Gender Relationships, Matching, and Marriage Customs in an Irish Rural Community

The interplay between males and females in relation to courtship, marriage contracts, lifecycle rituals, and popular customs forms the basis of this paper. This article addresses the importance of these issues in terms of their function as expressions/externalizations of the rules and values which pertained in Irish rural society from the 1930s onwards. This paper also examines how distinctive idioms and expressions pertaining to courtship, matchmaking, and marriage are used, and analyses the significance of nonverbal cultural symbols such as clothes, make-up, and festive food in terms of continuity, resistance, and change. Finally, consideration is given to the interdependence between public and private events, including the impact of social, economic, religious, and political formations within macro environments on the lifestyles of many community members.Keywords: GENDER RELATIONSHIPSCOURTSHIPCOUPLED DANCINGMATCHMAKINGMARRIAGE CUSTOMS

Clothing · Courtship · Function (biology · Irish · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Relation (database · Resistance (ecology · Sociology · Gender Studies · Irish and British Studies · Law