Knock brings wedding bells for 890 couples
Wedding bells have rung out for 890 couples since the Knock Marriage Bureau was set up in 1968.
About 16,000 couples met during this period with 35,830 enquiries about tying the knot.
Some 465 men married after their first introduction while 411 women ended up at the altar after the first meeting with their new beau. More men than women completed the application forms — 10,021 men and 7,735 women.
There were 50,860 suggested introductions and 17,650 couples followed up on these suggestions.
Slightly more women than men completed the application forms in the year up to July last — 91 women compared with 76 men.
No woman between the age of 20 and 25 applied and only one man in that age group went looking for a female partner.
In the age bracket of 26 to 30 years four women went in search of wedded bliss, compared with only three men.
Over the past year Cork had the largest number of men in quest of the fairer sex at nine, while it can also boast the largest number of women in search of matrimony at 15.
A total of 290 male farmers formed the largest single group who sought a life partner.
Among those they married were 66 nurses, 38 clerks, 36 housekeepers, 33 secretaries and 31 teachers as well as two hairdressers and two accountants.
Despite the latest figures Sinead O’Connor is unlikely to be queuing up for an application form as it is “presumed all applicants are practicing Catholics, free to marry and definitely seeking a Catholic marriage”.
However, stranger things could happen as founder of the Knock Marriage introductions bureau, Fr Michael Keane, from Carraroe in Co Galway, who died last month at the age of 86, was never slow in opposing his superiors when he felt it appropriate and made it clear that he would like to have been married and supported the ordination of women.
Applications for introductions are accepted and considered valid for one year at a cost of €150.
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