More couples are choosing to marry at an older age, have civil ceremonies instead of religious ones and reside within the State, new figures show.
Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show marriage is becoming increasingly popular, with 20,556 marriages in 2002 (or 5.2 marriages per 1,000 people) compared to 16,174 (or 4.5 per thousand) in 1996.
The average age of grooms in 2002 was 32.5 years, two years older than the average age of 30.2 in 1996. Similarly, the average age of brides has increased by two years from 28.4 to 30.4 over the same period.
Overall, the proportion of grooms over the age of 30 has doubled between 1990 (28 per cent) and 2002 (60 per cent). The proportion of brides over 30 has also doubled from 16 per cent to 44 per cent.
The highest average age for couples getting married was in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (34.8 for grooms, 32.4 for brides). The lowest average age for grooms was in Co Longford (30.4) and Co Donegal for brides (28.7).
Among grooms, farmers were most likely to be older when getting married, with an average marriage age of 34.3, while manual workers tended to be younger at 31.6. The same pattern was reflected among brides.
The number of civil marriages has almost quadrupled from 928 (5.7 per cent) in 1996 to 3,683 in (7.9 per cent) 2002. The increase has been attributed partly to the legalisation of divorce and a resulting increase in remarriage.
Civil marriages accounted for more than one-third of couples who resided in Dublin before marriage, compared to less than one in 20 in Co Monaghan.
The average age of the groom in civil marriages was 36.4 years, almost four years older than the overall average of 32.5. The average age of the bride in civil marriages was 33.4 years, three years more than the overall average of 30.4.
The proportion of Catholic marriage ceremonies has decreased significantly from more than 90 per cent to 77 per cent between 1996 and 2002, new figures show. Despite this proportional decrease, the number of Catholic marriage ceremonies increased from 14,607 to 15,908 over this period.
The number of Church of Ireland ceremonies increased from 483 (3 per cent) in 1996 to 781 (3.8 per cent) in 2002.
The number of marriages for other religious denominations licensed to register marriages showed little change, increasing from 156 to 184. At present, there is no provision for civil registration of Muslim ceremonies which take place in the State.
The most popular month for marriage in 2002 was August (17 per cent of marriages), while the least popular were January and February (3 per cent). Saturday was the most popular day (almost 40 per cent), while the least popular was Sunday (2 per cent).
Further information of marriage statistics is available at www.cso.ie
Marriage 2002: by the numbers
32.5 average age of groom. - 1996: 30.2
30.4 Average age of bride. - 1996: 28.4
17.9% Percentage of Civil marriages - 1996: 5.7%
77% Catholic ceremonies - 1996: 90%
89% Future residence in Ireland - 1996: 84%
* Source: CSO report on marriages in 2002