Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival

I am back from a few days in Co Clare.The matchmaking festival is in full swing for the month of Sept,as it is every year for generations.It has become a month long dance and music event also with dancing commencing at 12 o'clock every day in various venues and continuing around the town and outside until 3 am. It was my first visit and I had a ball!People come from all over the world and every county in Ireland was represented.A matchmaker is in residence in this famous pub (where else) and for a small fee will match anyone up for a week or for life! Couples come back every year who have met in Lisdoonvarna and since married! I did not avail of his services preferring the dancing !Lots of videos on Youtube, just type in Lisdoonvarna.
The Burren is a few miles from Lisdoonvarna and is a protected area which is now a National Park, what looks at first sight to be barren rock has in fact rare species of plants growing in crevices.It is a breathtaking sight and no single photo could capture the vast rock formations, it is like a lunar landscape.Between the Burren on one side and the Atlantic ocean on the other you become very aware of how small and insignificant we humans are in the scheme of creation.
Sculptures in Lisdoonvarna square celebrate the music and dancing which is part and parcel of Co Clare.
Just outside the town is the village of Doolin, a small fishing village renowned for its music sessions in the pubs, where musicians from all over the world take out their instruments and commence playing and before long a full blown session is in full swing at any hour of the day!There is the pier where ferries go out to the Aran Islands which lie just off of the coast and were hidden in mist when I was there.The ferries also visit the Cliffs of Moher which are just down the coast

More of the Burren landscape.Visit the sites I have linked for further info on all of the above as I could write pages and still not give an adequate description of them.
Normal service will resume soon!