Irish Sayings, Proverbs, and Prayers for St. Patrick’s Day

May the road rise up before you,
and the wind be always at your back,
and the good Lord hold you in the hollow of his hands.

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

May the luck of the Irish possess you.
May the devil fly off with your worries.
May God bless you forever and ever.

Ireland, sir, for good or evil,
No other place under Heaven.
And no man can touch its sod
Or breathe its air without becoming
Better or worse.

May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.

May there always be work for your hands to do,
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine warm on your windowpane,
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you,
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

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?ll know them by their limping.

The reason the Irish are always fighting each other
Is they have no other worthy opponents.

May you live as long as you want,
And never want as long as you live.

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.

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.

May the Good Lord take a liking to you,
... but not too soon!

As you slide down the banister of life,
May the splinters never point the wrong way.

An old Irish recipe for longevity:
Leave the table hungry.
Leave the bed sleepy.
Leave the table thirsty.

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad.
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

Always remember to forget
The troubles that passed away.
But never forget to remember
The blessings that come each day.

If you're enough lucky to be Irish...
You’re lucky enough!

Tis better to buy a small bouquet
And give to your friend this very day,
Than a bushel of roses white and red
To lay on his coffin after he's dead.

May the blessings of each day
Be the blessings you need most.

Life is like a cup of tea,
it's all in how you make it!

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.

I complained that I had no shoes
Until I met a man who had no feet.

It's easy to be pleasant when life flows by like a song.
But the man worth while is the one who can smile
When everything goes dead wrong.

For the test of the heart is trouble
And it always comes with years.
And the smile that is worth the praises of earth
Is the smile that shines through the tears.

What is Irish diplomacy?
It's the ability to tell a man to go to hell,
So that he will look forward to making the trip.

St. Patrick was a gentleman
Who through strategy and stealth
Drove all the snakes from Ireland.
Here's toasting to his health.
But not too many toastings
Lest you lose yourself and then
Forget the good St. Patrick
And see all those snakes again.

May the enemies of Ireland never meet a friend.

An Irish method for tackling problems:
There comes a time when you must take the bull
By the tail and face the situation squarely.

May the leprechauns be near you,
To spread luck along your way.
And may all the Irish angels,
Smile upon you St. Patrick's Day.

May the joys of today
Be those of tomorrow.
The goblets of life
Hold no dregs of sorrow.

May the saddest day of your future be no worse
Than the happiest day of your past.

Health and a long life to you.
Land without rent to you.
A child every year to you.
And if you can’t go to heaven,
May you at least die in Ireland.

May you have:
No frost on your spuds,
No worms on your cabbage.
May your goat give plenty of milk.
And if you inherit a donkey,
May she be in foal.

May you live long,
Die happy,
And rate a mansion in heaven.

There are only two kinds of people in the world, The Irish
And those who wish they were.

You're not as young as you used to be.
But...
You're not as old as you’re going to be.
So watch it!

Do not resent growing old.
Many are denied the privilege.

Murphy's Law:
Nothing is as easy as it looks.
Everything takes longer than you expect.
And if anything can go wrong,
It will at the worst possible moment.

Here's to you and yours
And to mine and ours.
And if mine and ours
Ever come across to you and yours,
I hope you and yours will do
As much for mine and ours
As mine and ours have done
For you and yours!

May the most you wish for
Be the least you get.

May the luck of the Irish
Lead to happiest heights
And the highway you travel
Be lined with green lights.

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 folk.

Ireland, it's the one place on earth
That heaven has kissed
With melody, mirth,
And meadow and mist.

May your troubles be less
And your blessings be more.
And nothing but happiness
Come through your door

 With melody, mirth,
And meadow and mist.

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 year long.

For each petal on the shamrock
This brings a wish your way
Good health, good luck, and happiness
For today and every day.

May your heart be warm and happy
With the lilt of Irish laughter
Every day in every way
And forever and ever after.

Now sweetly lies old Ireland
Emerald green beyond the foam,
Awakening sweet memories,
Calling the heart back home.

May the blessings of light be upon you,
Light without and light within.
And in all your comings and goings,
May you ever have a kindly greeting
From them you meet along the road.

May brooks and trees and singing hills
Join in the chorus, too.
And every gentle wind that blows
Send happiness to you.

Wherever you go and whatever you do,
May the luck of the Irish be there with you.

May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings,
Slow to make enemies,
And quick to make friends.
But rich or poor, quick or slow,
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

May the face of every good news
And the back of every bad news
Be toward us.

Like the goodness of the five loaves and two fishes,
Which God divided among the five thousand men,
May the blessing of the King who so divided
Be upon our share of this common meal.

May you have food and raiment,
A soft pillow for your head,
May you be forty years in heaven
Before the devil knows you're dead.

The health of all Ireland
and of County Mayo,
And when that much is dead,
may we still be on the go.

From the County of Meath,
the health of the hag.
Not of her but her drink
is the reason we brag.

Your health one and all,
from one wall to the other,
And you outside there
speak up, brother!

May the strength of three be in your journey.

May peace and plenty be the first
To lift the latch on your door,
And happiness be guided to your home
By the candle of Christmas.

May your right hand always
Be stretched out in friendship
And never in want.

May there be a fox on your fishing hook
And a hare on your bait
And may you kill no fish
Until St. Brigid's Day.

May you live all the days of your life.
- Jonathan Swift

May the grass grow long on the road to hell for want of use.

May there be a generation of children
On the children of your children.

May you have warm words on a cold evening,
A full moon on a dark night,
And the road downhill all the way to your door

Here's that we may always have
A clean shirt
A clean conscience
And a punt in our pocket.

May you live to be a hundred years,
With one extra year to repent!

May I see you grey
And combing your grandchildren's hair.

May the Lord keep you in His hand
And never close His fist too tight.

May your neighbors respect you,
Trouble neglect you,
The angels protect you,
And heaven accept you.

Mothers [fathers] hold their children’s hands for just a little while...
And their hearts forever.

"It is better to spend money like there's no tomorrow
than to spend tonight like there's no money."
-P.J. O'Rourke

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 beer-and another one!

May the grass grow long on the road to Hell for want of use.

Here's health to your enemies' enemies!

May you have the hindsight to know where you've been
the foresight to know where you're going
and the insight to know when you're going too far.

Health and a long life to you.
Land without rent to you.
A child every year to you.
And if you can't go to heaven,
May you at least die in Ireland.

Bless you and yours
As well as the cottage you live in.
May the roof overhead be well thatched
And those inside be well matched.

May you always come more than you go.

Here's to you, as good as you are.
Here's to me as bad as I am.
As good as you are and as bad as I am,
I'm as good as you are, as bad as I am.

May you have warm words on a cold evening,
a full moon on a dark night,
and a smooth road all the way to your door.

May you be poor in misfortune,
rich in blessings,
slow to make enemies,
quick to make friends.
But rich or poor, quick or slow,
may you know nothing but happiness
from this day forward.

A Merry Christmas this December
To a lot of folks I don't remember.

May there always be work for your hands to do.
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine warm on your windowpane.
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

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.

Bottoms up or bottoms down,
Either way no one will frown.
-Mike Anderson

May the leprechauns dance over your bed and bring you sweet dreams.

Experience is the comb that life gives a bald man.

May the wind always be at your back

May you be at the gates of heaven an hour before the devil knows your dead!

Surely, a fine husband is he that
flinches at the mere raisin' of his
wife's fair hand.
- P. Ohmann

Here's to you and here's to me.
May we never disagree.
But should we start to fight and 'cuss,
Here's to me.
- Frank Masterson

Here's to it and for it and do it again.
For those that get to it
And refuse to do it,
May never get to it
To do it again.

There are good ships and there are wood ships,
the ships that sail the sea.
But the best ships are friendships,
and may they always be.

O b'ido hocai, is deoch deas e sin
- Donaill Mac Bruan

Good health, good life, good beer!
- Ed Quigley

May the most you wish for is the least you get!
- Jay O Brain

Here's to our wives,
and here's to our sweethearts,
may the two never meet!

Every man is sociable until a cow invades his garden

May you always have money in your pocket
a woman to love
and a smile on your face.

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'll know them by their limping.

May you have length with your days,
and strength with your step,
and may each season have a reason
to celebrate your faith in mankind!

To live above with the Saints we love,
Ah, that is the purest glory.
To live below with the Saints we know,
Ah, that is another story.

May the wind you break always blow down wind.

Always remember that hindsight is the best insight to foresight.

May the hinges of our friendship never grow rusty!

May all your troubles be little ones
and all your little ones be trouble free.

The words that I've said I meant when I spoke
and remember my words of wisdom
feck'em if you can't take a joke.
-Brian O'Toole

Perfection is something that cannot be achieved,
it is something that we strive for.
-Jara McKee

A man's best friend is his mother until he meets his wife.

May there be spring enough in your life
to outlast the winters;
May there be guitars (and drums) enough
to lift your spirits whenever you need it;
May you be gentle enough to comfort those who are hurting,
But revolutionary enough to bring heaven to those who need it now.
May there always be a leprechaun near you
to bring out laughter and dance and the child in you.
And may God always have room enough for you in the palm of his hand!
- Donated by Gregory Hicks