There has been a significant uptick in couples attending the marriage preparation courses of the Catholic Bishops while newly-published research shows a growing desire among Gen-Z for church weddings.
The Bishops’ marriage agency, Accord, reported that the numbers attending their courses last year was up 16pc from 2024.
Furthermore, a survey carried out by Amárach found that religious faith is rising among younger generations.
Up to 69 per cent of adults aged 18 to 24 identify as Roman Catholic as opposed to 53 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds and 76 per cent of all adults.
A substantial 60 per cent of unmarried Catholics want to marry in a Catholic Church including 63 per cent of those aged under 35.
Nonetheless, marriage and fertility is still very much on the wane in Ireland, with one economist describing their decline as a “recession”.
According to David Higgins, almost a third of Irish men are over 40 when they tie the knot.
“I call it the milestone recession – where fewer people are obtaining the milestones of marriage and family or, if they are, it is at later ages,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bible sales in Ireland have reached their highest in a decade. Nielsen Bookscan says 29,755 bibles were bought last year, up by 11pc on 2024. It is the highest volume of sales since 2013 when 30,465 copies were sold. Nielsen speculated the surge might be due to “a growing interest in spirituality among younger generations”.
