This article is from page 4 of the 2014-06-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
CLARE mothers are getting older with more than 100 babies born to women 40 years of age or older in the county last year.
According to figures obtained from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), just under seven per cent of all children in Clare are now born to women over 40, with the average age of a mother in the county now rising to 32 years and six month, well ahead of the national average.
Indeed, the average age of a first time mother in Clare now stands at 30 years and six month, one of the oldest in Ireland.
The vast majority of Clare births are to women in their 30s with 557 children born to women aged between 30 and 34 last year and 407 children born to women aged between 35 and 39.
A total of 776 boys were born in Clare in 2013 with Sean the most common named selected by parents. Sean, which was previously the most common Clare name in 2011 – overtakes Jack which was the most popular name last year.
Emily was the most popular name for the 715 girls who were born to Clare mothers last year.
Emily was the clear favourite name for Clare girls after the four-way tie between Aoife, Lily, Lucy and Sophie in 2012.
Meanwhile, just over 10 per cent of Clare babies were born to single mothers last year.
According to the CSO, 1,025 children were born to married mothers of mothers in civil partnerships in Clare in 2013. Of the 466 who were born to unmarried mothers, 309 reported that they we cohabiting with the father. This mean that a total of 157 babies, or just over 10 per cent of total, were born to single parents in Clare last year.