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Marriages and Civil Partnerships 2011

 


The CSO today released the Vital Statistics, Marriages and Civil Partnerships 2011 report.

Marriages and Civil Partnerships 2011


Some of the key points highlighted in the report are as follows:

 

Marriages

 

  • There were 19,855 marriages registered in 2011, down 3.6% from 2010 when 20,594 couples married.  19,855 marriages equates to a crude marriage rate of 4.3 per 1,000 of the population in 2011 compared to a crude marriage rate of 4.5 per 1,000 of the population in 2010.

 

  • The average age of the grooms in 2011 was 34.6 years, 0.5 years more than the average age in 2010.  The average age of brides was 32.5 in 2011, up 0.5 from 32.0 in 2010.

 

  • July was the most popular month for marriage in 2011 when 14% of marriages occurred.  January was the least popular month to tie the knot with 535 marriages occurring during that month in 2011.

 

  • Friday and Saturday were the most popular days of the week to marry with 7 out of 10 marriages occurring on these days.  Sunday was the least popular day to wed with only 177 couples choosing this day to wed.

 

  • Civil marriages accounted for 29% of all marriages, the same rate as in 2010. Civil marriage ceremonies were the most common form of ceremony for grooms aged 45 and over (69%) and for brides aged 40 and over (67%).

 

  • In almost two-thirds (64%) of marriages, the groom was older than the bride across all age groups except in the case of grooms under 25, where the bride was older in 43% of marriages.

 

  • Almost 88% (17,434) of marriages were the first marriage for both the groom and bride.

 

  • There were 2,272 marriages involving at least one divorced person in 2011.

 

  • There were 2,819 divorces granted by the Circuit Court and the High Court in 2011.  This was a decrease of 294 (9%) on the 2010 figure.

 

Civil Partnerships

 

Civil Partnerships, introduced by the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010, enabled same-sex couples to obtain legal recognition of their relationship and this regulation came in to force on the 1st January, 2011.   

 

 

 

  • There were 536 civil partnerships registered in 2011, 335 male unions and 201 female unions.  The average age of partners in civil partnership couples was 44.3 years, the average age of male partners being 44.7 and average age of female partners was 43.8.

 

  • Over 70% (377) of the same-sex couples that entered into civil partnerships in 2011, reside in the Leinster area with over one-third (34%) living in Dublin City.

 

  • Of the 1,072 individual partners, some 1,018 or 95% were previously single while 48 (4%) were divorcees and 6 were widowed.

 

  • Of all the male partnerships, there was a 1 to 4 year difference in ages in 36% of couples.  Over 43% of female partnerships indicated that there was 1 to 4 year age gap between couples.

 

 

 

 

For more information contact:


Carol Anne Hennessy 021 453 5307 or Marie Crowley 021 453 5016.


Central Statistics Office                                                       30 September 2013

- ENDS -