'Massive culture shift': Civil ceremonies more popular than Catholic weddings last year
Eva Osborne
The most popular form of marriage ceremony in 2025 for both opposite-sex and same-sex couples was a civil ceremony, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
There were 19,898 marriages registered in Ireland in 2025, which included 624 same-sex marriages.
Figures from the CSO show that the most popular form of ceremony for opposite-sex couples was a civil ceremony at 6,304 (32.7 per cent), followed by a Roman Catholic ceremony at 5,927 (30.8 per cent).
Over the last 10 years, the proportion of Roman Catholic ceremonies for opposite-sex weddings has fallen from 56.7 per cent (12,486 ceremonies) to 30.8 per cent (5,927 ceremonies).
For same-sex couples, 338 of the 624 ceremonies which occurred in 2025 were a civil ceremony (54.2 per cent), with other religious type ceremonies in second place at 28.5 per cent.
Atheist Ireland said the figures are proof of a "massive culture shift in Irish marriages", with agreement from Education Equality, which said the figures are "evidence of a changing population" with respect to religious belief and practice.
Commenting on the figures, CSO statistician Seán O’Connor said: "In 2025, the most popular form of ceremony varied across different parts of Ireland for opposite-sex couples.
"For instance, in 20 local authorities, a Roman Catholic ceremony was the most popular choice (Limerick County, Leitrim, Mayo, Longford, Roscommon, Offaly, Donegal, Monaghan, Laois, South Dublin, Cork County, Galway City, Clare, Waterford County, Kerry, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Westmeath and Cavan).
"In 10 local authorities (Galway County, Carlow, Sligo, Louth, Limerick City, Cork City, Wicklow, Waterford City, Wexford, and Dublin City), a civil ceremony was the most popular form of marriage, while for the remaining three areas (Fingal, Kildare, and Meath), most opposite-sex couples preferred other types of religious ceremonies.
"For same-sex couples, 338 of the 624 ceremonies which occurred in 2025 were a civil ceremony (54.2%), followed by other religious type ceremonies (28.5%)."
