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Top ten old Irish phrases and their meanings - Éirinn Go Brách

Ever wondered what Eirinn go bragh and Cead Mile Failte mean?

By
NIALL O'DOWD,
IrishCentral Founder
Published Thursday, January 12, 2012, 7:08 AM
Updated Thursday, January 12, 2012, 9:47 AM

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Instead of "Kiss me I'm Irish" next time try "Pog mo thon"
Instead of "Kiss me I'm Irish" next time try "Pog mo thon"
Photo by Google Images


What famous Irish sayings really mean.

May the road rise to meet you -

 From the Gaelic, "Go N-eiri an bothar leat", which means may success be with you.

Top of the morning -

Hollywood invention, never used in Ireland.

And the rest of the day to yourself -

Also Hollywood.

Slainte -

Meaing good health. Slainte is the Gaelic word for health.

Slan -

Meaning farewell. Slan is the Gaelic word for safe so it means keep safe.

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Erin go Bragh -

Meaning "Ireland forever" in Gaelic.

A hundred thousand welcomes -

From the Gaelic “Cead Mile Failte” which means literally that.

Dia is Muire Dhuit -

Meaning hello in Gaelic. The phrase literally means "God and Mary with you."

Dia is Mhuire Duit agus Padraig -

How the person responds,"God and Mary and St. Patrick with you."

Pog Mo Thoin -

Yes it means what you think it does, Gaelic for kiss my a**.

*Originally published in March 2010.

​
See more: Irish roots , Irish culture , Irish customs , Top ten
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29 Comments

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Ballyphehane1 | May 21, 2012, 12:07 PM EDT
God - reading some of these comments from people in Ireland make me appreciate the fact that I'm now a few time zones away... All the negativity is terrible - soul destroying.... So to bring it back to a more positive level... if anyone is interested in seanfhocals (proverbs) check out talkirish.com. I get an email from them every morning with a proverb of the day. You can sign up for it (try http://talkirish.com/blogs/irishproverbaday/). It includes a link to hear the proverb which will help anyone that isn't really familiar with the language.

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Ballyphehane1 | May 21, 2012, 11:40 AM EDT
Edmund Burke - I think that phrase is alive and well - My Dad uses it all the time. He's in Cork though, so maybe it's regional to Cork... I don't know. I like the phrase though - always reminds me of my Dad and makes me smile.

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NYCsheridan | Apr 28, 2012, 11:26 AM EDT
ciaradexy, thank you for your kind comments. - from an Irish-American cousin

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NYCsheridan | Apr 28, 2012, 11:23 AM EDT
STEVENSTAR, um, no, the fool is some lout sitting in a pub in Donegal reading an Irish-American website and foaming at the mouth in a drunken stupor in ALL CAPS. Stupid, bloody sot!

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BrianO | Apr 27, 2012, 11:07 AM EDT
ciaradexy,interesting and well said.

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STEVENSTAR | Apr 26, 2012, 07:15 PM EDT
IM IRISH AND THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH US OVER HERE.. KISS ME QUICK HATS ARE WORN BY AMERICAN IDIOTS TRYING TO BE IRISH .. SILLY FOOLS

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boydshield | Feb 02, 2012, 03:33 PM EST
Agree with some of the other comments, Niall. Phonetic pronunciations, and maybe a bit more of what can actually be of use in Ireland.

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durtymurphy | Jan 13, 2012, 01:12 PM EST
You forgot "Chuck - Key - Our - La"

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Searlit | Jan 13, 2012, 11:00 AM EST
@IrelandNorth, I found your comment quite interesting, until that last line. It is sad that the Irish language has had such dark associations with the likes of Chritian Brothers and Killing. It's not the language that's at fault.

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IrelandNorth | Jan 13, 2012, 06:15 AM EST
Was taught Irish ar scoil fado fado, but like most others was turned off it by the ferocity with which it was taught by the Christian Brothers/Na Bratharhi Criostaoi. Still have a soft spot for it though. Can understand the need for phonetic spellings, but then look at the dogs dinner the Sasanach invader made of Irish place names with transliteration instead of translation. Still: Le focal nua gach la, tiocfaidh ar teanga fein arais aris go tapaigh i rith na bliana. P.S. The Irish Army give orders as Gailge. So as an ex-member of the "Free State Army", I know how to kill people as Gaeilge.

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AMWilson | Jan 12, 2012, 10:22 PM EST
"Old" in this context apparently means "going way back to the 1950's" for most of these. Ciara, thank you for the clarifications; I thought that maybe I was being impolite by not including "agus Padraig" in my reply greetings. I figured that "top o' the morning" and "Erin go bragh" were the exclusive trademarks of Plastic Leipreachan Nation, as I'd never heard a real Irish person say either.

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Searlit | Jan 12, 2012, 05:21 PM EST
Tá mé i aontaith le faberm1. (Taw May ee eontay leh). Tabhair Gaeilge duinn. (Tower galega do-in). I agree with faberm1. Give us Irish. By the way, are you out there Jacersagain? I just noticed I don't have the u with the fada. You're very kind.

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ciaradexy | Jan 12, 2012, 05:06 PM EST
EireDesire, Dingle is a gaeltacht area. How can you not speak Irish if you grew up there/

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EireDesire | Jan 12, 2012, 05:00 PM EST
I love all the Irish words that you share in some of your articles but it would be extremely helpful if you'd spell them phonetically so a non- Irish speaker would know the correct pronunciation. I've heard this from many of the people who enjoy these articles as well. This would please many of your readers, I'm certain. The other point I'd like to bring up is that growing up on the Dingle in Kerry, we would never say that the Irish speak Gaelic because the Gaelic languages also include Welsh Gaelic, Manx Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic. It is far more correct to say that in Ireland we speak Irish or Irish Gaelic, if you must.

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ciaradexy | Jan 12, 2012, 03:16 PM EST
The only ones used are: Dia duit=dia gwitch (hello) Dia is muire duit=Dia is mwere gwitch(reply to dia duit) Slan=Slawn (bye) Slainte=Slawn-che:like 'meh'(cheers) failte= fall-ceh: like 'meh'(welcome) Pog mo thoin=pogue mo hoe-in (kiss my @rse) I hope this is of some use for pronunciation!

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