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Can I get legally married in Ireland?

Foreign residents can get legally married in Ireland, but there are certain procedures that need to be followed.

The law changed in November 2007 which enables couples to get civilly married in other places than the registry office. The rules for this are still not clear but please contact us with your requirements and we can see what we can do for you.

Civil Weddings

To have a civil or registry office wedding in Ireland there is a residency requirement of 7 days, followed by a 23 day waiting period. As this can present difficulties for many couples, a common approach is to have a civil marriage in your home country followed by a wedding blessing in Ireland.

One advantage of this approach is that you can then hold your wedding in any location you choose.

Religious Weddings

If you wish to have a legal wedding in a Catholic church you must comply with all requirements of the Catholic faith, which are essentially the same the world over.

Weddings which take place in a Catholic church can be legally registered and, importantly, there is no residency requirement.

The same applies to weddings in some other religious, so you can also have Church of Ireland wedding, a Jewish wedding or a Presbyterian wedding.

For more information about the legal aspects of getting married in Ireland see here.