A Friday in August is the most popular day for getting married

The number of opposite sex marriages in 2023 was 20,513, compared to just 646 same-sex marriages, according to the latest figures from the CSO.

The State’s statistics agency said there were 324 male same-sex marriages and 322 woman same-sex marriages.

The average age of the participants in opposite-sex marriages was 37.7 years for men and 35.8 years for women.

The average age of participants in same-sex marriages was slightly older, with 40.8 years for men and 38 years for women.

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The most popular day of the week to get married last year was Friday, which saw 7,419 marriage ceremonies in 2023. Sunday was the least most popular day of the week to wed, with just 714 marriages.

[ Technology developed in Cork allows wedding photos to be shared digitally with the happy couple ]

The most popular month for weddings was August, with 2,653 ceremonies and the least popular was January when 665 couples ‘tied the knot’. July was the most popular month for same-sex marriages while February was the least appealing month to those planning same-sex marriages.

Roman Catholic ceremonies were still the most popular forms of marriage for opposite sex couples at 7,256, or 35 per cent. However, civil ceremonies were nearly as plentiful at 6,474, or 32 per cent. The Roman Catholic Church does not perform same-sex marriages.

The CSO said the popularity of both Roman Catholic and civil ceremonies for opposite-sex couples has been in decline since 2014, when such ceremonies accounted for 87 per cent of all marriage ceremonies.

A civil ceremony was the choice of 334 same-sex couples, some 52 per cent. Humanist ceremonies accounted for 1,614 of all opposite-sex marriages, some 7.9 per cent, and 97 or 15 per cent of all same-sex marriages in 2023.

Humanist ceremonies accounted for 7.9 per cent or 1,614 of all opposite-sex marriages and 97, or 15 per cent of all same-sex marriages in 2023.

While the number of marriages in 2023 fell by 8.7 per cent compared with 2022, the overall number of marriages in 2023 exceeded pre-pandemic 2019 figures by 4.2 per cent.

Commenting on the report, Seán O’Connor, statistician with the CSO’s vital statistics section, said: “There were 21,159 marriages in Ireland in 2023 including 646 same-sex marriages. This equates to a crude (unadjusted) marriage rate of 4.0 per 1,000 population.”

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