A change of lifestyle in rural Ireland and a decline in the art of writing love letters has brought an end this week to the personal ads column in the Irish Farmers Journal.
The "Getting in Touch" column has been running for the past 40 years and, according to Ms Kay Kevlihan, who supervised it for the last decade, the use of texting was one of the reasons for its demise.
"At one stage it was so popular that you could expect a wait of up to six weeks to have your advertisement placed in the column," she said.
"However, life is changing and people have less time and are less able to write letters than they used to and many now use texting," she said.
"I don't think love or loneliness is dead and buried in rural Ireland; it is just that we are changing with the times."
She said the column was started by Mr Larry Sheedy, a man who "recognised the loneliness and isolation in many parts of rural Ireland and suggested the column would provide a way for people to get together".
It had accurately reflected what was happening in rural Ireland over the years.
"It was an instant and immediate runaway success. We have published thousands of ads since then from lonely people," she said, adding that most of the proceeds from the column went to charity.
"There are still lonely men out there and we received twice as many adverts from them as from women.
"Men and women are still looking for honest, decent partners with a good sense of humour and there is little emphasis on looks," she said.
Like the print service, the new electronic service being introduced by the Journal will not cater for the gay community.
"We never did cater for gay people and we believe there are outlets for them elsewhere. Ours is a general service," she said.
Ms Kevlihan added the change in the use and meaning of language reflected in the column was interesting. In a 1970s advert, a 29-year-old non-drinking farmer had sought a female partner under the heading "Laugh and be gay".
She said the column had also been widely used by the Church of Ireland community to make romantic contacts, probably because of the sense of isolation some may have felt.
"Cupid may be going electronic with the voice and texting service. I only hope he is as efficient and popular in rural Ireland as in the past," Ms Kevlihan concluded.