He didn’t leave it at that, though; Mangan found Timby on Instagram and followed up with a message inviting her out.
“It was short and sweet, and it was really genuine, too,” says Timby – and she took him up on the offer.
What followed was a series of whirlwind dates – lunches, dinners, sightseeing and shopping trips. Timby extended her time in Ireland and documented much of it for her newfound following – but she didn’t reveal anything about her new beau. They wanted to save the burgeoning romance for themselves.
When Timby eventually had to fly home, there were “tears at the airport” – but they decided to keep the relationship going.
“It was very tough to say goodbye,” Timby says. “It was very tough to start a long-distance relationship, but it ended up being a really good opportunity for us to sort of slow things down a bit.”
They kept talking daily, Mangan impatiently waiting for Timby to wake up seven hours behind him in Colorado. She flew back to Ireland again, then he made his first trip to America for Thanksgiving 2025. Timby returned to Ireland at Christmas and met his family, and after that, they decided to make her boyfriend’s big social media reveal.
“We thought, this is something we already know we want to invest in… we were ready to share,” Timby says. “So New Year’s Eve, we shared a photo of him, and people were just over-the-moon excited.”
The pair watched their following grow, drawing interest from Irish cafes and tourist destinations to the local Gaelic sports club in Colorado. Their story also caught the attention of Lisdoonvarna locals, who approached Timby – a communications consultant – about being an ambassador for the festival.
“So I said: Sign me up,” Timby laughs. “I love the festival. It brought me Jay.”
