen at his home on a donkey farm near Lisdoonvarna, in County Clare, Ireland, in a Jan. 28, 2023, file photo, holding his book of profiles of romance seekers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Rebecca Black\/PA Images\/Getty<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Daly&#8217;s grandfather helped start the festival, and his family has been pairing couples for three generations. In his father&#8217;s and grandfather&#8217;s day, many Irish towns and villages had traditional matchmakers, but Daly is now believed to be among the last, if not the last, keeping the tradition alive. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If prospective suitors wish to find a match through Daly, they meet with him and fill out a form outlining their hobbies, personality traits, and what they&#8217;re looking for in a partner. Through his somewhat mystical personal intuition, Daly will then find a match and send the pair off on a first date.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When I&#8217;m walking down the street, often I&#8217;d meet people \u2026 two or three couples said, &#8216;You fixed us up 30 years ago, or 40 years ago,'&#8221; Daly told CBS News last month. &#8220;We&#8217;re lucky here. Now this is a wonderful festival, and it&#8217;s a great provision of opportunity\u00a0<em>\u2014<\/em>\u00a0the opportunity to get married is very consistent in it. Music and dancing all day long, you know, for 30 days.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In a tattered old book, Daly keeps records of the hopeful matches he&#8217;s arranged over the years, and local legend has it that if you place two hands on the book, you&#8217;ll be married within six months.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Daly&#8217;s image is literally etched on the front of a local watering hole \u2014 The Matchmaker Bar, where singles gather every year to drink, dance and try to meet their future spouse \u2014 in a testament to his stature in Lisdoonvarna.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/10\/01\/e6953c89-efbc-4569-b5da-e887d0c9e10a\/thumbnail\/620x465\/f76daf50714a9b42da06acf9a3d44a4b\/ireland-matchmaker-1247069621.jpg#\" alt=\"Ireland's traditional match maker \" height=\"465\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/10\/01\/e6953c89-efbc-4569-b5da-e887d0c9e10a\/thumbnail\/620x465\/f76daf50714a9b42da06acf9a3d44a4b\/ireland-matchmaker-1247069621.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/10\/01\/e6953c89-efbc-4569-b5da-e887d0c9e10a\/thumbnail\/1240x930\/d0d37d6ae9167942f5a33bb93a191e76\/ireland-matchmaker-1247069621.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">The Matchmaker Bar is seen in Lisdoonvarna, County Clare, Ireland, the hometown of Ireland&#8217;s last traditional matchmaker, Willie Daly, whose image in a mural adorns the front of the pub.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Rebecca Black\/PA Images\/Getty<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>CBS News attended the festivities at the pub in September and spoke with young attendees about what they were looking for in an ideal partner. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I suppose a bit of loyalty, a bit of values, but also a bit of craic, you can&#8217;t beat a bit of craic,&#8221; said one young woman, using a common Irish phrase that translates roughly to good fun.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Someone agricultural. I am agricultural myself \u2026 we&#8217;re farming at home, we have a sheep farm at home. That&#8217;s what I&#8217;m looking for at the moment,&#8221; an Irishman said about his hunt for love.<\/p>\n<p>Another attendee, Erica, told CBS News she had traveled all the way from Colombia for the festival.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the opportunity to meet people the right way, face-to-face,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Those apps, I mean, I&#8217;m not saying that people are hiding anything, but right now, just having the contact, just to sit there and talk to people makes [dating] a whole different event.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>American Mary Timby from Colorado came to the village last year and ended up going viral, garnering over 2 million views after posting online about how she found love at the matchmaking festival. <\/p>\n<p>She returned this year, and is now an ambassador for the event. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I first heard about the festival on &#8216;Schitt&#8217;s Creek.&#8217; It was during COVID. I was huddled in a blanket on my couch and I Googled it and I thought, &#8216;Oh, it&#8217;s a real festival. Wouldn&#8217;t it be fun if I just went someday?'&#8221; she said. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My partner is from Ennis, here in County Clare, and we met at The Matchmaking Bar,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I loved the Irish accent, and he just, was funny. He made me laugh and we connected right away, so we exchanged information.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But\u00a0Timby&#8217;s story shows that even matchmaking with nearly 170 years of proven success can benefit from modern technology.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He found me on social media the next day,&#8221; she said of her match. &#8220;And the rest is history.&#8221;<\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation  \">\n        <\/aside>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n      <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__tags\">\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/ireland-matchmaker-lisdoonvarna-willie-daly\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lisdoonvarna, Ireland \u2014\u00a0For nearly two centuries, a small Irish town has lured singletons to a festival every September that sees<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":101946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2111],"class_list":["post-101945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories","tag-ireland"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>For hopeful romantics, a small Irish town and its mystical matchmaker are here to help - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Want to find love the old-fashioned way? 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