Back then, the Catholic church conducted eight out of ten Irish marriages. That’s now down to three in ten, while four in ten are now secular (either Civil Registry or Humanist).
More dramatically, a quarter of Irish marriages are now some variation of spiritualist or new-age ceremonies. These are officially registered as religious marriages. And they are no longer dominated by the Spiritualist Union of Ireland. There is now a second wave of such bodies, led by Entheos, now the largest such solemnising body.
The biggest changes have come in the past three years, from 2023 to 2025 (with the CSO publishing the 2025 figures this year). If we look at these three years by broad type of marriage ceremony, the breakdown is now this:
40.3% (Civil Registry plus Humanist) (up from 35.5% in three years)
29.8% Roman Catholic (down from 40.5%)
26.7% New Religious Alternatives (up from 24.8%)
3.2% Other Christian and Traditional Religious (down from 3.6%)
We can also look at these three years as the rise of a second wave of new alternatives to traditional religious ceremonies. The first wave was the Spiritualist Union of Ireland and the Humanist Association of Ireland, who between them conducted one in five marriage ceremonies three years ago. Since then, the breakdown has changed to this:
33.4% Civil Registry (up from 26.2% in three years)
29.8% Roman Catholic (down from 40.5%)
20.4% Second Wave of New Alternatives (up from 10.5%)
13.2% First Wave of New Alternatives (SU/HAI) (down from 19.2%)
3.2% Other Christian and Traditional Religious (down from 3.6%)
So the fragmentation of types of marriage ceremony is increasing. The graphic below shows a detailed breakdown of all Irish marriages in 2025. Atheist Ireland thanks the CSO for giving us these figures.
More dramatically, a quarter of Irish marriages are now some variation of spiritualist or new-age ceremonies. These are officially registered as religious marriages. And they are no longer dominated by the Spiritualist Union of Ireland. There is now a second wave of such bodies, led by Entheos, now the largest such solemnising body.
The biggest changes have come in the past three years, from 2023 to 2025 (with the CSO publishing the 2025 figures this year). If we look at these three years by broad type of marriage ceremony, the breakdown is now this:
40.3% (Civil Registry plus Humanist) (up from 35.5% in three years)
29.8% Roman Catholic (down from 40.5%)
26.7% New Religious Alternatives (up from 24.8%)
3.2% Other Christian and Traditional Religious (down from 3.6%)
We can also look at these three years as the rise of a second wave of new alternatives to traditional religious ceremonies. The first wave was the Spiritualist Union of Ireland and the Humanist Association of Ireland, who between them conducted one in five marriage ceremonies three years ago. Since then, the breakdown has changed to this:
33.4% Civil Registry (up from 26.2% in three years)
29.8% Roman Catholic (down from 40.5%)
20.4% Second Wave of New Alternatives (up from 10.5%)
13.2% First Wave of New Alternatives (SU/HAI) (down from 19.2%)
3.2% Other Christian and Traditional Religious (down from 3.6%)
So the fragmentation of types of marriage ceremony is increasing. The graphic below shows a detailed breakdown of all Irish marriages in 2025. Atheist Ireland thanks the CSO for giving us these figures.
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