Green with envy... 22 Cork couples celebrate 55 years of wedded bliss

Being married for over half a century would strike fear into the hearts of many — but not for 22 happy couples in Cork.

Loved-up for 55 years, the couples gathered in Frankfield Golf Club to celebrate their emerald wedding anniversaries.

The brainchild of Douglas Young at Heart senior citizens group, the event saw 22 couples who have been married for 55 years turn out to celebrate the milestone.

Far from being jaded by such a long time together, each and every one of the couples appeared to be as giddy with excitement at the celebration as they were on the day they first tied the knot in 1960.

To put that in perspective, while One Direction are the band of the moment in 2015, back on the day these happy couples got married The Beatles had just formed and were an unknown band playing the bars of Hamburg.

Organiser Phil Goodman said the idea was to celebrate an anniversary that was not so commonly marked and quite a few people had made it to the anniversary mark — 55 long years.

“It’s funny because I was talking to one of the women about it and she said: ‘Nowadays people are lucky to last 55 days married let alone 55 years’.

“Five years ago, we had 29 couples celebrating their golden wedding anniversary [50 years]. Quite a few partners have died since then so rather than celebrate 60 years, we thought we’d go in between because nobody celebrates the emerald anniversary,” she said.

The couples enjoyed lunch and had a chance to reminisce about half a century of marital bliss.

“It’s brilliant. They are all so excited, it’s as if they are getting married today which is great to see. They have brought along hotel receipts from the day, their wedding albums, just little memories from the day.”

However, as to whether or not any of the wedding dresses survived 55 years, Phil pointed out traditions regarding the dress were a little different back in 1960.

“Back in those days people gave their dresses to the nuns and had them made into Christening gowns for their children.”

To mark the day, Dunnes Stores and SuperValu offered vouchers, Tesco gave some spot prizes, and Marks and Spencer stumped up for some flowers for the couples.

Quigleys Bakery, Douglas, provided cakes to all the couples complete with names in emerald green.

As for tips on how to make your marriage work for more than half a century?

“The main thing they have all told me is that marriage is about give and take. Back then women were probably a little more inclined to give more, stay at home, and rear their children. Of course, now it’s totally different. Couples now live in different times and face different pressures,” said Phil.

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