THE AGE at which people are marrying continues to rise, according to new figures published by the Central Statistics Office.The average age of grooms rose from 30.2 years in 1996 to 33.4 in 2007 and to 33.8 a year later.
Brides are also marrying later, with the average age increasing from 28.4 years in 1996 to 31.3 and 31.7 years in 2007 and 2008 respectively.
The data shows the number of marriages registered in 2008 was 22,187, equivalent to 5 per 1,000 of the population.
This was the lowest rate since 2001 and compares with a constant rate of between 5.1 and 5.2 per thousand from 2002 to 2007.
Of the 22,187 marriages registered in 2008, 72 per cent were Catholic ceremonies, compared to 24 per cent of civil services and 2 per cent of Church of Ireland ceremonies.
The number of civil marriages has remained more or less constant at 23 per cent in recent years, while the number of Catholic ceremonies fell by 2 per cent between 2007 and 2008.
In 1996, civil ceremonies accounted for just 6 per cent of all marriage services. Following the introduction of legislation allowing for divorce in 1997, the number of civil ceremonies had, by 2002, jumped to 18 per cent of all marriages registered.
In 2008, 61 per cent of all civil ceremonies were between couples who had never married before while 38 per cent involved couples in which at least one person was divorced.
There were 2,464 marriages involving at least one divorced person in 2008, including 489 marriages where both parties had been divorced.
The figures indicate those having civil ceremonies tend to be older than those having Catholic ones.
In 2008, civil marriage ceremonies were the most common form of service for grooms aged 45 and over, and for brides aged 40 and over. Where the bride was aged 40 or over, civil marriages accounted for 69 per cent of ceremonies, while the comparable figure for grooms in the same age category was just over 59 per cent.
The average ages of brides and grooms celebrating civil ceremonies in 2008 was 34.9 and 37.9 years respectively. For those having Catholic ceremonies the average ages were 30.6 years for brides and 32.4 for grooms.
Nearly 20 per cent of all marriages involved the bride and groom being of the same socioeconomic group.
In 2008 the groom was older than the bride in 63 per cent of all marriages and the same age in a further 13 per cent of ceremonies.
There were 3,630 divorces granted by the Circuit Court and by the High Court in 2008.
This was a reduction of 54 on the 2007 figure.