| 2020 | 2019 | |
| Opposite-Sex Marriages | 9,209 | 19,673 |
| Same-Sex Marriages | 314 | 640 |
| All Marriages rate per 1,000 population | 1.9 | 4.1 |
| Average Age of Groom (Opposite-Sex Marriage) | 37.8 | 36.8 |
| Average Age of Bride (Opposite-Sex Marriage) | 35.7 | 34.8 |
| Average Age of Male (Same-Sex Marriage) | 40.0 | 39.8 |
| Average Age of Female (Same-Sex Marriage) | 40.0 | 39.3 |
| X-axis label | Number of Marriages 2020 | Number of Marriages 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| All Marriages | 9523 | 20313 |
| Opposite-Sex Marriages | 9209 | 19673 |
| Same-Sex Marriages | 314 | 640 |
There were 314 same-sex marriages in 2020, of which 170 were male unions and 144 were female unions. See infographic.
The average age of both male and female couples in same-sex marriages in 2020 was 40.0 years. See tables 23A, 23B and 23C.
There were 9,209 opposite-sex marriages in 2020. The average age of grooms was 37.8 years, 1.0 years more than the average age of grooms in 2019. In the past 50 years, the average age of grooms decreased from 27.7 years in 1970 to 26.5 years, 10 years later, in 1980 and increased to a high of 37.8 years in 2020. A similar trend is evident for brides with the average age decreasing from 25.1 in 1970 to 24.4 in 1980 and increasing to a high of 35.7 in 2020. See tables 1 and 3.
The number of all marriages (opposite-sex and same-sex) registered in 2020 was 9,523 which equates to a crude (unadjusted) marriage rate of 1.9 per 1,000 population, 2.2 less than the 2019 rate. This is 10,790 fewer marriages than in 2019 when 20,313 marriages took place. Same-sex marriages accounted for 3.3% of all marriages in 2020. See table 1.
In 2020, religious ceremonies accounted for 50.2% of all marriages. There were 3,295 (34.6%) Catholic marriage ceremonies,114 (1.2%) Church of Ireland ceremonies, The Spiritualist Union of Ireland performed 641 (6.7%) ceremonies and 727 (7.6%) couples opted for other religious ceremonies. The majority of non-religious ceremonies were civil marriages which accounted for 42.1% (4,007) of all marriages; the remaining 739 (7.8%) couples had Humanist ceremonies. See tables 1, 3, 3A, 17, 17A and figure 2.
| X-axis label | % | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civil Marriages | 42.0770765515069 | |||||
| Humanist Association | 7.76015961356715 | |||||
| Other Religious | 7.63414890265673 | |||||
| Roman Catholic | 34.6004410374882 | |||||
| Spiritualist Union | 6.731072141132 | |||||
| Church of Ireland | 1.19710175364906 |
In 2020, religious ceremonies accounted for the highest proportion of opposite-sex marriages (51.4%). There were 3,295 (35.8%) Catholic marriage ceremonies, 114 (1.2%) Church of Ireland ceremonies, 20 (0.2%) Presbyterian ceremonies while The Spiritualist Union of Ireland performed 614 (6.7%) marriage ceremonies in 2020. The remaining 686 (7.4%) couples opted for other religious ceremonies. Civil marriage ceremonies were the most popular choice for non-religious marriage ceremonies accounting for 3,779 (41.0%) of all opposite-sex marriages; the remaining 701 (7.6%) had Humanist ceremonies. See tables 1, 3 and 17.
The most popular form of ceremony for same-sex marriage celebrations was civil marriage ceremonies, which accounted for 228 marriages (72.6%) followed by The Humanist Association of Ireland with 38 or 12.1% of ceremonies. The Spiritualist Union of Ireland accounted for 27 or 8.6% of ceremonies and the remaining 21 of same-sex couples (i.e. 6.7%) had ceremonies with other religious denominations. Close to half of all same-sex marriage ceremonies took place in the Dublin City area (44.6%), followed by Cork City with 6.1% and Galway County accounting for 4.5% of same-sex ceremonies. See Tables 1, 3A, 3B, 13A, and 13B.
December was the most popular month for opposite-sex marriages in 2020
December was the most popular month for opposite-sex marriages in 2020 in comparison to August for 2019. In 2020, 17.3% (or 1,591) of marriages occurred in December. Over a third (39.8%) of opposite-sex marriages took place in the final quarter of the year. April was the least popular month for marriage ceremonies with only 57 (0.6%) of opposite-sex marriages occurring during that month.
Friday and Saturday were the most popular days of the week to get married with 5,545 or 60.2% of opposite-sex marriages occurring on those days. The least popular day was Sunday when 287 (3.1%) couples wed.
Thursday 31st December was the most popular date for opposite-sex marriages in 2020 with 213 (2.3%) marriages taking place on that day. This was followed by Monday 28th December, when 157 (1.7%) marriages occurred. See table 16.
February was the most popular month for same-sex marriages in 2020
The most popular month for same-sex marriages in 2020 was February with 41 (13.1%) marriages.
Friday was the most popular day for same-sex marriages with over one-third (108) or 34.4% of all same-sex marriages celebrated on that day
Friday 21st of February was the most popular date for same-sex marriages in 2020 with 8 (2.5%) marriages occurring on this day. See table 16A.
EU marriage rate
In 2019 (most recent available data) Cyprus had the highest crude (unadjusted) marriage rate of the EU 27 Member States with a rate of 8.9 per 1,000 population. Italy had the lowest rates, with 3.1 marriages per 1,000 population. In 2019 Ireland had a marriage rate of 4.1 per thousand population and was ranked 18th. In comparison, 2020 saw Ireland drop more than half the 2019 rate to a decreased rate of 1.9 per thousand population. The European Union currently counts 27 EU countries. The United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union on 31 January 2020. See figure 3.
| EU - 28 | Marriage Rate |
|---|---|
| Cyprus | 8.9 |
| Lithuania | 7 |
| Latvia | 6.7 |
| Hungary | 6.7 |
| Romania | 6.6 |
| Slovakia | 5.4 |
| Denmark | 5.3 |
| Malta | 5.3 |
| Austria | 5.2 |
| Czech Republic | 5.1 |
| Germany | 5 |
| Estonia | 5 |
| Croatia | 4.9 |
| Poland | 4.8 |
| Sweden | 4.7 |
| Greece | 4.4 |
| Bulgaria | 4.2 |
| Ireland (2019) | 4.1 |
| Ireland (2020) | 1.9 |
| Finland | 4 |
| Belgium | 3.9 |
| Netherlands | 3.7 |
| France (2018) | 3.5 |
| Spain | 3.5 |
| Luxembourg | 3.5 |
| Portugal | 3.2 |
| Slovenia | 3.2 |
| Italy | 3.1 |
Groom older than bride in 61.9% of opposite-sex marriages
The average age of grooms and brides in 2020 was 37.8 years and 35.7 years respectively. The average age of grooms marrying for the first time was 35.7 years and for brides the average age was 34.2 years. See tables 22 and 23.
The groom was older than the bride in 61.9% of marriages in 2020. See tables 7 and 8.
In 2020, 2.6% of grooms were under the age of 25 and 50.2% of grooms were aged 35 and over on their wedding day. For brides, 4.1% were under the age of 25 and 41.0% were aged 35 and over on their wedding day. See tables 1, 7 and 8.
Monaghan had the lowest average age for both grooms and brides in 2020, at 35.1 and 33.1 years respectively. At the other end of the scale, Waterford City had the highest average age for both grooms and brides at 40.4 and 37.7 years respectively. See tables 9 and 10.
Over 83.5% of opposite-sex marriages were first time marriages
In 2020, 83.5% (7,691) of opposite-sex marriages were the first marriage for both the groom and bride. The breakdown between grooms and brides was 8,160 (88.6%) grooms and 8,297 (90.1%) brides marrying for the first time. See tables 17, 18, 19, 22 and 23.
There were 1,411 opposite-sex marriages involving at least one divorced person in 2020, including 344 marriages where both parties were divorced. See table 17.
Over 90% of same-sex marriages were first time marriages
Of the 628 individual same-sex partners in 2020, the majority - 566 or 90.1% were previously single, 26 (4.1%) were previous civil partners, while 27 (4.3%) were divorced, 5 (0.8%) were former civil partners and there was 1 surviving civil partner. See tables 23A, 23B and 23C.
Opposite-sex couples residing outside Ireland before marriage account for almost 5% of marriages
Marriages where both the bride and groom were residing in Ireland before marriage accounted for 92.9% (8,555) of marriages. In 2020, 447 (4.9%) marriages involved both the bride and groom living outside the State before marriage. See tables 11 and 12.
The future permanent residence of opposite-sex married couples was stated to be outside Ireland in 5.7% (523) of marriages in 2020. This compares to 2,606 (13.2%) in 2019. See table 1.
One in four opposite-sex marriages were between brides and grooms of the same socio-economic group
In 2020, 25.8% (2,377) of opposite-sex marriages involved the bride and groom being of the same socio-economic group.
Over half (57.1%) of grooms and more than two-fifths (44.4%) of brides in the 'Professional Occupations’ socio-economic group married an individual in the same group.
The socio-economic group with the greatest apparent disparity was the "Skilled Trades Occupations" where 2.9% of grooms married within their own group in comparison to 37.4% of brides doing so. See table 6 and background notes.
Divorces granted in 2019
For the numbers of divorces and judicial separations granted in 2019 (the most recent data available) see attached link: (Courts Service Annual Report 2019). The section on Family Law contains this information.
Population
The estimated population (usual residence) in April 2020 was 4,977,443
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