• Preliminaries to marriage vary according to the method of solemnization. This guide provides general guidance but if you need further information please contact a Registrar of Marriages in your district or the General Register Office in Belfast.
  • Notice throughout this guide means notice of intended marriage.
  • Fees payable are set out in the fees section.

Section B
Presbyterian Church

1. Marriages according to the form and discipline of various Presbyterian bodies may take place by
   • Licence
   • Special licence
   • Banns
2. The governing bodies concerned are:
   • The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
   • The Remonstrant Synod of Ulster. (Non-subscribing)
   • The Presbytery of Antrim.
   • The Reformed Presbyterian Synod of Ireland.

   Licence

3. A licence authorising marriage in a church within a presbytery may be obtained from a licensing minister appointed by the presbytery, provided that one or both parties are Presbyterian,
   • one party must give notice of the marriage to the Presbyterian minister of the congregation of which he or she has been a member for the past month.
   • the minister will issue a certificate confirming that notice was given, which the party must produce to the licensing minister.
   • seven days after receipt of the certificate, the licensing minister may issue the licence authorising the marriage.
4. Immediately before the grant of the licence, the same party must make an oath or declaration which includes a clause to the effect that one of the parties has lived for the past fifteen days within the presbytery.

   Special Licence

5. A special licence authorising marriage at any time and at any place in Ireland may be granted by the Moderator of one of the governing bodies mentioned to which one or both parties belong. The fee payable is fixed by the church authorities.

   Banns

6. Banns may be published where both parties are Presbyterians
   • in the presence of the congregation of which they are members
   • if the parties are members of different congregations, banns must be published in each church.
7. Six days notice to the minister is required and publication must be made on three Sundays before the marriage, which must take place in a church (or one of the churches) in which the banns have been published.