Age of marriage..

[papercutter]

I have been looking into my Grandfathers family and have been trying to find his Marriage details.The only marriage I found with my limited knowledge was a marriage which I am fairly certain is his....but the date he was married is 1918 but he was born in 1903...could this be possible that they let them marry this young My Grandmother ran off before I was born and I always remember everyone saying they were too young.

[stanmapstone]

Under the 1823 Marriage Act the ages at which a couple could undergo a valid marriage, even without parental consent, was 14 for boys and 12 for girls.
The 1929 Age of Marriage Act made all marriages void from 10 May 1929, if either partner was under the age of 16. The legal age for marriage remained at 14 for boys and 12 for girls in the Republic of Ireland, until 1st January 1975, when it was raised to 16.
Marriages of minors without consent after banns were valid, unless the banns had been forbidden by parents or guardians openly and publicly in church at the time of publication.
Stan

[papercutter]

Thank you Stan for the explanation.Much appreciated