The Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival has it all:
– One month of music and dancing from 11 am to late with Ireland’s top country music musicians.
– Endless opportunities to get together and meet people – from traffic light parties to dances and sessions in the pubs.
– Singles from all over the world all mixing together from age 18 to 80 – everyone is welcome!
– Daily matchmaking with Matchmaker Willie Daly in his ‘office’ in the Matchmaker Bar.
“Rural Ireland can be a lonely place. There’s a lot of lonely men, farmers left behind, while a lot women are based in the cities, so the festival is a great place for them to meet up”
While the Festival has very much come of age over the years, moving with the times to appeal to people of all ages – its essence as a place to ‘meet, match and make a life’ remains true.
Matchmaking is an Irish tradition that’s as old as time. It began in Lisdoonvarna when visiting gentry came to ‘take the waters’ at this spa town and looked to match their children with someone suitable from the upper classes. Parents would bring their children together at social gatherings, sporting events and musical evenings – and all being well, courtships would blossom.
The opening of the West Clare Railway in 1887 meant Lisdoonvarna increased in popularity as a tourist destination and the matchmaking tradition grew. With the harvest safely in and September being the peak holiday month, many bachelor farmers began to flock to Lisdoonvarna for a spa town vacation – and in search of a wife.
