I've come to Lisdoonvarna looking for love. It's not a far-fetched ambition: This spa town on the west coast of Ireland, 40 minutes from the Aran Islands, is in the midst of its annual matchmaking festival, featuring speed dating, a matchmaker, and dancing and music. The festival is billed as "Europe's biggest singles event," so even if I don't get lucky, I'll have fun and perhaps pick up tips from the Irish on making a love connection in these modern times.
In today's super-hot singles market, Lisdoonvarna's festival is a marketer's dream that may seem like an opportunistic move with no more heart and soul than Dr. Phil. But the event has more street cred than most: The tradition of matchmaking in Lisdoonvarna goes back 145 years to the days of the peasant and landowner classes, when fathers looked to matchmakers to broker romantic deals for their sons and daughters. Today, the six-week-long festival is still timed to coincide with the end of harvest season.
The festival may not be common knowledge on this side of the Atlantic, but on the plane, a couple from Galway break into big smiles when I tell them where I'm going, and say that the festival's reputed to be good craic ("fun" to you and me, and pronounced "crack"). They've even heard of Willie Daly, the local matchmaker, who has been on British and Irish TV and radio.
It sounds promising. That feeling grows on the journey from Shannon airport, during which I drive through lovely countryside (and along some very narrow roads). As I near the town, I'm greeted by a red sign with pink hearts that reminds me of a giant Valentine's Day card. It reads: "Lisdoonvarna -- Home of the Matchmaking Festival. Dancing all day and night. We're here for the craic, the women and the beer."
The town is concentrated on one main drag with hotels, pubs and shops painted a rainbow of colours, banners strung across the road, and welcome signs in windows. I'm reminded of what the couple from Galway said when I asked how big Lisdoonvarna was: You can sprint from one end to the other in five minutes. On this overcast Thursday afternoon, things look quiet, though there are signs of life in the central square, where a few men and women, some wearing cowboy hats, waltz to Irish-style country and western (think lilt, not twang).
That evening at Kincora House, I get the lowdown from the affable Diarmuid and Doreen Drennan, who have owned the inn for 20 years. "If you're a single woman, God help you," Doreen says.
Increased prosperity in Ireland has meant an exodus of women seeking their fortunes in the city, so rural bachelors have a hard time finding local brides. Some place the ratio of men to women in the area at around 13 to one. But singletons aren't the only ones who come for a wee bit of fun. Couples get in on the action too, many returning to the town where they met or just enjoying the atmosphere.
I meet one of those couples the next day at The Ritz, which Diarmuid, who is from Lisdoonvarna, assures me is the place for afternoon dancing. And he's right. The rain and wind can't keep them away. The party is in full swing with people, many in their 50s, taking lively spins on a wooden floor so worn it has obviously seen more than its share of dancers. Spectators on the sidelines nurse Ireland's pride and joy, Guinness, while Mike McCarty, The Countryman, plays an electric keyboard and croons song after song that the waltzing crowd all seem to know.
Dolores and Christy are an energetic pair from Tipperary who stumbled upon Lisdoonvarna two decades ago and have been visiting every year since. "It's a great people place," Christy says.
It's also a great place for people like Christy and Dolores, who are naturals on the dance floor. It's obvious that they know how to enjoy themselves, so when Christy invites me for a spin, I apologize for my lack of waltzing know-how. But he's not fazed: He says all I have to do is follow (which is harder than it sounds when the eighties were your formative dancing years). But by the end of our song, I'm jazzed by my ballroom blitz, even more so when Christy says I don't dance like someone who has just waltzed for the first time. How's that for Irish charm?
The Irish are also known for hospitality, and you won't find a better example than Marcus White, festival organizer and managing director of the Hydro Hotel, the largest in Lisdoonvarna. When I enter the Hydro, there are so many people milling around, talking and laughing over music from the bar that I get a buzz from the action.
Marcus knows everyone, and they know him. At 41, he has been organizing the festival for 20 years, and he's good at what he does. This year, the town of 700 is expecting 40,000 visitors, which will bring in about $4.9-million.
"A lot of people come for the dancing," Marcus says, "but mostly people come to meet someone. It's not a myth." As if to prove his point, he introduces me to John, 63, and Frances, 54, who met at the Hydro in 2003. "John asked me to dance," Frances says, "and that was it." They got engaged last month.
But just as many come for fun, period. When I meet Brian, he's red-faced and mopping his forehead as he and Kathleen from England take a break from dancing. Kathleen, who has been coming for more than five years, came to meet up with festival friends, while Brian, who was golfing with friends in the area, decided to stay for the party. "I got lucky," he says, looking at Kathleen. "I met a lovely lady."
Later that evening, I run into him sans Kathleen at The Matchmaker Pub, where I've come to catch up with Marie Daly, matchmaker Willie Daly's daughter. When I ask about Kathleen, Brian tells me they've both moved on. Soon, he's proposing a "cultural exchange," complete with breakfast. When I decline, he heads off to make friends elsewhere; after all, the night is young and the place is packed.
Brian may not need Willie Daly's services, but anyone who does can head to his office in the pub, which is plastered with pinups of past Mr. Lisdoonvarnas and Queens of the Burren (the most eligible guy and gal of the fest). Willie's in hospital, but Marie, 30, who has been helping her father since she was 18, is busy signing up new clients -- two young guys from the south of Ireland and three American women who have dropped in with their tour group.
Marian, who's from California and is looking for a long-term companion, laughs and says, "I've never signed up for anything before." Seeing as Willie's clientele includes men ranging from their late 20s to 80s (with one 94-year-old on the books) from all over Ireland, as well as the United States, Australia and Germany, who knows? Marian might just have the last laugh.
My last stop on the love trail is the Q Club at the Hydro in hopes of finding the elusive younger set. When I hit the streets after 11 on Saturday night, there they are, along with the chip vans. At the disco, I'm suddenly one of the older people at 40 and, for a change, not the only black person in the slightly more multicultural crowd.
As I watch kids move to R&B and techno under disco balls and strobe lights, I'm reminded of something Marie said: "One of the biggest things that works for the festival is the dancing. If a shy man is capable of dancing, he can walk over to a woman and ask her to dance."
Though the music and dancing are different from what's happening in the rest of town, the art of romance looks much the same.
Pack your bags
GETTING THERE
Lisdoonvarna is 64 kilometres from Shannon International Airport, and 260 kilometres from Dublin. Irish Bus ( ) serves the town, and Irish Rail ( ) stops at the nearby towns of Galway and Ennis.
WHERE TO STAY
Kincora House, Country House Inn & Restaurant: 353 (65) 707-4300; .
Hydro Hotel: 353 (65) 707-4005; .
THINGS TO DO
Matchmaking Festival: Sept. 2 to Oct. 2; matchmakerireland.com.
Willie Daly's Six-Day Carraig Mountain Trail or Weekend Break riding trips (if you're single, they'll try to set you up with a local guy or gal); 353 (65) 707-1385; williedaly.com.
Best of Ireland Tour Plus Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival (which ran Sept. 25 to Oct. 3 this year) is geared to the 30s and 40s crowd. Call Singles Travel International (877-SOLO-TRIP; ).
MORE INFORMATION
Tourism Ireland: 1-800-223-6470 or 416-925-6368; .