Age no barrier to this couple’s special day

THE blushing bride has waited almost a lifetime to find the man of her dreams. And the groom is unlikely to be able to carry her over the threshold.

But age has never thwarted the course of true love as a special Limerick couple - he is in his 90s and she is in her 80s - are preparing for their upcoming wedding day.

They have booked their big day to take place at St John’s Cathedral in a few months’ time.

A church spokesman said the couple would not have to undergo a pre-marriage course.

Fr Liam Enright, CC, has been asked to officiate at the wedding. When contacted yesterday, he declined to comment.

One local source said the couple have known each other for many years.

“It is a very private matter and only immediate family will be present at the ceremony,” said the source.

Both live in different parishes in the city.

A member of the Limerick diocesan advisory committee on marriage, Fr John Leonard, said weddings involving elderly people were not uncommon.

Fr Leonard, PP of St Paul’s parish, said: “I have come across a number of them. I was involved in preparing paperwork for a couple, the woman was 85 and the man was 89. He had been married before and his wife had died. The woman had not been married.

“They actually got married in England, but I had to prepared paperwork for the woman as she resided in my parish in Limerick at the time.”

He said pre-marriage courses are not compulsory in the diocese of Limerick.

“You would always encourage younger couples to go on a pre-marriage course. But for elderly people, they could almost give a pre-marriage course,” Fr Leonard said.

He also said teenage weddings in Limerick were an event of the past.

“I have not come across a teenage wedding in a long time. They are more mature when they get married and make a decision to get married.

“Many teenage marriages resulted from an infatuation and often there was a pregnancy involved which created pressure. The majority of these marriages did not survive,” he added.