Irish Sayings

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

If you want to wish somebody a Happy St. Patrick’s Day in Irish today, the most common greeting is ‘Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit.’ People of Irish descent around the world gather to celebrate St. Patrick every year on 17 March…

IRISH SAYINGS AND PROVERBS

1. 1. Many an Irish property was increased by the lace of a daughters petticoat.
   2. A narrow neck keeps the bottle from being emptied in one swig.
   3. It’s difficult to choose between two blind goats.
   4. A silent mouth is sweet to hear.
   5. Every patient is a doctor after his cure.
   6. Neither give cherries to pigs nor advice to a fool.
   7. It’s no use boiling your cabbage twice.
   8. Marriages are all happy, it’s having breakfast together that causes all the troubles.
   9. There’s no need to fear the wind if your haystacks are tied down.
   10. When the sky falls we’ll all catch larks.
   11. Any man can lose his hat in a fairy-wind.
   12. Do not mistake a goats beard for a fine stallions tail.
   13. You’ll never plough a field by turning it over in your mind.
   14. Take gifts with a sigh, most men give to be paid.
   15. A turkey never voted for an early Christmas.
   16. There are finer fish in the sea than have ever been caught.
   17. What butter and whiskey will not cure there’s no cure for.
   18. Drink is the curse of the land, It makes you fight with your neighbor, It makes you shoot at your landlord – and then it makes you miss him!
   19. The Irish forgive their great men when they are safely buried.
   20. The longest road out is the shortest road home.
   21. It’s for her own good that the cat purrs.
   22. Humor to a man is like a feather pillow, it is filled with what is easy to get but gives great comfort.
   23. The best way to keep loyalty in a man’s heart is to keep money in his purse.
   24. A trout in the pot is better than a salmon in the sea.
   25. If the knitter is weary the baby will have no new bonnet.
   26. Even a tin knocker will shine on a dirty door.
   27. An old broom knows the dirty corners best.
   28. One beetle recognizes another.
   29. To the raven her own cluck is white.
   30. It’s no use carrying an umbrella if your shoes are leaking.
   31. A wild goose never reared a tame gosling.
   32. It’s as hard to see a woman crying as it is to see a barefooted duck.
   33. He’d offer you an egg if you promised not to break the shell.
   34. It’s a bad hen that won’t scratch herself.
   35. What good for the goose is good for the gander.
   36. No matter how often a pitcher goes to the water it is broken in the end.
   37. There was never a scabby sheep in a flock that didn’t like to have a comrade.
   38. A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse.
   39. The fox never found a better messenger than himself.
   40. There’ll be white blackbirds before an unwilling woman ties the knot.
   41. Show the fatted calf but not the thing that fattened him.
   42. A buckle is a great addition to an old shoe.
   43. In winter the milk goes to the cows horns.
   44. Men are like bagpipes no sound comes from them till they’re full.
   45. Snuff at a wake is fine if there’s nobody sneezing over the snuff box.
   46. You must crack the nuts before you can eat the kernel.
   47. If you lie down with dogs you’ll rise with fleas.
   48. Soft words butter no parsnips but they won’t harden the heart of the cabbage either.
   49. A boys best friend is his mother and there’s no spangle stronger then her apron string.
   50. A tyrone woman will never buy a rabbit without a head for fear it’s a cat.
   51. A windy day is not the day for thatching.
   52. The old pipe gives the sweetest smoke.
   53. The older the fiddle the sweeter the tune.
   54. As the old cock crows the young cock learns.
   55. A scholars ink lasts longer than a martyrs blood.
   56. There never was an old slipper but there was an old stocking to match it.
   57. Firelight will not let you read fine stories but it’s warm and you won’t see the dust on the floor.

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