Be Eating A Potato, Peeling A Potato

Here's an old saying in the Irish language about eating potatoes. Years ago boiled potatoes were served in their skins and placed in a heaping mound in the middle of the table for the family to pick from and eat their fill.

The larger the family, the more difficult it was to get your hands on enough potatoes..

"Bíodh práta dhá ithe agus práta dhá scú agat,

Dhá práta id gcúl do dhoirn,

Agus do shúil ar dhá práta ar an mbord!"

You can listen to the pronunciation on this sound file .....

Here's the translation into English ...

"Be eating a potato, peeling a potato

Have two potatoes in your hand,

And an eye on two more on the table."

If you like phonetic spelling to help with pronunciation here you go ...

"Bíodh práta dhá ithe agus práta dhá scú agat,

(Bee-uch praw-tha gaw ih-ha ah-gus praw-tha gaw sh-kew ah-gut)

Dhá práta id gcúl do dhoirn,

(Gaw praw-tha idh ghoul duh yer-in)

Agus do shúil ar dhá práta ar an mbord!"

(Ah-gus duh huuh-il ehr gaw praw-tha ehr on more-dh)

I hope this helps if you are learning to speak Irish. This version is in a Munster Irish dialect.

For more potato sayings check out my blog post here.

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