Image: Statues, Lisdoonvarna-Lios Duin Bhearna - geograph.org.uk - 1264156

Description: Statues, Lisdoonvarna/Lios Duin Bhearna Lisdoonvarna ('fort of the gap') is famous for its matchmaking season, and it holds a special place in Ireland's social history. Around 1900, wealthy families began using Lisdoonvarna as a meeting place where they could arrange suitable marriages for their children. From late August, with the harvest in, they gathered here for the first of many dances. By the 1970s this sedate tradition had begun to change. City people started coming to the hotels in search of marriage partners, swelling the population to 10,000 on September weekends. The Lisdoonvarna phenomenon resulted in hundreds of marriages.

But matchmaking is a seasonal business. A core population of about 1000 people remain in the town during the winter.
Author: Trish Steel
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