The Irish have a way of saying things that is to the point, practical and true . . . and that Irish sense of humor is never far from the surface. We hope you enjoy these typical Irish sayings and Irish blessings.
Irish Sayings
Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you fight with your neighbour. It also makes you shoot at your landlord—and it makes you miss him.
No man ever wore a scarf as warm as his daughter’s arm around his neck.
A family of Irish birth will argue and fight, but let a shout come from without, and see them all unite.
An Irishman has an abiding sense of tragedy which sustains him through temporary periods of joy.
Idiot: He’s fit to mind mice at a crossroads.
Large, tall woman: That’s a fine doorful of a woman.
Gossip: She has a tongue that would clip a hedge.
Thin person: The breath is only just in and out of him, and the grass doesn’t know of him walking over it.
Foul-mouthed person: What would you expect out of a pig but a grunt?
Stubborn person: You might as well be whistling jigs to a milestone.
Guest who overstays their welcome: If that man went to a wedding, he’d stay for the christening.
Chatterbox: That man would talk the teeth out of a saw.
Bad shot: He wouldn’t hit a hole in a ladder.
Mischievous child: That one suffers from a double dose of original sin.
Irish Blessings
Health and long life to you, land without rent to you, a child every year to you, and death in Old Ireland.
May the roof above you never fall in, and those gathered beneath it never fall out.
May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings, slow to make enemies and quick to make friends. And may you know nothing but happiness from this day forward.
May your home always be too small to hold all your friends.
Birthday Irish Blessings
May I see you grey and combing your grandchildren’s hair.
May you live to be 100 years, with one extra year to repent.
We drink to your coffin. May it be built from the wood of a hundred year old oak tree that I shall plant tomorrow.
May the doctor never earn a pound out of you.
May the good Lord take a liking to you, but not too soon!
May you die in bed at 95, shot by a jealous spouse.
Everyday Irish Toasts
May you be in heaven a full half hour before the devil knows your dead.
May you live as long as you want and never want as long as you live.
May the face of every good news and the back of every bad news be towards us.
May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.
May misfortune follow you the rest of your life, and never catch up.
May you get all your wishes but one, so that you will always have something to strive for!