# Irish sayings, blessings and toasts for St. Patrick’s Day

- Link: https://jcody.com/blog/top-50-irish-sayings-proverbs/
- Published: 2026-03-06T09:00:00-05:00
- Author: Jeffrey Cody

Every March somebody asks me for something Irish to put on a card, a toast or a 
slide. So here is my short list, the ones that have lasted because they are true.
A few are in Irish, with the English right behind.

## Blessings

 * May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be always at your back.
 * May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.
 * May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light.
 * 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’ve gone too far.
 * May there be a generation of children on the children of your children.

## Proverbs worth keeping

 * _Ní neart go cur le chéile._ There is no strength without unity.
 * _Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine._ People live in each other’s shelter.
 * _Is fearr an tsláinte ná na táinte._ Health is better than wealth.
 * _Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin._ There is no hearth like your own hearth.
 * _Is minic a bhris béal duine a shrón._ Often a person’s mouth has broken their
   nose.
 * _Is maith an scéalaí an aimsir._ Time is a good storyteller.
 * A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.
 * It is no use boiling your cabbage twice.
 * You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.
 * A friend’s eye is a good mirror.
 * Never bolt your door with a boiled carrot.

## Toasts

 * Here’s to you and yours, and to mine and ours. And if mine and ours ever come
   across you and yours, I hope you and yours do as much for mine and ours as mine
   and ours have done for you and yours.
 * 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 you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.
 * May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your 
   past.

## Why I keep them around

The best ones are small business advice in disguise. _No strength without unity_
is a team. _Boiling your cabbage twice_ is every meeting that should have been an
email. Use them in a card, a toast or a first slide. Just do not put them on a mug
and call it a brand.

Pick a favorite and send it to somebody who needs it this week. Slainte.