Suicide in Northern Ireland was examined by marital status & whether observed variation differed by gender & age. Data on all 1,398 suicides registered in 1996-2005 were analysed using Poisson regression. The total, male, & female age-standardised suicide rates were 8.4, 13.6, & 3.3 per 100000, respectively. Never marrying increased male risk & this effect increased with age. Never marrying was a risk factor for women only if aged 20-34 years. Among those over 55 years, widowhood increased risk of male suicide only whereas divorce was associated with an almost 3-fold increase in male & female suicide relataive to married persons. (33 refs.) JA