Catholic weddings in Ireland drop by more than half in 10 years

The number of Roman Catholic wedding ceremonies in Ireland dropped by more than half from 13,071 in 2014 to 6,425 in 2024, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The number of marriages overall fell by 7.7 per cent from 22,045 ceremonies to 20,348, according to the CSO’s Changes In Irish Marriage Ceremonies 2014 to 2024 publication.

In 2014, Roman Catholic weddings were the most common wedding type, with 13,071 ceremonies, accounting for six out of every 10 marriages in Ireland.

By 2024, the number of Roman Catholic ceremonies fell by almost 51 per cent to 6,425 ceremonies, making them the second most popular choice and accounting for just over three out of every10 marriages.

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Civil registrations were the most popular choice in 2024 at 6,743 ceremonies.

Between 2014 and 2024, there was a 68 per cent increase in the number of humanist ceremonies, increasing from 895 ceremonies to 1,507.

Humanist ceremonies are non-religious. Celebrants are accredited to “solemnise” marriages in a ceremony that reflects the couple’s own values.

The number of Church of Ireland wedding ceremonies also fell, by 56 per cent from 443 ceremonies in 2014 to 193 in 2024.

In 2024, the five most popular wedding ceremony types were civil registrations (6,743), Roman Catholic Christianity (6,425), humanist (1,507), Spiritualist Union of Ireland (1,446) and OneSpirit (1,085).

In 2014, the five most common ceremony types were Roman Catholic Christianity (13,071), civil registrations (6,167), humanist (895), Spiritualist Union of Ireland (819) and Church of Ireland Christianity (443).

There was a small increase in the number of Islamic wedding ceremonies, increasing from 42 in 2014 to 45 in 2024.

Commenting on the release, Seán O’Connor, statistician in the CSO’s life events and demography division, said: “Today’s release, which is a CSO Frontier Series, provides a 10-year analysis of the different types of marriage ceremonies chosen by people in Ireland and how the types of ceremonies have changed over the years 2014 to 2024."