LESS THAN FOUR in 10 couples who got married last year opted for a Catholic ceremony, figures from the Central Statistics Office show. 

There were 21,159 marriages in 2023 compared with 23,173 in 2022, a drop of 8.7%. 

Figures in 2022 were up on 2021 and this figure was reflective of the lifting of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and the resulting impact on marriage numbers in 2022. 

There were 20,513 opposite sex marriages and 646 same-sex marriages last year. 

In 2023, religious ceremonies accounted for 60% of all marriages.

There were 7,256 (34%) Catholic marriage ceremonies and 242 (1.1%) Church of Ireland ceremonies.

The Spiritualist Union of Ireland performed 1,674 (7.9%) ceremonies and 3,468 (16%) couples opted for other religious ceremonies.

The majority of non-religious ceremonies were civil marriages which accounted for 32% (6,808) of all marriages. The remaining 1,711 (8.1%) couples had humanist ceremonies.

The average age for brides and grooms increased to 35.8 years for brides and to 37.7 years for grooms in 2023, when compared to 2022.

In 2023, the average age of males in same-sex marriages was 40.8 years, while the average age of females in same-sex marriages was 38.0 years.

Friday was the most popular day to get married.

“August was the most popular month for opposite-sex marriages in 2023, while July was the most popular month for same-sex marriages,” CSO statistician Seán O’Connor said.

“January was the least favoured month to tie the knot for opposite-sex marriages, while February was the least appealing month to those in same-sex marriages.”

August was the most popular month to wed for opposite sex couples, while July was the most popular month for same sex couples to marry in 2023.