--- title: Ireland's Last Matchmaker | TIME description: Matchmaker Willie Daly is the most sought-after man at the Matchmaking Festival held every September in Lisdoonvarna, Ireland canonical: https://time.com/video/FZElN2eX/ og:title: Ireland's Last Matchmaker og:description: Matchmaker Willie Daly is the most sought-after man at the Matchmaking Festival held every September in Lisdoonvarna, Ireland og:url: https://time.com/video/FZElN2eX/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/FZElN2eX/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ireland's Last Matchmaker twitter:description: Matchmaker Willie Daly is the most sought-after man at the Matchmaking Festival held every September in Lisdoonvarna, Ireland twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/FZElN2eX/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Ireland's Last Matchmaker > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Ireland's Last Matchmaker [Watch (HLS stream): Ireland's Last Matchmaker](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FZElN2eX.m3u8) (2:53)  _Published 2009-09-28. Matchmaker Willie Daly is the most sought-after man at the Matchmaking Festival held every September in Lisdoonvarna, Ireland_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:14 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Simon Harris, the 'TikTok Taoiseach,' Is Ireland's New Leader](/video/2lyu6KsQ/) ### Simon Harris, the 'TikTok Taoiseach,' Is Ireland's New Leader [Ireland’s Leader Concedes Defeat in Vote Over Constitutional Amendments About Family](/video/G8OXsjSs/) ### Ireland’s Leader Concedes Defeat in Vote Over Constitutional Amendments About Family [Ireland's Gay Marriage Vote: 'No' Campaign Concedes](/video/JkDcEgGu/) ### Ireland's Gay Marriage Vote: 'No' Campaign Concedes --- ## Transcript Like many villages on Ireland's West Coast, Lisdoonvarna, population 800, is a quiet, low- key farming community. Except in September. >> His mother told him " Someday you will be a man, and you will be a leader of a big old band ." Many people coming from miles around >> That's when 40, 000 revelers descend on the village from all over Ireland and farther fields with one thing on their minds: romance. -[ unk ] speed dating tonight, folks? Speed dating tonight? >> Go, Johnny, go, go, go. >> The village's 150- year- old matchmaking festival is the largest of its kind in Europe. >> Johnny go, go, go. >> In Lisdoonvarna in >> Johnny B. Goode. >> In Lisdoonvarna in September, love is a religion and its messiah is Willy Daly, Ireland's last remaining matchmaker. >> Matchmaking would be a kind of a magical thing. -[ unk ] >> Willy gets called and emailed all year round from men and women looking for love, and this is his bible, a tattered and torn Cupid's ledger. >> My father used it [ unk ]. My grandfather [ unk ]. Now I use it. They said that if you touch it that you're going to end up getting married and [ unk ] the 6 months. It's the center of what I do, and I do not [ unk ] with those. >> Come September, Willy drove through Lisdoonvana's 17 bars with his book and begins to work his magic. >> How are you? Nice to meet you. >> It's a curious alchemy he's been practicing for 42 years, producing thousands of couples from a vast spectrum of ages, types, and demands. >> I got [ unk ]. I need somebody to look after me now. >> My man of my dreams, he's French, bald, cooks fabulous meals. >> I need someone that would be nice as well. So, you know, just see what kind of men are around out here. >> take me back >> For Willy, some matches are easier than others. For example, Willy says Irish men match easily with American women. >> And they love [ unk ] they love to drink [ unk ] They love when they dance a lot and maybe not fight. >> The jury's eyes on whether American women agree. But what's for certain is than now with the global recession, Willy's seeing a new demand come to the fore. >> Criteria number 1, loads of money. >> A nice [ unk ] girl with plenty of money. >> According to government figures, Ireland's $ 9 billion annual tourism industry shrank 10 percent this year. But Lisdoonvarna it seems is insulated by romance; an unusual natural resource, that for 1 month at least, is recession- proof. >> I'd say it's a-- it's a gift, to be honest about it. It's a skill or a gift that you either-- if you have it, you have it, and if you haven't, you haven't. >> Don Duncan, for TIME. com in Lisdoonvarna, Ireland. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Ireland's Last Matchmaker","description":"Matchmaker Willie Daly is the most sought-after man at the Matchmaking Festival held every September in Lisdoonvarna, Ireland","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/FZElN2eX/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2009-09-28T15:56:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FZElN2eX.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/FZElN2eX/","duration":"PT2M53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/FZElN2eX/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```