Matching was one of the oldest traditions of Ireland when the country had two classes - the rich landowners and the poor peasants. The rich organized matchmaking so that their sons and daughters would meet and marry other people who were also well to do.

In the spa town of Lisdoonvarna, traditionally, the people of Ireland went in the thousands to drink the healthy waters and bathe in three different mineral cure waters. They came in September as it is the month when the hay and crops are saved. So started the Matchmaking Festival each September in Lisdoonvarna, County Clare.

The Matchmakers of old were the dealers who attended street fairs as it was they who know the farmers who had eligible sons and daughters. They invited the farmers from all over Ireland to attend the Festival. The Matchmakers collected the generous dowries when the matches were made. Today there are just two matchmakers left in County Clare, Mr. Willie Daly, a horse dealer, who runs the riding center outside Ennistymon and Mr. James White, a hotelier and proprietor of the Imperial Hotel, Lisdoonvarna.