There are a couple of things we need to keep in mind about marriages pre-1900, and I pick that date rather arbitrarily. Most all marriages in Ireland were arranged and included a dowry of some sort and a fee to the priest, particularly if he arranged the marriage. It was not a love affair, but more of a contractual property agreement. You see this in all the marriage settlement documents filed with the courts. These were negotiated by the fathers of the future bride and groom. Anything that interfered with the marriage messed up the contract on the property being exchanged. It appears that often there was a period, sometimes lengthy between the offer of marriage and the actual ceremony, but could be the future couple did some experimenting prior to the ceremony. The goal of the couple was to produce a male heir...period. To the eldest male heir would go the property which now includes the dowry, so both father's have a stake in this. Once that had been accomplished, one often sees the groom do some outside experimenting, but seemingly never the bride, as far as we know. There are some unusual DNA results showing up, however. The priest was able to keep his fee as long as the couple stayed together. Often they went to live apart and the priest could get a 2nd fee if he could get them back together again when they renewed their vows. Sorry if I may have repeated some things, but I need to impress that these were contracts, not love affairs. Janet