Roscommon said ‘No’ but same-sex couples say ‘I do’

Two same-sex marriages have been registered in Roscommon, the only county to vote No in the marriage referendum.

A total of 412 same-sex couples have married in the first year since the passing of the marriage referendum.

Ireland became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote on May 22 last year.

Since then, there have been 966 same-sex marriage notifications, with 412 marriages registered.

Dublin has recorded over half of all same-sex marriages, with 213 registered followed by Cork (43), Limerick (25) and Galway (14).

Clare is the only county in Ireland not to have registered a same-sex union. The lowest number of registered same-sex marriages took place in Carlow, Leitrim and Monaghan, each of which only recorded one marriage.

Kieran Rose, co-chair of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, said the referendum marked a sea change in the treatment of LGBT people in Ireland.

“The referendum result has had a profound and positive impact all across Ireland, and has rippled across the world,” he said. “Many LGBT people have a new confidence in their status amongst their families and friends, and in their status in Irish society. 412 couples have married, thousands of LGBT people are planning to marry, and hundreds more couples have had their foreign marriages automatically recognised.”

Richard Dowling, who married Cormac Gollogly in Ireland’s first same-sex marriage, said attitudes towards the gay community had changed since the vote.

“There’s a real confidence in the gay community and that’s great to see,” he said.

“I think attitudes have really changed and the majority of people are behind us now.”