Matchmaking in Rural Ireland

Late marriages were common in rural Ireland up to the second half of the twentieth century. One of the reasons for this was the reluctance of elderly parents to sign over their farm to sons or daughters (usually the former), a prerequisite for marriage at the time for a person remaining at home. Parents of that era had large families and generally liked to have provided for them all before signing over their farms.

In that context, matchmaking, the arrangement of marriages, was a common practice. The matchmaker could be anyone who knew both families and had the discretion to undertake such a sensitive role. If the approach had a positive response, the serious talking started between both families. If he had a farm, she had to have a dowry, which was generally called her ‘fortune’. In that society, where love was a factor in a relationship and not the size of a farm or a dowry, elopement was common. In matchmaking, age, the size of a farm and the dowry were big issues and not love, affection or compatibility. Marriage was then an economic agreement and it was not unknown for the woman’s father to inspect the farm of the prospective groom, referred to as ‘walking the land’.

As with the woman’s age, there was often some deception about the size of a farm and the number of stock. Many women were pressured into marriage by family members as exemplified in John B. Keane’s play Sive (1959). When a match was arranged, the wedding usually took place shortly afterwards.

This and many other customs from rural Ireland were explored in my recent book, Killasser: Heritage of a Mayo Parish. It can be obtained as an eBook from the Apple iBookstore (for reading on iPad and iPhone), from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (Kindle & Kindle Fire) and from Barnesandnoble.com (Nook tablet and eReader).

Just look for Killasser: Heritage of a Mayo Parish by Bernard O’Hara.