There were only 33 more Catholic marriages than civil ceremonies in Ireland in 2024

The CSO figures also show number of marriages celebrated in Ireland fell by almost 4% in 2024. File photo

The gap between the number of Catholic and civil marriages has almost gone with 32.6% (6,425) of couples opting for a Catholic ceremony while 32.5% (6,392) chose a civil ceremony last year, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.

The CSO figures also show the number of marriages celebrated in Ireland fell by almost 4% in 2024.

Last year, a total of 20,348 marriages were registered here, which included 668 same-sex marriages. That figure was down 4% from the 21,159 marriages celebrated in 2023, and a drop of 7.7% since 2014.

Of the 668 same-sex marriages celebrated in Ireland last year, 325 were male same-sex weddings, while 343 were female.

The average age for a bride in Ireland in 2024 was 35.9, while the comparable age 10 years ago was 33.0. The average age for a groom in Ireland in 2024 was 37.7, compared with 35.0 in 2014.

Same-sex couples were slightly older, with the average age of males in same-sex couples 40.7, while females were 39.7.

In 2024, religious ceremonies accounted for 59.5% of all marriages with counties Longford, Leitrim, and Mayo recording the largest proportion. 

There were 6,425 Catholic marriage ceremonies, 193 Church of Ireland ceremonies, The Spiritualist Union of Ireland performed 1,446 ceremonies, and 4,034 couples opted for other religious ceremonies in 2024.

The majority of non-religious ceremonies were civil marriages which accounted for 33.1% (6,743) of all marriages. The remaining 1,507 (7.4%) couples had Humanist ceremonies.

The number of marriages celebrated in Ireland in 2024 was down by almost 4% on 2023 figureshttps://t.co/umFCWcfwwj#CSOIreland #Ireland #VitalStatistics #VitalStats #Marriages pic.twitter.com/fBh1AT2ajI

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) April 25, 2025

The CSO findings also show that the ratio of Catholic and civil ceremonies has reduced in 10 years, with only 33 more Catholic ceremonies than civil ceremonies taking place in 2024 compared with 6,905 more in 2014.

August was the most popular month for opposite-sex marriages in 2024, while September was the most popular month for same-sex marriages. January was the least favoured month to tie the knot for both with only 653 ceremonies.

Elsewhere, Friday was the most popular day of the year to get married with 7,280 ceremonies taking place, while Sunday was the least popular with only 715 ceremonies.

Friday, September 6, and Friday, June 21, were the two most popular dates for opposite-sex marriages in 2024 with 211 couples getting hitched on both these dates.

While Friday, July 19, and Friday, June 21, were the two most popular dates for same-sex marriages with 10 ceremonies taking place on each date.