Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George’s Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Irish culture is very remarkable. Ireland’s famous sayings will inspire you and change your perspective. You can read the most popular phrases and learn about The Gaelic culture.
If you’re searching for inspiring sayings that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of profound Asian proverbs, amazing Ghanaian proverbs and greatest Japanese proverbs.
Wise Irish Sayings
Praise the young and they will blossom. — Irish Proverb
The Irish have a sweet tooth. And that’s a good thing, because it has been the inspiration for some wonderful desserts that allow us to end our meal on a happy and sweet note. — Jean LeGrand, Irish Treats – 30 Dessert Recipes for St. Patrick’s Day
If it was raining soup, the Irish would go out with forks. — Bendan Behan
When the apple is ripe it will fall. — Irish Proverb
Here’s to a long life and a merry one. A quick death and an easy one. A pretty girl and an honest one. A cold pint and another one!
These things, I warmly wish for you – Someone to love, some work to do, a bit of o’ sun, a bit o’ cheer. And a guardian angel always near. — Irish Saying
May the leprechauns dance over your bed and bring you sweet dreams.
If you want praise, die. If you want blame, marry.
What the child sees, the child does. What the child does, the child is. — Irish Saying
May the roof above us never fall in.
And may the friends gathered below it never fall out.
As you ramble through life, whatever be your goal; keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not upon the hole. — Irish Saying
The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest. — Thomas Moore, Irish Actor
You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. — Irish Proverb
Irish history stretches back into the dark days of the Celts, yet there is light, laughter and a sense of laissez-faire in the Irish men and women of today. — Richard Benson, Irish Wit and Wisdom
May you only grow old in the face. Be treasured and cared for with grace. — Irish Blessing
If only wishing it made it so. — Author Unknown
If you’re lucky enough to be Irish…
You’re lucky enough!
Grant me a sense of humor, Lord, the saving grace to see a joke, to win some happiness from life, and pass it on to other folks. — Irish Prayer
Necessity is the mother of invention. — Irish Proverb
You cannot conquer Ireland. You cannot extinguish the Irish passion for freedom. If our deed has not been sufficient to win freedom, then our children will win by a better deed. — Patrick Henry Pearse, Irish Teacher
May the luck of the Irish be with you!
It’s a good deed to forget a bad joke. — Brendan Behan, Irish Republican, poet, short story writer
Laughter is wine for the soul – laughter soft, or loud and deep, tinged through with seriousness – the hilarious declaration made by man that life is worth living. — Sean O’Casey, Irish Dramatist
Put a silk on a goat and it is still a goat. — Irish Proverb
The best way to keep loyalty in a man’s heart is to keep money in his purse.
Love doesn’t demand perfection, but it does ask you to give yourself with less reserve than you’d prefer. Thomas Moore, — Irish Actor
Ambition can creep as well as soar. — Edmund Burke, Irish statesman
A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book. — Irish Proverb
Anyone can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend’s success. — Oscar (Fingal O’Flahertie Wills) Wilde, Irish Playwright
Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are all dead. — Oscar Wilde – Irish Dramatist
Who brings a tale takes two away. — Irish Proverb
Here’s to a fellow who smiles when life runs along like a song. And here’s to the lad who can smile when everything goes dead wrong. — Irish Saying
Sometimes one day changes everything; sometimes years change nothing. — Author Unknown
The older the fiddle the sweeter the tune. — Irish Saying
May you live as long as you want and never want as long as you live.
Happiness being a dessert so sweet,
May life give you more than you can ever eat.
Whatever the explanation, Irish quotations offer a delightful way to taste the essence of a rich history that has been, by turns, epic, curious, hilarious and sad. — Robert Sullivan, Unusual Irish Quotes and Quotations
A dog owns nothing, yet is seldom dissatisfied. — Irish Proverb
We cannot share this sorrow
If we haven’t grieved a while.
Nor can we feel another’s joy
Until we’ve learned to smile.
Bricks and mortar make a house, but the laughter of children makes a home. — Irish Proverb
Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people. — William Butler Yeats, Irish Poet
A Christmas wish. . . . May you never forget what is worth remembering or remember what is best forgotten. — Irish Blessing
Laughter is brightest in the place where the food is. — Irish Proverb
Here’s to me, and here’s to you. And here’s to love and laughter. I’ll be true as long as you. And not one moment after.
To learn one must be humble. But life is the great teacher. — James Joyce, Irish novelist
May your glass be ever full.
May the roof over your head be always strong.
And may you be in heaven half an hour
Before the devil knows you’re dead.
May your day be touched by a bit of Irish luck, brightened by a song in your heart and warmed by the smiles of the people you love. — Irish Saying
A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest. — — Irish Proverb
May you be at the gates of heaven an hour before the devil knows you are dead. — Irish Saying
Making the beginning is one third of the work. — Irish Proverb
Play every match as if it’s your last, but play well enough so that it isn’t. — Jack Lynch
No wise man ever wished to be younger. — Jonathan Swift, Irish satirist, essayist
It is in the shelter of each other that the people live. — Irish Proverb
Good luck beats early rising. — Irish Proverb
The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper. — William Butler Yeats, Irish Poet
It’s no use giving good advice unless you have the wisdom to go with it
On the Irish ladder of success there’s always some one on the rung above using your head to steady himself. — Author Unknown
(St.) Patrick answered God’s call to spread the word of Christianity to Ireland, and so, returned to Ireland, the land that enslaved him. — Hillbilly Housewife, On St. Patrick’s Day Everyone Can Be Irish
Praise youth and it will prosper. — Irish Proverb
For this home and all therein be blessed with God’s love.
May your heart be light and happy, may your smile be big and wide, and may your pockets always have a coin or two inside!
Don’t be breaking your shin on a stool that’s not in your way.
A kind word never broke anyone’s mouth. — Irish Proverb
The hands are there for friendship, the heart is there for love.
We must not make a false faith by hiding from our thoughts the causes of doubt, for faith is the highest achievement of the human intellect, the only gift man can make to God, and therefore it must be offered in sincerity. — William Butler Yeats, Irish Poet
In our togetherness (as a team) castles are built. — Irish Proverb
May you live to be 100 years with one extra year to repent. — James Joyce, Irish novelist
A lie is an excuse guarded. — Jonathan Swift, Irish satirist, essayist
It’s the merry-hearted boys that make the best men! — Irish Proverb
It is the interest of the commercial world that wealth should be found everywhere. — Edmund Burke, Irish Statesman
May the Good Lord take a liking to you… but not too soon! — Irish Saying
Some people are moulded by their aspirations, others by their hostilities. — Elizabeth Bowen, Irish Novelist
Life is like a cup of tea, it’s all in how you make it! — Irish Saying
Our weaknesses are the indigenous produce of our characters; but our strength is the forced fruit. — Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington, Irish Novelist
The Irish consider retirement the time to kick back and enjoy life to the fullest. — Thomas O’Leary
There are only two kinds of people in the world, the Irish and those who wish they were.
What whiskey will not cure, there is no cure for. — Irish Proverb
I’m Irish. We think sideways. — Spike Milligan
The surest way to fail is not to determine to succeed. — Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Irish Playwright
Good as drink is, it ends in thirst. — Irish Proverb
A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures.
The joy in life is to be used for a purpose. I want to be used up when I die. — George Bernard Shaw, Irish dramatist
Walk straight, my son – as the old crab said to the young crab. — Irish Proverb
Laughter is the brightest, where food is best. — Irish Proverb
Remember my friend, that knowledge is stronger than memory, and we should not trust the weaker. — Abraham (Bram) Stoker, Irish author
You should never be ashamed to admit you have been wrong. It only proves you are wiser today than yesterday. — Jonathan Swift, Irish satirist, essayist
Grandchildren are gifts of God. It is God’s way of compensating us for growing old. — Irish Saying
Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. — George Bernard Shaw, Irish dramatist
If it’s drowning you’re after, don’t torment yourself with shallow water.
We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it. — George Bernard Shaw, Irish dramatist
If you’re enough lucky to be Irish… You’re lucky enough!
May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the foresight to know where you are going, and the insight to know when you have gone too far.
A man may live after losing his life but not after losing his honour.
All the world’s a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed. — Sean O’Casey
You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your father was.
It is often that a person’s mouth broke his nose.
It is better to spend money like there’s no tomorrow than to spend tonight like there’s no money!
I’ll tell you what I’m grateful for, and that’s the clarity of understanding that the most important things in life are health, family and friends, and the time to spend on them. — Kenneth Branagh, Irish actor
May you always have a clean shirt, a clear conscience, and enough coins in your pocket to buy a pint!
May neighbours respect you, trouble neglect you, the angels protect you, and Heaven accept you.
It’s easy to halve the potato where there’s love.
The tears of the world are a constant quality. For each one who begins to weep, somewhere else another stops. The same is true of the laugh. — Samuel Beckett, Irish Novelist
Perhaps all of life is no more than a long preparation for the leaving of it. — William John Banville, Irish novelist
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go. — Oscar Wilde
Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a joy for all seasons, a possession for all eternity. — Oscar (Fingal O’Flahertie Wills) Wilde, Irish Playwright
Here’s to me, and here’s to you. And here’s to love and laughter. I’ll be true as long as you. And not one moment after.
There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary. — Brendan Behan
May you die in bed at 95, shot by a jealous spouse.
Here’s to women’s kisses, and to whiskey, amber clear. Not as sweet as a woman’s kiss, but a darn sight more sincere!
The difficulty in life is the choice. — George Moore, Irish Novelist
Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.
Life is too short to read a bad book. — James Joyce, Irish Novelist, Poet
May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks. May your heart be as light as a song. May each day bring you bright, happy hours that stay with you all the year long.
May the roof above you never fall in, and those gathered beneath it never fall out.
If you accept your limitations you go beyond them. — Brendan Behan, Irish Republican, poet, short story writer
There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness. — Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington, Irish Novelist
A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery. — James Joyce, Irish novelist
May the love and joy we share be with us ever after. — Author Unknown
I choose to be inspired by things that have been done well in the past. So, I don’t worry about being compared, because I think that does paralyze you. — Kenneth Branagh, Irish actor
Irish Proverb to help overcome hard times
- May today be better than yesterday, but, not as good as tomorrow
- Take the world nice and easy, and the world will take you the same.
- What a sober man has in his heart, the drunk has on his lips
- As good as the drink is, it ends in thirst.
- Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall
- Put the trout in the net before you put it in the pot.
- Your last cheque should be to the undertaker — and it should bounce
- Tiredness goes away and the benefit remains.
- Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get
- You can’t whistle and eat meal at the same time.
- In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
- May you be at the gates of heaven an hour before the devil knows you’re dead!
