Irish American dating site?

September 10, 2016 8:42 AM

My 78 year old widowed sister in law is very lonely and wants to meet a man but he has to be Irish or Irish American only..and she's not going to change her mind. Is it possible to restrict nationality on dating sites? I know this is touchy territory. I've tried the dating sites in Ireland but they restrict them to the Ould Sod only - no other country can register. Thanks.
posted by Tullyogallaghan to Human Relations (7 answers total)

Where is she? Especially given the age profile she may have more success with Irish-American community organisations, of which there are many.
posted by bimbam at 8:54 AM on September 10, 2016 [6 favorites]

She can use a regular dating site and specify that she prefers an Irish or Irish-American man, and ignore all other responders. Some dating sites allow you to search for terms like "Irish" as well.
posted by bunderful at 9:22 AM on September 10, 2016

On OKCupid one can search by languages spoken, and they include "Irish" in the dropdown list, though obviously this is not a perfect fit. A search for straight men ages 60-90 who fit this criterion and have been online in the past month brought up maybe 40 matches, most of whom were in the US.
posted by needs more cowbell at 9:37 AM on September 10, 2016

Response by poster: Thanks for the advice. She is in California.
"Bunderful" could you let me know what some of those sites are that allow you to use specific search terms? thanks!
posted by Tullyogallaghan at 10:17 AM on September 10, 2016

Does it have to be a dating site? I wonder if she might have more luck finding real-world social groups for people of Irish ancestry?
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:45 AM on September 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

If Christianity in her dating is okay, Catholic parishes in her area may facilitate senior dating ... Or at least senior social hours where she can meet people to date. Find out which ones were very Irish 40 years ago; lots of Irish widowers will still be at that parish. If it's named St. Patrick's or St. Bridget's, that's a good guess for a starting point.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:33 AM on September 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks everyone for helpful hints. She's met 3 from "First Met" - none Irish, however. We'll see how that goes.
posted by Tullyogallaghan at 7:20 AM on September 19, 2016