(UEMG - 2007)The Big MatchKathleen BeckerIts early

(UEMG - 2007)

The Big Match

Kathleen Becker

It's early evening in the Matchmaker's Bar, Lisdoonvarna, in the West of Ireland. A live band is warming up for the dancing later on while matchmaker Willie Daly is starting work: finding suitable partners for his clients. Every September, men and women looking for love come to Lisdoonvarna, Ireland's only spa town. At the matchmaking festival they hope to find "a good match."

The tradition began when farmers came here after the hay harvest had been gathered, bringing their daughters with them. Even today, in remote parts of rural Ireland, it can be difficult to meet your soul mate. Willie Daly wants to help bring people together. A pint glass of Guinness in front of him, Daly hands out forms to fill in and consults his big matchmaking book with contacts and vital statistics. Willie Daly's father was a matchmaker, and his father before him. Initially, Willie Daly was reluctant to get involved. Now in his late 50s, Willie started when he was 24:

Willie Daly

(Standard Irish accent):

The reason I started was where I live it's down on a farm and it looks out on the Atlantic Ocean, it's very pretty and very beautiful and there's great views everywhere. And I was looking around one day, and people kept saying to me, "Willie, when are you going to start, will you start the matchmakings?" And I said "Maybe I will," you know, I wasn't really interested much in it, you know. But then I was looking around and noticing that, as the result of matchmaking having stopped, that a lot of lovely neighbors that I had, existing neighbors, were getting old, dying out, and their houses were being sold to tourists and stuff like that, you know. And I felt that I was losing great friends and neighbors, so I started at that age and I haven't stopped since. I started when I was 24 and I'm still doing it now.

The first match Willie Daly ever made was between a very shy boy who worked on a nearby farm and a local girl. Every time they met the boy's face would go pure red, Daly says. The boy did not realize that the girl had feelings for him. In his frustration he was even talking about emigrating to England. How it all worked out in the end is a long story best told over a pint of stout, but it involves the fake sale of a pig engineered by young Willie Daly. The match was a success, and the couple had eleven children.

Daly and his wife have seven children. Some of them help their dad with the matchmaking. In 35 years, Daly has honed his psychologist's skills. The internet has helped, too. In other ways, his job has become more difficult: Irish women today have a better education, more independence - and higher expectations.

Revista Speak up, setembro de 2006

Vocabulary

1 - after the hay harvest had been gathered - depois da colheita do feno
2 - to hone  - aprimora
3 - to match - casar

“And I said „Maybe I will,‟ you know, I wasn\'t really interested much in it, you know”. About the period in bold, we can say that