PHOTOS: Ireland Celebrates Marriage Equality

It was a long wait, but from the looks of things it's paying off in a big, cathartic party. On Saturday, the nation of Ireland voted in favor of marriage equality, legalizing same-sex marriage in resounding fashion. It's a striking and exciting occasion, and just like you'd expect, people are enjoying some post-referendum festivities — why not check out some photos from Ireland's marriage equality celebration?

While the landslide final tally pretty well proves that marriage equality in Ireland was never in serious question, it's not as though this was being treated as a sure thing. As CNN detailed, fears persisted that opposition to same-sex marriage might be underreported in polls, given the increasing discomfort of admitting to that view in incresingly more tolerant times, sort of like Democrats in 2008 fearing that latent racism might derail the Obama candidacy. But that clearly was not the case here, with a whopping 62 percent of Irish voters backing legal same-sex marriage, a decisive victory for pro-marriage equality advocates and activists.

All that considered, who wouldn't want to celebrate? Here are some exciting scenes of the Emerald Isle meeting equality.

Saturday's vote makes Ireland the first country to legalize same-sex marriage by a popular vote, a pretty towering achievement, especially considering the heavy influence the Catholic Church has traditionally maintained in Irish society. Moreover, the shift in societal norms has happened in a much shorter time frame than here in the United States — as Politico notes, homosexuality was decriminalized in Ireland a mere 22 years ago.

Rest assured, there are probably a lot of longtime couples in Ireland who're finally making plans to tie the knot now, and that's pretty cool. A big congratulations to all the people who fought so hard for this, and for all the people who stand to benefit from it, too. After all, we're lucky to live in a time when this was possible.

Images: Getty Images (3)