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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Slainte and what the Irish words means on St.Patricks Day

Posted on Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 09:55 AM
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Slainte is the most used Irish expression in America our recent reader survey discovered.

Slainte, meaning Good Health' is an ancient Irish expression that derives from the word Slan, meaning safe.

It is used in different contexts, usually when downing a pint of Guinness, you say 'Slainte',before you begun drinking it.

It means literally good health.

There are many other expression that use slainte, such as 'Is fearr an slainte na an tainte" "health is better than wealth" in Irish

Another expression is 'Go dte tu slan" may you go safe which is what you say when someone is leaving on a journey.

Slainte na bfear' 'Good health to the men' is another derivative , which is used when drinking in the company of men.

Slainte na mbean, is the opposite when drinking with women!

Slan is another Gaelic term that sounds like Slainte but has a different meaning, It means goodbye.

Slan go deo, means 'goodbye for ever'


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21 comments

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SúlTaibhse | Oct 05, 2012, 06:41 PM EDT
@muirisobric Are you just guessing the pronunciations of these phrases? Is cainteoir liofa liom, (iss kiant(c)or lee-o-fah lum)(I am a fluent speaker). 'Tá go maith' technicialy means nothing on its own (just 'is well'), a better phrase would be 'tá mé go maith' (when spelling this, we would say 't, a, fada', the 'fada'(fahda) being the accent on the 'a' which indicates a long sounding vowel, and the phrase would be pronounced taah may guh mah, and means I am well, usually followed by 'go raibh maith agat', meaning thank you, and pronounced guh rev maht a-gut). Sláinte na bhfear agus go mairfidh na mná go deó: Slahn-cha naa var ahgus guh marhee naa minaw go joe. ( nothing like 'do re me').

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jjkleprechaun | Mar 08, 2012, 08:45 PM EST
My parents are both deceased and so I don't have the pleasure of the correct pronunciations any longer. Please include the phonetics!! I would so appreciate it and thank you!

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muirisobric | Mar 07, 2012, 01:57 PM EST
Tá go maith. Taw gu ma. (OK then.) Slawnte na var a-gus gu marhig na mon-awe gu do. (as in do re me)

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oldboreen | Mar 07, 2012, 01:45 PM EST
By no means the first time you've done this IC! Please please note! What is the point of such an article UNLESS you include the phonetics!!!!! You must be aware that the vast majority of diaspora Irish, and not a few of the Irish born for that matter,have little or no idea of correct pronounciation! Not just me complaining I notice.

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muirisobric | Mar 07, 2012, 12:20 PM EST
Sláinte na bhfear agus go mairfidh na mná go deó. ( health to the men and may the women live forever)

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Liamkeyes | Mar 28, 2011, 03:29 PM EDT
Padraig, gaelic for Patrick is pronounced "Paw-Rick" hence "Nave Paw-rick = St. Patrick. I'm going to start charging for lessons. "Ar-ra-gid" = money.

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Liamkeyes | Mar 28, 2011, 03:26 PM EDT
Slan abhaile means "safe home. Slan go deo is said instead of "Slainte go deo" meaning "Health for ever" the reply could be "go deo. deo aris meaning fiorever and ever again. It's the structure of the language.

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PaulRutter | Mar 22, 2011, 09:33 AM EDT
It would be great to have phonetics included with gaelic words being taught. I'm especially interested in Gaelic/Irish music terms as I host a radio program in the states that plays a good deal of Celtic music from County Donegal. I have trouble saying names such as the great female singer Mairead Ni Dhomnaill. I still don't know how after 8 years of weekly shows.

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mactala | Mar 20, 2011, 08:11 AM EDT
I commented on this piece (a couple of days ago) regarding the inaccuracy of refering to these phrases as "gaelic", without qualifying the term. May I ask why that post was removed? Will you also remove the post I just made regarding Enda Kenny's speech at the White House?

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DSCOBEE | Mar 18, 2011, 12:59 PM EDT
I would enjoy more,could you also show how to correctly pronounce the Irish. Thanks.

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GeorgeDillon | Mar 18, 2011, 12:10 PM EDT
The ironic thing is that the Irish in Ireland no longer say "Slainte". They say "Cheers", which they have, as so many other things, slavishly copied from the English.

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oldboreen | Mar 18, 2011, 10:54 AM EDT
Good idea to teach some Irish to the diaspora! Two or three words or expressions per week with phonetics? It's not too much to ask is it Irish Central?

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krissangel | Mar 17, 2011, 03:06 PM EDT
How is it pronounced?

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KarenAnneBrady | Mar 17, 2011, 02:38 PM EDT
Happy Saint Patrick's Day to one and all!

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1934Máirín | Mar 17, 2011, 02:34 PM EDT
Beannachtí Lá fhéile Naomh Pádraig oraibh. Blessings of the feast of Saint Patrick on you all.

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