Almost 38 per cent of births in the Shannonside region last year were outside of marriage. Nearly 600 mothers in Roscommon, Leitrim and Longford were not married when they gave birth in 2023. According to new figures from the Central Statistics Office, a total of 1,553 births were registered in the Shannonside region last year. 585 were outside of wedlock - that's a rate of almost 38 per cent.
The rate was 41 per cent in Longford, with 207 of the 503 babies born outside of marriage. The rate was 36 per cent in Roscommon, with 256 of the 712 births outside of marriage. And it was also 36 per cent in Leitrim, with 122 of the 338 births out of wedlock. Of first-time mothers who had a child outside of marriage last year, their average age was 30 in Roscommon, 28 in Longford, and almost 30 in Leitrim.
