Lessons in Love from the Emerald Isle

Out on the rugged, blustery west coast of Ireland, in the ancient county of Clare, steeped in Celtic history and shrouded in the clouds of myth and mystique, the centuries-old tradition of matchmaking lives on.
Once, a hundred years or more ago, there were matchmakers in every Irish town, folk who instinctively understood the blend of finesse, pragmatism and nous required to bring together a couple in love. Sometimes it was only the matchmaker who could see the potential in a seemingly unlikely pairing. That was their vision, their skill, the secret power which gave them a stature verging on the magical in their local communities.
Now the matchmakers have all but disappeared, an apparent anachronism in the digital age of Facebook, match.com and Eharmony. But they have not died out yet. One legendary traditional matchmaker remains, the last of his kind: Willie Daly, a gentle 65-year-old charmer, who is the third generation, at the very least, of his family to practice the subtle art of matchmaking.
From his house near Ennistymon, a few miles from Lisdoonvarna, the world capital of matchmaking – a town flooded every September by singles seeking the prospect of romance – Willie has drawn on his extensive files, notebooks and ledgers, on his remarkable memory, and applied his highly attuned antennae to offer hope to the thousands who ply him with their details.

Willie's new book "The Last Matchmaker" is out now.

"In this gorgeous ‘practical memoir’ he’ll take you from the pages of his great-grandfather’s lucky matchmaking book right up to the present day, as he works his magic at the dances and in the pubs in and around his home town of Lisdoonvarna - a world capital of matchmaking, thanks to its annual (and very gregarious) Matchmaking Festival." Available here