Explore love, marriage and matchmaking ahead of St. Valentine’s Day in Mayo

ONE of the National Museum of Ireland’s foremost experts on folk customs and festivals will deliver a special talk in the run-up to St. Valentine’s Day exploring love, marriage and matchmaking traditions.

Clodagh Doyle, Keeper of the Irish Folklife Collection, will be speaking on the topic of love at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 8, at the National Museum in Turlough Park, Castlebar.

“Most people are aware of St. Valentine’s Day,” explained Ms. Doyle ahead of the talk. “But people may be surprised to learn that one of the most romantic days of the year in the Irish countryside was actually Shrove Tuesday - also known as Pancake Tuesday.

“This day marked the eve of Lent and it was the most favourable day of the year to marry as weddings and festivities were not permitted during the following 40 days of Lent.”

She added: “Wedding celebrations were then replaced with pranks a few days later on ‘Chalk Sunday’.

“It was customary for local children to chase those who were not married and draw a chalk ‘X’ on the back of their clothes, which would be visible to all after Mass.”

To learn more about these and other fascinating traditions, join Clodagh Doyle for this free event titled ‘Take Me to the Church - Love & Marriage in the Calendar Year’.

The talk takes place from 2 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 8. It is suitable for adults and young people aged 14 years plus. Booking is required. Email BookingsCountryLife@museum.ie; telephone (094) 90 31751 or visit https://www.museum.ie/en-ie/museums/country-life.

Ms. Doyle will deliver this talk again on Tuesday, February 11, as part of the lunchtime talk series at Moore Library, ATU Mayo campus in Castlebar. Visit https://library.gmit.ie/events/ for further details.