Someone Better Matchmake This Adorable Old Irish Matchmaker Stat

Willie Daly is an Irish man who, according to a New York Times profile, “thinks he is in his early 70s but does not know precisely because, he says, the priest who kept such records drank a lot.” He is also clearly a highly successful matchmaker, one who is sadly going through a divorce of his own. Won’t someone help this man find love again?

As the Times outlines (and as we have noted before; Daly is a famous matchmaker), Daly has been matchmaking for the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival for over half a century. He was separated when he was profiled previously, but is now officially getting divorced. Despite the fact that his own relationship didn’t work out, he’s reportedly helped thousands of couples find love and he has a lot of wisdom, like on how little it takes to get two people together:

Then, sometimes with no more than a twinkle and a nod, he might introduce two people, buying a woman a drink or nudging a farmer toward the dance floor. “There’s a good deal of magic in it,” he said. “I’m not a big believer in too many words.”

Or on how what women want has changed over the decades:

“In the past, women needed a roof over their heads, a little house of their own. Now, they want to like the man.”

Or on how what men want has stayed the same:

“What men need hasn’t changed,” he said. “Someone to share their life with, someone to share their love with. Not to grow old alone.”

Or on how people from different countries can be more or less compatible:

While American women and Irish men often click instantly, “like a cow in a cock of hay,” other combinations are more challenging, he said.

In his experience, Italians simply do not drink enough to count as real romantics. “Proposals are more likely when you’ve been drinking,” he said.

Germans, on the other hand, drink plenty but are generally unromantic. Dubliners are picky, and American men sometimes have strange demands.

“Everyone should be in love, all their lives,” Willie Daly told the Times. Especially him! Someone send Patti Stanger to Ireland right now.