Get ready for your evenings to heat up as First Dates returns to our screens!
Season 11 of the beloved dating series kicked off tonight with eight hopeful romantics taking their seats at the Gibson Hotel, looking for love, romance, connection and at the very least a nice meal.
The first episode of the new season kicked off with everything from a return dater and a hyperactive doctor, to an aerial-yoga-doing glam grandmother with a love of dancing. But one couple that especially caught our attention were the two lovebirds from the South West.
Looking to find someone to match his tune and start his tractor, car salesman and musician Diarmuid, 21, from Meelin, Co Cork - the highest village in Ireland - arrived looking for someone who was good craic and ideally from the country. "I'd be more able to have a conversation with them because they'd get what I'm on about", he said.
Enter Shannon, a student teacher from Tournafulla, Co Limerick - the longest village in Ireland, would you believe - seeking out her own 'culchie' partner herself.
Aside from hometown quirks, the pair soon discovered that they have more in common. Before they'd even found their table, it emerged that Shannon taught Diarmuid's twin younger brothers on placement the year before.
Despite their young ages, the pair bonded over a range of passions, from playing music to cars and even the Rose of Tralee. They connected over their love of Ireland and their communities, with Diarmuid revealing that at the tender age of 19 he took over running his local pub to save it from closing.
"The town kind of needed a lift", he told producers. "The town was gone quiet and when the opportunity came up I said, let's give it a shot", he said, adding that he was told at the time that he might have been "the youngest publican in the country" at the time.
"Rural nightlife in general is kind of gone, unless there's a party or something", he said to Shannon. He was tempted to go back to the industry, but highlighted how challenging the area is now.
"I don't know if I want to go back down the route of 2 o'clock every f***ing morning", he quipped. "It was too tying-down for one person, but look I had a great year, made great friends."
It was clear from mere minutes into their date that this pair were well matched, and they confirmed it with a 'yes' to another date.
First Dates Ireland returns on Thursday 29th January 2026 at 9.35pm on RTÉ2.
