asked the Minister for Health in respect of each of the past five years the number of marriages in the State conducted in (a) registry offices and (b) churches; and if, in relation to the numbers conducted in churches, he will give a breakdown of the total on a denominational basis.
Written Answers. - Marriage Statistics.
Annual and quarterly reports on vital statistics relating to births, deaths and marriages are compiled by the Central Statistics Office for the Minister for Health in accordance with the provisions of section 2 of the vital statistics and Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1952. The quarterly reports do not include a breakdown of registrations by mode of celebration. This is given in the annual reports of which the most recent available is that for 1985. The following table outlines details of the marriages registered in the years 1981 to 1985 inclusive.
Year |
Civil Marriages |
Roman Catholic |
Church of Ireland |
Presbyterian |
Methodist |
Jewish |
Other Religious Denominations |
Total by Religious Ceremony |
Total |
1981 |
454 |
19,647 |
392 |
63 |
25 |
4 |
27 |
20,158 |
20,612 |
1982 |
540 |
19,127 |
376 |
119 |
41 |
1 |
20 |
19,684 |
20,224 |
1983 |
902 |
18,046 |
404 |
71 |
23 |
2 |
19 |
18,565 |
19,467 |
1984 |
606 |
17,388 |
380 |
84 |
32 |
1 |
22 |
17,907 |
18,513 |
1985 |
581 |
17,724 |
364 |
73 |
35 |
1 |
13 |
18,210 |
18,791 |