In 2023, data from the CSO reveals that there were 20,513 heterosexual marriages in contrast to 646 homosexual marriages. Out of the homosexual marriages, there were 324 involving men and 322 involving women. The average age in heterosexual marriages was 37.7 years for the grooms and 35.8 years for the brides. Homosexual marriage partners, however, were a bit older at an average of 40.8 years for men and 38 years for women.
Tributes poured in for Greta Price-Martin, a victim of a fatal crash in Dún Laoghaire, who will always be treasured by her numerous kin and acquaintances. Friday was the favourite day for weddings in the year; 7,419 marriages took place, while only 714 decided to wed on the least favoured day, Sunday. With 2,653 nuptials, August was the most preferred month for weddings while January, with 665 pairs getting hitched, was least prefered. For homosexual marriages, July was the most favoured month while February was the least.
Heterosexual marriages were dominated by Roman Catholic ceremonies, accounting for 7,256 or 35% of weddings, although civil ceremonies were almost as popular with 6,474 or 32%. No same-sex weddings were conducted by the Roman Catholic Church. The CSO noted a decrease in both Roman Catholic and civil weddings among heterosexual couples since 2014 when they constituted 87% of all weddings. Civil ceremonies were the path of choice for 334 or 52% of homosexual couples. Humanist ceremonies made up 7.9% or 1,614 of all heterosexual weddings and 97, or 15% of all homosexual weddings in 2023.
The number of weddings in 2023 decreased by 8.7 percent compared to the preceding year, 2022; however, when compared to pre-COVID-19 2019 figures, there was a 4.2 percent increase. Seán O’Connor, a statistician from the CSO’s vital statistics division, commented on the report, stating that 21,159 marriages took place in Ireland in 2023, including 646 same-sex ones. This amounts to an unadjusted wedding rate of 4.0 per 1,000 people.