One Dublin woman took advantage of the age-old tradition of February 29th being the day that women can propose to their man, only she did it on live TV.
Maria Kelly planned the proposal to her partner of six years Bryan Geraghty with the help of the team at Ireland AM on Virgin Media.
Maria had contacted the show and explained her plan. So, on the morning of the 29th, an Ireland AM journalist was knocking on the family’s door with a camera crew in tow.
Bryan answered the door and seemed a little confused but was unaware of what was going on as he was told that Maria had ‘won a competition’.
He led his unexpected guests into the house and when he entered the front room, he saw Maria down on one knee with a ring in her hand.
Bryan looked dazed as his mind took a second to compute what he was seeing.
Maria said to him: “Bryan, you captivated me from day one, you interested me with your poker plays, and from day one you’ve excited me.
“We’ve shared memories, we’ve shared trips and we’ve had children and we’ve made a beautiful home. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you do the honour of being my husband?”
You will have to watch the video to see what happened next but the emotionally charged moment had everyone on edge.
Now, in the 21st century, women can propose marriage on any day of the year.
However, some traditionalists still prefer to do things the old-fashioned way.
The tradition originated from a story about St Brigid complaining to St Patrick that sometimes women had to wait too long for a man to propose.
As a compromise, St Patrick agreed that women could propose on 29th February, which comes around only once every four years.
Thankfully for Maria and Bryan, it all worked out perfectly for them, and we wish them a bright and happy future together as husband and wife.
Once they had gotten over the initial shock and tension of the proposal, they joined the Ireland AM journalist on the sofa to talk about their plans for the future.
Take a look below.
