A total of 19,289 babies were born during the third quarter of 2009, the highest number registered in the State in almost 30 years.
According to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the number of babies born rose by 1.8 per cent compared to the preceding year and was close to that recorded in the second quarter of 1980 when 19,339 births were registered in Ireland.
As many as 42.6 per cent of all births recorded were to first-time mothers. The average age of mothers giving birth was 31.2 years,
Births in the third quarter of last year represented an annual birth rate of 17.3 per 1,000 population, compared to 17.2 per 1,000 in the same quarter a year earlier and just 14.7 per 1,000 population in the same three-month period in 2000.
Fingal in Dublin recorded the highest birth rate of 23 per 1,000 for July through to September while County Monaghan recorded the lowest birth rate of 12.6 per 1,000 population.
Of the 19,289 babies born in the third quarter, 6,256 were registered as being births outside of marriage. This is equivalent to 32.4 per cent of all babies.
Approximately 17.4 per cent of all births were to unmarried parents with the same address
The highest number of births outside marriage occurred in Cork city while the lowest percentage was in County Leitrim.
The latest data records a decline in the number of marriages taking place with 8,050 marriages registered in the third quarter, down 715 for the same three-month period in 2008. However, it marks an increase of 457 from the number of marriages registered in the same quarter in 2000.
During the third quarter of 2009 some 6,638 deaths were registered in Ireland, down 0.5 per cent on the same quarter a year earlier.
For those aged 65 and over, the annual death rate was 40.7 per 1,000 population, as against a rate of 42.4 per 1,000 population for the third quarter of 2008.
During the three-month period under review, 80 infant deaths were registered giving an infant mortality rate of 4.1 deaths per 1,000 live births.
The number of neonatal deaths (deaths of infants at ages under 4 weeks) was 53, equivalent to 2.7 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Over one third of all deaths recorded in the quarter were attributed t0 circulatory disease, while 30 per cent were attributed to malignant neoplasms, 10 per cent to respiratory diseases and 7 per cent to external causes.
The data indicates there was 126 deaths by suicide during the months of July to September.
The natural increase in the population (births minus deaths) for the third quarter was 12,651. This represents a rate of 11.3 per 1,000 population, 0.2 more than for the same three-month period a year earlier.
The estimated population in April 2009 was 4,459,300.
