Love & Marriage in The West of Ireland, 1969
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Published 2023-06-03
Young farmers attending Glenamaddy Vocational School in County Galway take part in an etiquette class schooling them in how to take a woman on a date. This sort of intervention is necessary in rural Ireland, particularly in the west, where the number of marriages continue to fall.
The story of Jimmy Glynn is a textbook case of what can happen to a man who lives with his parents on a small farm. When Jimmy inherited the farm after the death of his parents he was already a middle aged man and life seemed to have passed him by. A typical country bachelor, Jimmy is unable to cook a meal for himself and lives on tinned food and instant potatoes.
Many rural women have left the countryside for jobs in Dublin. A number of them are enjoying city life and have no intention of returning home to live as a farmer’s wife.
I don’t think I would like it, I’ve got used to Dublin.
The Lisdoonvarna Festival takes place every September and provides farmers with plenty of opportunities to meet potential wives.
It has come to be regarded as the marriage market of rural Ireland.
For those too shy to attended dances and social events, the art of matchmaking has been revived in the west of Ireland. However the matchmaker is not a local farmer. but a local priest.
Father Michael Kane is known locally as ‘The Cupid of the West’ and is the driving force behind the Knock Shrine Marriage Bureau. He encourages young people to mix together and even schools them in how to behave at a local dance so they might find their perfect match.
Between 1961 and 1996 ‘Radharc’ produced over 400 films in Ireland and seventy five countries worldwide. The films dealt with issues of human rights, injustice, faith religion, persecution, struggles against oppressive regimes, famine and Christian heritage.
‘Radharc : The New Matchmakers’ was first broadcast on 2 November 1969. The reporter is Father Peter Lemass.
All Comments (20)
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These Radharc films are an amazing record of Irish social history. Pity they don't get a wider audience.
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I love your channel thanks for posting
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At 2.12 there's a guy in the front row who either asleep sitting up, or brown bread. Great video👍☘️
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The pretty one from 10:18 is a treasure. Watch her tongue.
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How unlucky was I to have missed out on the excellent free advice. I would have learned to wash, shave slash on aftershave, wear a clean shirt, a new suit and shiny shoes, I would have spoken a Highfaluting accent, I would have spoken in the most refined accent, I would have driven a nice sports car and I would have lived in beautiful stone house covered with ivy growing on the wall with a long avenue of trees collected from far off lands, No I missed all this and I was led astray by Phil Lynott, Thin Lizzy Rory Gallagher, Bob Dyland The Doors, Van Morrison John Forgery CCR and others who produced to most brilliant music, I wore my hair long and wavey, I wore later boots and tight jeans I hung out with the wrong crowds, I went over the hill and traveled far away, I crossed many seas and I met people from other lands Yes Phil Lynott & Rory Gallagher and those boys lead me stray and I would not have it any other way, Later I met and married th Galway girl, Sometime I stop and think to myself where did I go wrong, I have never been able to answer that question
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An amazing look into who we were
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Jaysus a priest at a dance without a scowl...that was the beginning of the end
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there is just far too much going on here to unpack in one viewing
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i would have moved to dublin and got some action
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Now men are wearing dresses and women are wearing suits. It's all very confusing
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I love Ireland. I hope to visit some day
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Ohooooooooooo lisdoonvarna.
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Lots of Pioneer pins
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Women had very high standards bact then, it seems . Clothes had to be new!. Nowadays, clothes are optional.😂😊
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Its the very same as love island ,,
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If Fr Keane had any sense he'd look for a woman for himself.
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Because my family came from a matriatchal culture, ive always known that since men came from our wombs, we had to train them not to be savages😊
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And this was made in the 'swingin' 60s'
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Jimmy Glynn is pretty much just a millennial.
