Carlow men splash out an average of €65 on Valentine’s Day flowers

ROMANCE was alive and well in Carlow last Valentine’s day, with local men spending an average of €64.57 on flowers for their loved one, new figures from AIB reveal.

The bank’s Valentine’s day spending data shows Carlow men ranked mid-table nationally when it came to floral generosity, spending slightly more than neighbouring Kilkenny (€62.72), but less than Laois (€66.76) and Kildare (€66.67).

The big romantics of Ireland were found in Kerry, where men parted with an average of €72 for a bouquet, while the more frugal fellas in Westmeath spent €54.

Overall, Irish romantics weren’t put off by the aftermath of Storm Eowyn, with AIB customers spending over €143 million on Valentine’s day in 2025, which was on a Friday. This figure represents a 45% increase on 2024, when the day fell on a less romantically inclined Wednesday.

The peak day for men’s flower shopping was Thursday 13 February, when over half-a-million euro was spent across the country as last-minute Romeos made their purchases.

The busiest time on Valentine’s day itself was between 4-5pm, as people headed home from work.

Men also took over the supermarket aisles on the evening of 14 February, flipping the usual pattern, to account for just over half of supermarket spend from 5pm onwards, with an average transaction of €25.

Fast food restaurants enjoyed their best day of the month with an average spend of €17, while jewellers saw their biggest day in February, with an average transaction of €142 – 63% of which came from men’s wallets.

This year’s Valentine’s day on Saturday could see different spending patterns as romance competes with rugby when Ireland take on Italy at the Aviva Stadium in the Six Nations.

This data was compiled from 67 million card transactions by AIB customers in February 2025.