Richard Dowling, left, and Cormac Gollogly kiss after becoming the first same-sex couple to marry in Ireland on Tuesday, November 17.

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The first same-sex marriage in Ireland's history happened on Tuesday

Ireland legalized same-sex marriage with a national referendum in May

CNN  — 

Ireland has joined the growing list of nations where same-sex couples are getting married.

The country’s first same-sex wedding took place on Tuesday in Clonmel, County Tipperary.

Two men, Cormac Gollogly and Richard Dowling, became husbands, according to South Tipperary registrar Mary Claire Heffernan.

The Irish people legalized same-sex marriage with a national referendum in May. Ireland was the first country in the world to recognize the practice via a popular vote.

Newly married couple Richard Dowling and Cormac Gollogly kiss.

More than 20 countries now allow, or have voted to allow, same-sex marriage, including the United States, where the Supreme Court ruled in June that individual states cannot ban the practice.

The Netherlands was first, legalizing same-sex marriage in 2000.

Journalist Peter Taggart reported from Belfast, Northern Ireland