Irish voters were deciding Friday whether to repeal a ban on blasphemy - the latest potential reform distancing the once-devout nation from its Catholic past.
The referendum was held alongside a presidential election in which incumbent Michael Higgins was expected to secure a new seven-year term in the largely ceremonial post.
Voting stations were set to shut at 10:00 pm local time amid reports of low turnout - seemingly the result of voter indifference and the strong lead displayed by Higgins in recent surveys.
Irish law defines blasphemy as a "matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion".
It is currently punishable by a €25,000 fine, although the last attempted prosecution is believed to have involved a priest who accidentally burnt a bible in 1855 - before blasphemy was enshrined in the 1937 constitution - rendering the present-day law largely obsolete.
The law was heavily criticised three years ago when police were forced to investigate British TV personality Stephen Fry for calling God "stupid" during an interview.
Many high-profile Irish figures have signalled their backing for the referendum for some years.
But voters who spoke to AFP in Dublin seemed in the majority perplexed by the decision to hold the vote.
'A more secular country'
Even local priest Father Walter Macken, who said he considered the blasphemy provision "one of the small guarantees of religious coherence" in Ireland, failed to evoke fire and brimstone over the vote.
"It doesn't mean that much to me," the 80-year-old admitted after casting his ballot in central Dublin. "It's not that relevant to the everyday struggles - even the ones that I'm involved in."
"I've never, ever heard a blasphemy in my entire life."
This latest vote follows a May referendum when citizens overturned a constitutional abortion ban by a landslide 66 percent.
Many saw that vote as a bellwether issue, demonstrating the Catholic Church's diminishing influence in the once highly religious nation.
"I think it's definitely becoming a more secular country," said David Tomkin, 70, as he prepared to cast his vote.
"But I also think that this blasphemy law is too complicated for most people to understand."
The vote count will not take place until Saturday.
With the presidential election count to be undertaken first, a government spokesman told AFP it is possible that the referendum outcome will not be known until Sunday.
Friday's turnout appeared markedly down on May.
One lawmaker reported just 40 percent of eligible voters had turned out at a polling station by evening, whilst there were other unconfirmed reports of turnout as low as 16 percent in some areas late afternoon.
"Every single vote matters and with voter turnout being reported as low all over the country, make your vote count," Higgins said on Twitter at 5pm.
Ireland's electorate currently stands at around 3.2 million, according to figures from the housing ministry earlier this year.
In the presidential vote Higgins, a 77-year-old former parliamentary politician, academic and poet known affectionately to many as "Michael D.", was facing five challengers but was forecast to win convincingly.
