Irish people are getting married later in life, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

They also show that divorce is rising. The report says that most Irish couples get married in the summer.

The average age for a groom to walk down the aisle is now 34 - up from 26 in 1977 - and brides are 32-years-old on average - up from 24 in 1977.

Most couples tie the knot in the summer months, with August the most popular date in 2012.

While nearly three-quarters of weddings were held on Fridays and Saturdays.

28% of marriages in 2012 were civil marriages. There was 429 civil partnership ceremonies with the average age for these same-sex couples of 41.

Over 69% of the same-sex couples that entered into civil partnerships in 2012 reside in Leinster - with 148 of these living in Dublin city.

Of the 858 individual partners almost 7% were previosuly while 7% were divorcees.

There was also a 3% rise in the number of divorces with 2,892 granted during 2012.