Lisdoonvarna- The traditional matchmaking festival for farmers
The festival takes place for almost 4 weeks from September into October. I went with one of my employees to check out the local scene and also met with the big name in the business, Willie Daly. He was THE matchmaker of some renown who claimed to be responsible for thousands of marriages. I was the new kid on the block who was making an all year round professional business out of matchmaking; Bill didn't take me seriously. That year he was officially introducing his daughter as his successor-- but only for the time of the festival. No advanced dating service all over the country like I had established was planned for the Daly's. They were merely upholding tradition.
With the days of summer ending, Irish farmers will have brought in their
main crop. My trusted housekeeper one year while I was still married to
my farmer-- let's call him Mac-- told me about a tradition that is kept to this day in the
farming community around this time of year. A bachelor farmer would ride
on his tractor to the big matchmaking festival of the year in
Lisdoonvarna...and come home with a bride next to him. Lacking other
opportunities in the olden days, it oftentimes was a great outlet for
merrymaking for rural folks who lived rather isolated and even to find a
spouse. Clare's tourist website calls it the holy grail of romance and lonely souls.
After
separating from Mac and opening my marriage bureau I
had to go and see for myself if this was true and how it worked. I was looking forward to a nice
weekend out in Co. Clare, the West of Ireland, and I needed to
do research being in the business myself.
The festival takes place for almost 4 weeks from September into October. I went with one of my employees to check out the local scene and also met with the big name in the business, Willie Daly. He was THE matchmaker of some renown who claimed to be responsible for thousands of marriages. I was the new kid on the block who was making an all year round professional business out of matchmaking; Bill didn't take me seriously. That year he was officially introducing his daughter as his successor-- but only for the time of the festival. No advanced dating service all over the country like I had established was planned for the Daly's. They were merely upholding tradition.
People come from
all over Ireland; Northern Irish voices and American accents were also
heard. The whole town was abuzz and involved, mostly in the pubs, drinking, and
flirting. We attended the biggest event of them all: the election of
the Bachelor of the year. After a few rounds of questions the candidates
were asked to sing a song of their choice and show off their dancing
skills with the lasses. After half an hour of suspended animation the
room was presented with the winner. I forget his name, it's irrelevant.
But what sticks in my memory is that he was found out to be a married
man pulling out his ring from his sock and drawing his wife onto the dance floor,
giving her a big smacker of a kiss. Nobody but my staffer and I was
really outraged. Nobody but us had taken this charade seriously. A
Brigadon gone terribly wrong,but the craic is mighty. You might still go for the horse racing and carousing. And the Irish are famous for having fun!
"Fair play to the bog farmers for seizing their opportunity." (Quote form the official website). I didn't see one tractor!
This article was published before on my site www.InandoutofIreland.blogspot.com
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