The number of civil marriages increased five-fold between 1996 and 2005, when they accounted for over 22 per cent of all unions, according to the latest figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) .
The legalisation of divorce in 1997 and the consequential increase in the incidence of re-marriage have been cited as the reason for the increase.
The figures for marriages in 2005 reveal that 49 per cent of brides (up 21 per cent since 1996) and 64 per cent of grooms (up 22 per cent since 1996) were aged 30 or over on their wedding day.
In total there were 21,355 marriages registered in 2005, roughly 5.2 marriages per 1,000 of the population. At least 6.6 per cent of grooms and 5.3 per cent of brides were divorced prior to their wedding day, the figures show.
The CSO also revealed that the most popular month for marriage in 2005 was September - 14 per cent of all weddings took place in that month - while January was the least popular, with only 3 per cent of marriages happening then.
Over one third of all marriages took place on a Saturday (35 per cent) compared to just one per cent of people marrying on a Sunday.
