Ireland Referendums · Official Results

Irish referendum results — 2015 marriage equality & 2018 repeal of the Eighth

Niall Thomas · 6 min read

Ireland decides constitutional change by referendum, not legislation alone. Two of the most consequential in recent history — marriage equality in 2015 and the repeal of the Eighth Amendment in 2018 — are below, constituency by constituency, from the official results.

Data: Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage official referendum result datasets (data.gov.ie). Figures independently reconciled — Yes + No + Spoilt sums exactly to the published Total Poll for both referendums.

Thirty-sixth Amendment (repeal of the Eighth Amendment) — 25 May 2018

Question: Remove the constitutional provision on the right to life of the unborn and allow the Oireachtas to legislate for the regulation of termination of pregnancy

Result
66.4% Yes
1,429,981 to 723,632
Turnout
64.1%
2,159,655 of 3,367,556
Constituencies voting No
1
Donegal
Spoilt votes
6,042
of 2,159,655 total poll
Boundary vintage: 40 constituencies (2013 Constituency Commission map). Results are shown on the constituency map in force for this specific referendum — not current boundaries.

Results by constituency

ConstituencyYes %YesNoTurnout
Dublin Bay South 78.5% 33,919 9,298 54.9%
DúN Laoghaire 77.1% 50,243 14,953 68.5%
Dublin Fingal 77.0% 51,840 15,523 70.4%
Dublin Central 76.5% 18,863 5,790 51.5%
Dublin Rathdown 76.1% 34,529 10,845 70.1%
Dublin South-West 74.9% 54,642 18,301 68.6%
Dublin South-Central 74.8% 34,201 11,530 59.6%
Dublin Bay North 74.7% 57,754 19,573 71.6%
Wicklow 74.3% 54,629 18,931 74.5%
Dublin West 74.0% 33,595 11,794 67.8%
Kildare North 73.6% 40,058 14,399 63.8%
Dublin Mid-West 73.3% 35,192 12,838 67.3%
Dublin North-West 73.1% 28,477 10,489 62.8%
Kildare South 70.7% 27,307 11,339 61.3%
Waterford 69.4% 37,016 16,296 64.3%
Meath East 69.2% 30,686 13,652 65.6%
Cork South-Central 68.8% 40,071 18,138 66.7%
Wexford 68.4% 49,935 23,069 66.3%
Limerick City 66.9% 32,169 15,941 62.0%
Louth 66.6% 46,429 23,333 65.9%
Galway West 65.9% 42,422 21,906 59.9%
Cork South-West 64.5% 26,147 14,387 67.3%
Clare 64.3% 34,328 19,079 64.4%
Cork East 64.1% 34,941 19,550 63.8%
Cork North-Central 64.0% 33,639 18,908 62.5%
Meath West 64.0% 26,343 14,850 62.9%
Carlow-Kilkenny 63.5% 44,211 25,418 62.0%
Laois 61.4% 24,232 15,264 62.0%
Galway East 60.2% 26,525 17,546 63.5%
Cork North-West 60.1% 27,194 18,054 65.9%
Sligo-Leitrim 59.4% 34,685 23,730 61.1%
Tipperary 59.1% 42,731 29,516 63.8%
Kerry 58.3% 40,285 28,851 62.4%
Longford-Westmeath 58.3% 30,876 22,113 59.3%
Limerick County 58.1% 24,448 17,644 62.5%
Offaly 58.1% 24,781 17,908 64.7%
Roscommon-Galway 57.2% 23,677 17,709 65.7%
Mayo 57.1% 32,287 24,287 62.1%
Cavan-Monaghan 55.5% 32,115 25,789 63.4%
Donegal 48.1% 32,559 35,091 57.1%

Thirty-fourth Amendment (marriage equality) — 22 May 2015

Question: Allow marriage to be contracted by two persons without distinction as to their sex

Result
62.1% Yes
1,201,607 to 734,300
Turnout
60.5%
1,949,725 of 3,221,681
Constituencies voting No
1
Roscommon-South Leitrim
Spoilt votes
13,818
of 1,949,725 total poll
Boundary vintage: 43 constituencies (pre-2013 map — materially different from today: e.g. Donegal was split into Donegal North-East and Donegal South-West). Results are shown on the constituency map in force for this specific referendum — not current boundaries.

Results by constituency

ConstituencyYes %YesNoTurnout
Dublin South-East 74.9% 25,655 8,594 58.0%
Dublin North 72.6% 34,494 13,009 65.8%
Dublin Central 72.4% 23,861 9,108 58.0%
Dublin South-Central 72.3% 34,988 13,418 60.6%
Dun Laoghaire 71.6% 38,284 15,168 67.0%
Dublin South-West 71.3% 32,010 12,901 63.4%
Dublin Mid-West 70.9% 29,984 12,291 63.4%
Dublin West 70.6% 29,690 12,350 64.4%
Dublin North-West 70.6% 21,395 8,925 59.6%
Dublin South 69.9% 49,109 21,150 67.8%
Kildare North 69.7% 33,960 14,782 62.0%
Dublin North-Central 68.9% 25,382 11,431 68.8%
Wicklow 68.4% 44,059 20,384 68.8%
Dublin North-East 66.7% 26,222 13,090 66.4%
Kildare South 66.2% 23,199 11,861 58.4%
Cork South-Central 65.8% 38,591 20,072 63.9%
Limerick City 64.1% 24,789 13,855 63.3%
Cork North-Central 63.8% 28,479 16,182 59.9%
Meath East 63.6% 24,525 14,025 59.7%
Wexford 63.6% 40,692 23,298 57.8%
Louth 63.5% 38,758 22,313 59.9%
Cork East 61.7% 30,383 18,845 61.0%
Galway West 61.5% 32,037 20,053 55.2%
Waterford 60.3% 28,313 18,620 59.4%
Meath West 60.1% 21,374 14,189 56.3%
Clare 58.3% 28,137 20,154 59.4%
Cork North-West 57.9% 22,388 16,298 62.8%
Laois-Offaly 56.8% 35,685 27,135 58.4%
Carlow-Kilkenny 56.2% 38,166 29,697 65.4%
Tipperary South 56.1% 19,203 15,012 59.3%
Cork South-West 56.0% 20,627 16,225 61.7%
Kerry North - West Limerick 55.5% 19,678 15,808 57.2%
Kerry South 55.3% 18,357 14,831 58.2%
Limerick 54.7% 20,322 16,797 58.5%
Tipperary North 54.7% 22,077 18,298 62.5%
Longford-Westmeath 53.6% 25,445 22,025 54.8%
Sligo-North Leitrim 53.6% 19,043 16,502 57.8%
Galway East 53.3% 25,389 22,265 56.0%
Donegal North-East 52.5% 16,040 14,492 51.4%
Mayo 52.0% 28,801 26,566 57.5%
Cavan-Monaghan 50.6% 28,494 27,763 57.2%
Donegal South-West 50.1% 15,907 15,874 51.5%
Roscommon-South Leitrim 48.6% 17,615 18,644 61.5%

Reading these results

Both referendums passed nationally, but not uniformly. The 2018 repeal vote passed in 39 of 40 constituencies — Donegal was the sole exception, voting No by 35,091 to 32,559. The 2015 marriage equality vote passed with a wider geographic spread of support, though rural constituencies generally recorded lower Yes margins than Dublin and other urban seats.

These two referendums used different constituency maps — 2015 predates the 2013 Constituency Commission's boundary revision, so its 43 constituencies (Donegal North-East and Donegal South-West as separate seats, for example) don't line up one-to-one with 2018's 40, or with today's boundaries. Comparing the two directly by constituency name requires care; a proper geographic comparison would need boundary-matched mapping, not just matching names.

Data: Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage — Referendum Results (official, data.gov.ie) · referendum.ie

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