This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Priest Playing Cupid For Aging Irish Bachelors
In Knock County Mayo Ireland Father Michael Keane runs a Marriage Introductions Bureau begun in 1968 to link rural bachelors with brides. The bureau has handled nearly 7,000 inquiries and introduced 1,614 couples, with two thirds of applicants men. Applicants fill a form, photos are shared, and introductions proceed with discretion and secrecy. The priest notes shyness and land inheritance pressures as keys, while modernization and farming shifts draw younger couples together.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Hugh A. Mulligan
Knock
County Mayo
Ireland
Michael Keane
Limerick
Battle of the Boyne
Arland Usher
London
Ulster
Bureau
Father Keane
Cotleens
England
Knock Bureau
John Ford
Keane
Dublin
Galaway
Western Ireland
Our Lady
Troductions Bureau
Wasserman
Patrick Noonan
West of Ireland