An increasing number of people in Ireland are marrying later in life, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office. The figures show that, while in 1994, men over 40 accounted for just 5.4% of grooms, the percentage today is 18.4%. Brides in the same age group made up 2.8% of total marriages in 1994 and now account for 12.2%. For the over 60s meanwhile, in 2005 there were 232 weddings involving grooms in that age category, a number which nearly doubled by 2015, when there were 432 such weddings. Of that total, just 19 weddings were of couples never previously married, indicative of an increase in the numbers of people marrying for a second time. Overall, marrying age in Ireland is increasing. The average age of grooms in 2015 was 35.3 years, a record high in Ireland having risen from a low of 26.2 years in 1977. It was 33.2 years for brides, another record.
