An American woman who travelled from Colorado to the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival on a whim has returned to Co Clare after finding love at the famous event.
Mary Timby first heard about the festival on an episode of the Canadian television series Schitt’s Creek.
Intrigued by the idea of a real-life matchmaking festival, and disillusioned with dating apps, she decided to make the trip to Ireland.
What started as a holiday adventure ended with Ms Timby meeting her partner, Clare man Jay Mangan.
“I came to the matchmaking festival from America on a total whim and actually met someone, so it worked,” she said.
Ms Timby said: “I first heard about the festival on an episode of Schitt’s Creek and thought wouldn’t that be fun.
“I discovered that it was a real festival and from there just came and had the craic and met my partner.”
Ms Timby said she was immediately drawn to Mr Mangan, who is from Ennis.
“Jay made me laugh right away and I was just really drawn to that Irish accent,” she said.
Her experience at the festival was documented on social media, with her posts attracting more than two million views and bringing international attention to the annual event.
She said part of the appeal was the opportunity to meet people without the screens and swiping associated with modern dating.
“I think taking the screens out of dating can be really helpful,” she said.
“The serendipity of actually meeting a person and not knowing everything about them, that mystery and just meeting people in real life is what Lisdoonvarna is all about,” she added.
The relationship has continued since Ms Timby’s return to the US, with the couple maintaining a long-distance relationship before she came back to Co Clare this summer.
“The romance is going so great,” she said.
She added: “We’ve had the opportunity to connect long distance, which gave us space to get to know each other in a grounded and authentic way.
“He continues to make me laugh so we’ll see where it all goes, but it’s going well.”
The festival’s matchmaking tradition spans generations and has stood the test of time.
Albert and Cecilly Lawlor, from Co Limerick, met there 59 years ago.
Mr Lawlor said he knew almost immediately that there was something special between them.
“The very minute I danced with her, I knew there was something there and I just felt that she is the right girl for me,” he said.
They married 12 months later and almost six decades on, the couple continue to return to the festival to celebrate their anniversary where their love story began.
“We celebrate our anniversary every year here. We haven’t missed a year and it’s fantastic, really fantastic,” Mr Lawlor said.
The man behind the oldest singles event in the world is Willie Daly, who has been matchmaking for 60 years.
“Lisdoonvarna can be summed up in one word,” he said, “and that’s ‘magic'”.
“It has the beautiful opportunity of finding love, finding happiness,” he said.
Mr Daly said dating apps are “probably good” but “you’d hear that they have too much of a choice, making wonderful connections and then stopping a bit quick”.
“That’s a little regrettable,” he said.
He added: “Lisdoonvarna has that lovely magic, that if you see someone you like you can ask them to dance.
“When you can look into their eyes and have them in your arms, it’s a good start.”
The festival will welcome visitors from Ireland and abroad throughout the month of September, with the historic Hydro Hotel also set to play a renewed role.
The landmark hotel was purchased earlier this year by the Fiddle + Bow Collection, which is bringing it back into the festival programme with live music, dancing and speed dating events planned.