Emily Goss Guildea
A recent social media poll was created to survey 57 people on whether they knew any same sex couples who have gotten married since the referendum. The results were as follows; 25% voted yes, they do know same sex couples who have gotten married since the referendum, and 75% voted no.
Ireland was the first ever country to pass the same sex marriage referendum with over 1.2 million votes in favour of the referendum. The “Yes” votes resulted in 62%, with a remaining 38% result for “No” votes. Since 16 November 2015, same sex marriage has been legal in the Republic of Ireland. The final figures were as follow; 1,201,607 voted in favour of same sex marriage, 734,300 voted against same sex marriage. Roscommon-South Leitrim had a majority of “no” votes at 51.4%.
In 2016, after the referendum was passed, there were 1,056 same sex marriages in the country. There were 448 same sex marriages in Dublin in 2016, which results in 33 same sex marriages per 100,000 people. As for the Midlands, the number of same sex marriages per 100,000 people was 5. This was followed by a slight decrease in 2017, with 759 same sex marriages across Ireland.
As we can see from the table below, Dublin holds the highest same sex marriages held each year. Although, same sex marriages in Dublin took a slight decrease after the post referendum rush.
In 2018 and 2019, we can see the number of same sex marriages start to decline, with 664 marriages in 2018 and 640 marriages in 2019. The Midlands and Mid-West have continued to have the lowest number of same sex marriages since 2016, which links back to the Roscommon-South Leitrim area with a majority of “no” votes.
Above we can see each region and their figures of same sex marriages each year. Dublin with the most same sex marriages held since 2016. This data can be found on the CSO website.
The Central Statistics Office provides endless information regarding marriages, from how many opposite sex marriages there have been, to how many male same sex and female same sex marriages there have been. Taking a closer look into how many male same sex weddings there have been compared to female same sex weddings, there have been more male same sex weddings.
In 2016, 606 male same sex marriages took place, and 450 female same sex marriages took place. The average age of same sex couples who got married in 2016 was 40.7 years, male same sex marriages with an average age of 40.5 and female same sex marriages with an average age of 41.0.
The average age for opposite sex marriages in 2016 was 35.7 years for the grooms and 33.8 for the brides.
Fast forward to 2019, the average age of couples in same sex marriages was 39.6 years, male same sex marriages with an average age of 39.8 and female same sex marriages with an average age of 39.3.
Below are charts from the CSO website providing information regarding the amount of same sex male couples and same sex female couples who got married in 2016 and 2019.
