A study shows that a Catholic church ceremony is still marginally more common, but the second most popular option for couples getting married last year was a civil ceremony, which was chosen by 32pc or 6,474 couples.
While Catholic church weddings still remained the most popular type of ceremony with couples last year, accounting for 34.3pc of all weddings, or 7,256 couples, this compares to 91.4pc of the total in 1994.
The report for the Iona Institute, a pro-faith, pro-traditional marriage think-tank, has found that couples tying the knot here are increasingly opting for non-traditional spiritual ceremonies.
The report is drawn from the latest CSO data and compiled by journalist Breda O’Brien.
The study, titled “The rapid rise of ‘New Age’ weddings in Ireland: how should the churches respond?” finds that the decline in the proportion of church weddings over recent decades is stark.
Currently there are three options for couples getting married in Ireland: a civil ceremony, a religious ceremony (including “spiritual” or “New Age” weddings), or a secular ceremony via the Humanist Association.
Each is equally valid and binding under Irish law, provided the ceremony meets certain legal requirements and is conducted by a solemniser licensed by the State to conduct weddings.
According to O’Brien: “The statistics confirm a decline in Catholic marriages, which is not surprising, given the decline in active church attendance and vocations to religious life and priesthood.”
This new research also reveals that Catholic ceremonies are not the only denomination seeing a drop in popularity, as the Church of Ireland saw its percentage of wedding ceremonies fall from 2.6pc of the total, down to 1.1pc.
At the same time, weddings performed by one non-denominational organisation called Entheos Ireland outnumbered Church of Ireland weddings by more than two to one.
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Another organisation called the Spiritualist Union of Ireland conducted 7.8pc of all weddings in the country last year.
According to O’Brien’s findings, when all weddings performed by such organisations are taken into account, the sector represents almost a quarter of the total, and it is rising.
The trend highlights the “massive” social change taking place in Ireland and O’Brien notes that this has happened in a very short period of time.
Entheos was established by founder Karen Dempsey – also known as ‘the Bald Priestess’ – during the Covid lockdown of 2020 and submitted to the Office of the Registrar General as an “inclusive, non-denominational religion”. The organisation now has 65 celebrants.
Last year, Entheos carried out 623 weddings, far more than the 242 that the Church of Ireland celebrated.
Another provider, FuturFaith, also celebrated its first wedding only in 2021 but conducted 78 weddings last year.
The trend is not confined to Dublin or even to other urban areas, although the change is most dramatic in the capital, according to O’Brien.
Exploring what is driving the trend, she highlights that the change in attitudes towards religion is one major factor, but also argues that there “is also a big commercial aspect to what is taking place”.
She says that some of the changes are commercially driven in that hotels now offer wedding ceremonies and receptions in the same location and often direct couples to non-traditional wedding organisations.
Currently, Catholic weddings only take place in church settings. One of the research paper’s recommendations is that the Catholic church in Ireland take a leaf out of the book of American dioceses – which adapted during the Covid pandemic to allow marriage ceremonies take place in other venues such as hotels.
“Unless the churches find a way to respond, the present trends will probably worsen from their point of view and will very likely extend to funerals as well in due course,” O’Brien warns.