Ireland’s first lesbian penguin couple has set up a nest in the country’s only colony for gentoo penguins.

The couple, Penelope and Missy, have shown signs of a courting couple in Oceanworld, Dingle in a polar ice home worth €1m (£828,000).

The pair have been bowing to one another, a usual sign that they are courting.

They are one of five couples to have paired off during breeding season at the exhibition, which mimics the conditions of the South Pole in the Kerry Aquarium.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, head penguin keeper, Kate Hall said: “The ones in Central Park are icons for the gay community over there… They have a lot of fondness and affection for them.

“It’s definitely not an unusual occurrence although this time it’s two females.”

Going on, Hall said the pair had been showing signs of being a courting couple in the enclosure, saying: “The thing penguins do to show they like each other is they bow to each other and they are doing that.

“When they come into breeding season, they do it to the penguin of their choice and it reinforces the bond between them.”

Back in 2012, two gay Gentoo Penguins which had for six years yearned to be parents, were given their own egg to rear in Madrid.