First same-sex married couple in Ireland celebrate year of wedded bliss

Twelve months on from making history in a Tipperary registry office, Richard Dowling and Cormac Gollogly are still somewhat overwhelmed by the public response to their marriage, as they celebrate a year of wedded bliss.

It was at 8.40am on November 17th, 2015 when Richard and Cormac became the first same-sex couple in Ireland to wed – under marriage equality legislation introduced after a referendum where Ireland became the first country in the world to enact same-sex marriage rights after a popular vote.

Cormac (36), a barrister from Terenure had met Richard (36), a banker from Athlone, some 12 years earlier and they quickly became a couple – and, once the referendum was passed, they were first off the mark, tying the knot before South Tipperary Registrar Mary Claire Heffernan in Clonmel.

As they prepared to mark their first anniversary as a wedded couple, Cormac told The Irish Times that it had been a wonderful year. "There was great excitement for the first few months and then we got back into life and now there's a great buzz again coming up to our first anniversary."

According to Cormac, being able to marry Richard has meant that they have been able to feel more secure in their relationship. “You feel more united and secure as a couple when you are married – there’s no doubt about that. You do feel more together.”

It’s a view shared by Richard. “I think, as a couple, we feel more embedded in our relationship as a result of having this full marriage – there’s also more contentment because it was so hard fought for in the marriage referendum just to have the same rights as everyone else.

“It has made a big difference for us and it’s made a big difference to Irish society too, when you think that the change was made by the people in a popular vote and you can see that visibly on the streets where same-sex couples can walk freely and embrace each other now without fear.”

The couple are planning to mark the anniversary with a romantic meal at recently opened Chinese restaurant, Hang Dai, on Camden Street before heading to the bar in the Shelbourne Hotel to join family and friends, as they did last year after their nuptials in Clonmel.

“Looking back on our wedding day, it was so momentous. By the time we got back to Dublin, it had just got into a frenzy – people were instantly recognising us on the streets and congratulating us, it really was very powerful,” said Richard.

The couple ended up appearing on the Late Late Show and attending the People of the Year Awards, but it wasn’t just in Ireland that their history making marriage was recognised with the newly-weds receiving hundreds of good-will messages from as far afield as Australia and America.

Cormac explained: “We couldn’t believe how many complete strangers contacted us – there’s a famous pianist in New York called Richard Dowling and he congratulated Richard and invited us over to New York to visit him. Sadly, we couldn’t go, but it just summed up the good-will of people towards us.”