Tag Archives: Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival

A new RTÉ medical series is making its final call for people to book free doctors’ appointments in North Clare this weekend. You Should Really See a Doctor has travelled around the country with its mobile clinic over the summer and the final show in the series will be filmed in Lisdoonvarna on Saturday (September 19). Dr Pixie McKenna and Dr Phil Kieran will be at the Matchmaking Festival, offering on-the-spot consultations and health checks. “We are particularly interested in hearing from people who have researched their symptoms online and would like a real doctor’s advice. “Most of us have been there; you feel a mild pain in the head and next thing you’re reading an internet article about a rare tropical disease that you think you might have. From stomach problems to sleep issues to skin problems – the real doctors want to hear from you,” a spokesperson for the show stated. The doctors are happy to hear from …

A FORMER UK boxing promoter is to attend the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival this September, just months after completing a sex-change operation. Kellie Maloney is a well-known transgender person and was formerly known as Frank Maloney, before completing her transition 16 weeks ago. As Frank, she managed Lennox Lewis to the world heavyweight title. Kellie, 61, heard about the festival last year when she was in Dublin for an interview on The Late Late Show. “I tried to get accommodation but there were no hotels available. This year I booked a small cottage, where I can bring my dogs with me,” she said. Kellie is heading to Lisdoonvarna from September 25 to October 4 and also plans to attend the LGBT festival, The Outing. “Now I have completed my journey, I have to decide whether I want a partner or companion. I am going to go to as many events as possible and see what happens. I will throw the dice …

Lisdoonvarna looks set to attract even more visitors to its annual matchmaking festival this September after its most famous son featured in the New York Times recently. The North Clare Spa town, by all accounts, attracted record tourist numbers during the five-week festival last year. However, one local hotelier says interest is already surging, from the United States in particular, following Willie Daly’s extensive coverage in the well-known paper. “This article appearing in the New York Times certainly is a bonus for us. Usually, interest in the festival really gets going in May and June but this is worldwide coverage and getting into something like the New York Times, a well established and world-famous paper, is amazing. That type of press coverage will definitely help Lisdoonvarna this year,” said Marcus White of the White Hotel Group, of which the Hydro Hotel, the Imperial Hotel and the Burren Castle Hotel are all part. The socio-economic demographic of NY Times readers increases …

September has been the busiest month in a decade for Lisdoonvarna, according to local business people, with one hotelier highlighting last Saturday, in particular, as “well up on last year”. After eight years, the Spa Wells reopened this season and many are attributing increased visitor numbers in part to that. “We are getting about 200 people a day,” said Paddy Dunne, chairman of Lisdoonvarna Fáilte, the voluntary committee behind the reopening. “This committee only took over in January. The numbers are more than we expected. Word of mouth spread rapidly and we are getting good visitor numbers here every day. There is nothing like this anywhere else. There is this hall which holds 350 in the Spa Wells itself and then the Pavillion, which holds 650 and it is owned by the community and run by the community and everything goes back into the facilities we have here,” he continued. “This has been the biggest festival in 10 years and everyone would …