1862 was two years before civil registrations became compulsory for all in Ireland on 1 January 1864 (there were civil marriage records from 1 April 1845 for non-Catholic Christian and Jewish marriages but these did not include Roman Catholics marriages). All marriages at this time were recorded in the parish church in which the marriage took place.
Occasionally these weddings were also announced in the local press. The following weddings all took place in Ireland in 1862 and were announced in the Limerick Chronicle. The Limerick Chronicle, as with other newspapers of its period, carried news weddings. It was quite expensive to place a wedding announcement into the papers and as such it was not common practice for those on lower incomes.
It was noticed that although the marriages may have taken place in one county, the bride and groom may have been from different counties, so the weddings are sorted into the sections for each county mentioned in the report. The dates given match the date the Limerick Chronicle was issued. The names of both spouses have been extracted from the reports and the original reports are beneath those names.
Since most weddings have a limited guest list, it has been proper, shortly after the ceremony to send out a formal “marriage announcement” to those not invited. In previous times these would include a “at home card” with their address and a date. This would be the signal when the couple would be receiving guests. By placing “no cards sent” in the newspaper, it told people that if they didn’t receive an announcement they shouldn’t feel slighted since no cards had been sent out. The newspaper article was the only announcement made to the public.
Click on each county to discover whose wedding was recorded in the local press.
Antrim Armagh Carlow Cavan ClareCork DerryDonegal DownDublin FermanaghGalway KerryKildare KilkennyLaois (Queens) LeitrimLimerick LongfordLouth MayoMeath MonaghanOffaly (Kings) RoscommonSligo TipperaryTyrone WaterfordWestmeath WexfordWicklow Outside Ireland
