The age of Irish brides and grooms continues to grow
with weddings today far more likely to be among those aged over 40 than
ever before.
In the last ten years, the nature of weddings has also changed with declining numbers of Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland services and increases in civil, humanist and “other” religions.
The breakdown is provided through the Central
Statistics Office (CSO) Yearbook of Ireland 2016 examining life over
this year and last, pulling into sharp focus patterns across economic
activity, social behaviour, crime and technology.
While only legalised in mid-November, same-sex marriages accounted for 0.4 per cent of overall unions in 2015 - 91 of 22,116.
Added to that, there were 376 civil partnership ceremonies last year, 250 between men and 126 between women.
In 2005, the average age of a groom in Ireland was
33.1 and a bride was 31. That has grown to 35.3 and 33.2 respectively
while the percentage of marriages by brides over the age of 40 has
increased from 7.6 per cent in 2005 to 12.2 per cent in 2015 (12.6 to
18.4 per cent for grooms).
Roman Catholic services have fallen from 16,854 in
2007 to 12,486 last year. Comparable rates of decline in Church of
Ireland are 553 to 393.
Conversely, civil ceremonies have risen from 4,762 to 6,156 in the same period, and “other religions” from 32 to 804.
Meanwhile, the annual statistics show suicides rates
have continued to decline in recent years, from a mid-recession height
of 554 to 451 last year.
Ireland is changing slightly in other areas too.
The
birth rate has been declining with 65,909 registered in 2015, 1,553
fewer than in 2014 and 9,265 fewer than 2010.
Last year, 224 children
were born to mothers aged 45 and over.