Hi, I think most couples were setup by matchmakers (if thats what u mean by Marriage Brokers) up until late 1800's. A woman marrying into a farm would have been expected to bring a 'dowry' with her. Both my grandparents marriages were arranged this way AFAIK. They both married in early 1900's Regards, Fintan http://www.myirishancestry.com ----- Original Message ---- From: "kay1py@comcast.net" <kay1py@comcast.net> To: irl-kerry@rootsweb.com Sent: Tuesday, 22 May, 2007 2:25:07 AM Subject: [IRL-KERRY] Marriage Brokers and Courting I'm interested in the marriage brokers mentioned in the following email. I was unaware there were marriage brokers in Ireland. Anyone have any further information on them? Also, I was told that a man might court a woman who was within walking distance on a weekend day or a holiday. So if you knew where one of your ancestors came from, then draw a circle perhaps five miles around that place or maybe more if he was young and healthy (or really smitten) and then search within that circle for the sweetheart. Kay those were my thoughts also ( people marrying within a close region ) and when I said 400 people in a parish, I meant just that and not merely the townland, although when you do find the same name families in different townlands, they often turn out to be very close by - a couple of miles at most. But then I was thinking of the marriage broker or arranger used so much in Ireland in the 19th century, they may have introduced couples from different areas altogether ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-KERRY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ___________________________________________________________ New Yahoo! Mail is the ultimate force in competitive emailing. Find out more at the Yahoo! Mail Championships. Plus: play games and win prizes. http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/evt=44106/*http://mail.yahoo.net/uk