One of the UK’s top comedians made a surprise visit to the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival at the weekend.
John Bishop, who is currently touring Ireland, stopped off in the village to meet Matchmaker Willie Daly ahead of his gig in Glor last Saturday night.
The comic, who hosts a top rating TV show, “In conversation with” spent over an hour talking to the veteran matchmaker and to a couple; great grandmother Hazel Bannerman from Scotland and Englishman Brian James who found love at the festival, 12 years ago.
Later he met many of the festival revellers on the street, posing for lots of selfies.
He commented: ‘I found the whole event brilliant and quintessentially Irish. There was such a nice atmosphere of people looking to enjoy themselves and Willie Daly is rightfully a legend. I loved the history of the matchmaker role and the fact that in a world where we have the internet and dating apps there is a grey haired Irish man armed with good will, a warm smile and a magic book that brings people happiness. Loneliness can be one of the most debilitating things for anyone to suffer from and every country could do with a Lisdoonvarna.”
Bishop is accompanied on his Irish tour by a camera crew and told his audience in glór on Saturday that he’s looking a putting a documentary together about his Iris visit.
The traditional part of the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival is drawing to a close this weekend, with the LGBT weekend, closing the month long festivities on the 6th-8th October. For more information go to www.matchmakerireland.com