Celebrations as first same-sex weddings take place in Ireland

Almost six months after Ireland became the first country on earth to legalise equal marriage by popular vote, same-sex couples have begun tying the knot up and down the land.

Same-sex couples who had already wed legally abroad had their marriages legally recognised by the state yesterday (November 16) when the law officially came into force automatically recognised by the state, but new ceremonies could only begin taking place this morning.

Among the first wave of couples to tie the history-making knot were Cormac Gollogly and Richard Dowling, from South Tipperary, who wed at 8.40am today after 12 years together.

“It’s great to be the first to do it,” Mr Murphy told The Irish Times.

The couple got engaged two years ago and entered a civil partnership in September. They said they decided to stick to their original plans after May’s referendum result as legal challenges were still pending.

“It’s ‘Murphy’s Law’ – had we not booked the civil partnership ceremony, then I bet the marriage referendum would not have passed,” My Murphy joked.

As they wed in a simple ceremony at HSE Community Care Hospital in Clonmel, registrar Mary Claire heffernan said: “Richard and Cormac are now going to seal their marriage with the giving and receiving of a ring. A ring is an unbroken circle – it has no beginning and no end.

“It symbolises unending and everlasting love and is an outward sign of the lifelong promise that you have made to each other.”

People who are already in a civil partnership in the Republic of Ireland can now also choose get married, and while the status of civil partners who do not wish to get married will remain the same, new applications for civil partnerships will no longer be accepted.

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