Mr. Daly — who thinks he is in his early 70s but does not know precisely because, he says, the priest who kept such records drank a lot — has been thinking about love most of his life. A horse farmer by trade, he is one of Ireland’s last traditional matchmakers, best known for presiding over the annual matchmaking festival in nearby Lisdoonvarna — a weekslong autumnal event famed for its all-day dancing and spontaneous, often late-night, marriage proposals.

While the festival is on, Mr. Daly conducts business in a pub. For a small fee (usually $10 to $15), he takes down the details of those seeking partners. He keeps these details in a large, overflowing book held together with tape and a shoestring, inherited from his matchmaker father and possessed, he says, of supernatural romantic powers (if you touch it with one hand, you will fall in love in six months; both hands, you will be married in six months; and if you are already married, you will fall in love all over again).

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.”

The rest of the year, Mr. Daly makes matches by mail and by telephone, though visitors from as far away as New York have turned up on the doorstep of his County Clare farmhouse.

“I know a lot of people are going on the Internet now,” said Mr. Daly, who has just recently decided to learn how email works. “But it’s cold — it’s a machine.”