“If youre lucky enough to be Irish, then youre lucky enough..”

There are many famous Irish sayings and proverbs, plus a few not so famous too..

“Youve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.”

“Who gossips with you will gossip of you”

“Beware of people who dislike cats”

“It is better to be a coward for a minute than dead for the rest of your life”

“A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures”

“But the greatest love the love above all loves, Even greater than that of a mother Is the tender, passionate, undying love, Of one beer drunken slob for another”

“Better fifty enemies outside the house than one within”

“A scholars ink lasts longer than a martyrs blood”

“Put silk on a goat and it is still a goat”

“Everyone is nice till the cow gets into the garden”

Heres to our wives and girlfriends. May they never meet

Dont give cherries to pigs or advice to fools

The Irish dont know what they want and are prepared to fight to the death to get it

Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you fight with your neighbor. It makes you shoot at your landlord and it makes you miss him

God invented whiskey to keep the Irish from ruling the world
Heres to your roof,may it be well thatchedAnd heres to allunder it -May they bewell matched

Tis only a stepmother would blame you

Take the world nice and easy, and the world will take you the same

Why if he went to a wedding, sure hed wait for the christening

Never dread the winter till the snow is on the blanket

He who has water and peat on his own farm has the world his own way

Tis better to spend money like theres no tomorrow than to spend tonight like theres no money

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal,Love leaves a memory no one can steal

A cabin with plenty of food is better than a hungry castle

It is often that a persons mouth broke his nose

May you die in bed at 95, shot by a jealous wife

Heres to eyes in your heads and none in your spuds

Dance as if no ones watching, sing as if no ones listening, and live everyday as if it were your last

Firelight will not let you read fine stories, but its warm, and you wont see the dust on the floor

Dont be breaking your shin on a stool thats not in your way
What butter and whiskey wont cure, there is no cure for

A best friend is like a four leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have
May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light,May good luck pursue you each morning and night
May the cat eat you and the devil eat the cat

Red sky at night, shepherds delight, red sky in the morning, shepherds warning

The best looking-glass is the eyes of a friend

Continual cheerfulness is a sign of wisdom

Laziness is a heavy burden

Many hands make light work

Castles were built a stone at a time

We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English
~ Winston Churchill

Could he not find in his heart the generosity to acknowledge that there is a small nation that stood alone not for one year or two, but for several hundred years against aggression; that endured spoliations, famines, massacres in endless succession; that was clubbed many times into insensibility, but that each time on returning [to] consciousness took up the fight anew; a small nation that could never be got to accept defeat and has never surrendered her soul?”
~ Eamon De Valera, on Victory Day in Europe, May 8, 1945, responding in a radio speech to criticism by Winston Churchill of Ireland’s neutrality in World War II, a speech in which De Valera also thanked Churchill for not invading Ireland.

The Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scottish as a joke, but the Scotts havent seen the joke yet
~ Oliver Herford

I can resist everything except temptation
~ Oscar Wilde

He was a one-off, a unique figure of medieval power, intrigue and complexity, surrounded by mystery and money, and protected by populism and cleverness and the well-timed one-liner.
~ Maire Goeghegan-Quinn, former Irish cabinet member, speaking of three-time Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey, who died June 13, 2006

He is the best, the most skillful, the most devious and the most cunning.
~ Charles Haugheys description of his successor as Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern

You know, I have a theory about Charlie Haughey. If you give him enough rope, hell hang you.
~ BBC Ireland reporter Leo Enright

The sword of famine is less sparing than the bayonet of the soldier.
~ Thomas F. Meagher

All the worlds a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.
~ Sean OCasey

Well, it takes all kinds of men to build a railroad.No sir, just us Irish.
~ Railroad barons in Dodge City, Warner Bros., 1939

You know its summer in Ireland when the rain gets warmer.
~ Hal Roach

This is one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever.
~ Sigmund Freud (speaking about the Irish)

Its not that the Irish are cynical. Its simply that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody.
~ Brendan Behan

The Irish seem to have more fire about them than the Scots.
~ Actor Sean Connery

May you be afflicted with the itch and have no nails to scratch with

No butter be on your milk nor on your ducks a web. May your cow be flayed. And may the flame be bigger and wider which will go through your soul than the Connemara mountains, if they were on fire

May you melt off the earth like snow off the ditch

May his pipe never smoke, may his teapot be brokeAnd to add to the joke, may his kettle ne’er boil,May he keep to the bed till the hour that he’s dead,May he always be fed on hogwash and boiled oil,May he swell with the gout, may his grinders fall out,May he roll howl and shout with the horrid toothache,May the temples wear horns, and the toes many corns,Of the monster that murdered Nell Flaherty’s drake.

May his spade never dig may his sow never pigMay each hair on his wig be well thrashed with a flailMay his door have no latch, may his house have no thatch,May his turkey not hatch, may the rats eat his meatMay every old fairy, from Cork to Dunleary,Dip him snug and airy in river or lake,Where the eel and the trout may feed on the snoutOf the monster that murdered Neill Falheerty’s drake

May those who love us, love us.And those that don’t love us,May God turn their hearts,And if he doesn’t turn their hearts,May he turn their ankles,So we may know them by their limping

A toast for Fathers Day:

May you die in bed at 95, shot by a jealous wife

Heres to eyes in your heads and none in your spuds

Heres to a temperance supper,

With water in glasses tall,

And coffee and tea to end with

And me not there at all!

Heres to your roof,

may it be well thatched.

And heres to all under it

May they be well matched

May you both live as long as you want,

And never want as long as you live

As you slide down the banister of life,

may the splinters never point in the wrong direction

Even more Irish Drinking toasts



I hope you enjoyed our list of famous Irish sayings.

I am always on the look out for more famous Irish sayings, so if you have some favourite famous Irish sayings which are not included here, please dont hesitate to let me know.

Email your famous Irish sayings today and I will include them here.

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