The Irish or Gaelic oral tradition is replete with numerous proverbs and sayings. Our ancestors composed many little nuggets of advice, and some of their words are overflowing with Irish wit and wisdom.
Around this little corner of the internet we love to examine these old sayings and immerse ourselves in the soft whisperings of our forefathers.
There are thousands of wonderful Irish proverbs and sayings covering a wide variety of topics, so you won't be surprised to learn our forebears even composed proverbs about proverbs, bearing advice about their own advice.
I believe this shows a sly and subtle self-confidence that pervaded the Irish psyche in years gone by. Considering the Irish were an oppressed people for many generations and centuries, the wisdom and depth of these old sayings is commendable.
And so, today I thought we might explore a few words of advice about advice from our wise old ancestors.
Table of Contents
Proverbs About Advice from Ireland:
First, here are a few old sayings from Ireland about wisdom and advice, in the English language:
'Tis afterwards, that everything is understood."
"Food is no more important than wisdom."
"A little bit of anything, isn't worth a pin.
But a wee bit of sense is worth a lot."
"The man who won't have advice will have conflict."
"A wise man takes advice."
"Better knowledge of the evil,
than the evil without knowledge."
Irish Language Proverbs About Proverbs:
Now let's move on to a few old sayings in the Irish language.
I've included a sound file so that you can listen to each saying pronounced in Irish or Gaelic with a Munster dialect.
You'll also find phonetic pronunciations for each Irish saying, plus of course, we'll start with the English version for each proverb.
"Proverbs cannot be surpassed."
or
"The proverb cannot be bettered."
which in Irish or Gaelic is ....
"Ní sháraítear na seanfhocail."
(Phonetic Pronunciation: Nee haw-ree-thur nah shan-uck-ill)
Sound file:
Here's one I think is wonderful. Respect for our elders and the wisdom they've inherited from those who went before us is very important in life.
"A heritage of thoughts is to be found
in the proverbs of our ancestors."
which in Irish or Gaelic is ....
"Oidhreacht na smaointe
i seanfhocail sinsear."
(Phonetic Pronunciation: Eye-rock-th nah smwee-in-teh ih shan-uck-ill sheen-shar)
Sound file:
The Wisdom of Irish Proverbs
I hope to teach my kids to embrace their Irish heritage, and to understand the importance of passing on the wisdom of previous generations. Here's hoping our children will continue to hear the whisperings of their ancestors....
"A proverb is like a whisper from our ancestors."
which in Irish or Gaelic is ....
"Is ionann seanfhocal agus
cogar gaoise onár sinsir."
(Phonetic Pronunciation: Iss un-ann shan-uck-ill ah-gus cug-ahr gwee-shah own-awr sheen-shir)
Sound file:
"Though the proverb is abandoned,
it is not falsified."
which in Irish or Gaelic is....
"Má thréigtear an seanfhocal
ní bhréagnaítear é."
(Phonetic Pronunciation: Maw h-ray-g-thur on shan-uck-ill nee vray-g-nee-thur ay)
Sound file:
"Good advice is better than a pot of gold."
which translates into Irish as follows....
"Is fearrde dea-chomhairle ná pota óir."
(Phonetic Pronunciation: Iss far-deh ja-core-la naw puh-tha ore)
Sound file:
"He who does not take advice
will take battle."
which in Irish translates as...
"An té nach nglacann comhairle,
glacfaidh sé comhrac."
(Phonetic Pronunciation: On tay nock ng-lock-uhn co-urla, glock-hig shay co-rock.)
Sound file:
"Listen to everyone's advice,
but follow your own."
which translates into Irish as .....
"Éist le comhairle ó gach aon,
agus déan do chomhairle féin."
(Phonetic Pronunciation: Eh-sht le co-urla oh gock eh-un ah-gus day-un duh co-urla fay-un.)
Sound file:
And finally, here's an old Irish proverb warning us not to fall for the sweet words of smooth-talkers...
"It is seldom that a rogue
cannot find an appropriate proverb."
which in its original Irish version goes like this...
"Is annamh nach bhfaigheann
rógaire seanfhocal cuí."
(Phonetic Pronunciation: Iss ann-uv nock vi-un row-gu-re shan-uck-ill cwee.)
Sound file:
And so, before you think I too have turned into a right old rogue, who can find a proverb for every purpose, I'll sign off.
I hope you enjoyed this little collection of wise old words from our ancestors.
Slán agus beannacht,
(Goodbye and blessings)
Mairéad -Irish American Mom
Pronunciation - slawn ah-gus ban-ock-th
Mairéad - rhymes with parade
If you enjoyed this collection of blessings and sayings from Ireland, here are some more you may enjoy....
Irish Wisdom and Sayings About Horses
- Introducing Your Irish American Heritage To Friends
- Our Irish Heritage - A Kid's Guide to the Irish Diaspora and Irish National Anthem
- 19th Century Irish Immigrants Who Made Multiple Journeys To America
- Learning About Your Irish Family Ancestry
- Irish Heritage Clubs to Join in All 50 States
- Did You Know These Celebrities Are Irish Americans?
- Celtic Roots Learning Program
- An Irish Pilgrimage
Jeff
Mairéad,
Thank you so much for this little bit of our Irish culture! It was really nice hearing the actual pronunciation of each proverb! I have a suggestion for you. I don't know if this would be possible, but you could make an e-book about Irish proverbs and each page could have a proverb just like you made it here along with the audio.
Thanks again for a great post!
Jeff
Irish American Mom
Hi Jeff - I'm glad you enjoyed this post and thanks for the great suggestion about an e-book. For now I will continue to gather Irish sayings together in different categories, but I think compiling them all in an e-book is a wonderful idea. I'll have to figure out the technical side of how to add audio to an e-book.
Thanks as always for stopping by.
Mairéad
Mary
I like Jeff’s idea! The proverbs are great! Thanks for taking time to share them with us!
Blessings, Mary
Irish American Mom
Thanks, Mary. I too like Jeff's idea. I'll keep it in mind as I put more posts together with sayings about different topics.
All the best,
Mairéad
Maury
I love the proverbs Mairead! Thanks so much! Also I love the Irish along with the proverbs!!!!
Irish American Mom
Hi Maury - I too love the original Irish versions of these old sayings. They're very lyrical in the Irish language.
Best wishes,
Mairéad
Liam
Fir sona ní gá comhairle a bheith agat, Ní ghlacann fear amaideach le comhairle (B. "O'Franklin")
Irish American Mom
Dia duit, a Liam. "Ní ghlacann fear amaideach le comhairle." Seanfhocal fíor, gan aon dabht. Ceapaim féin go bhfuil deacair ag alán daoine ar fud an domhain glacann le chomhairle. Ceapann na daoine óige nach bhfuil faic ar eolas ag na daoine aosta. Bheadh sé iontach dóibh éisteacht lena seanfhocail seo.
Slán agus beannacht,
Mairéad
Cheryl Barker
So neat to hear the Irish pronunciations, Mairead. Thanks for including those!
Irish American Mom
Hi Cheryl - I'm so glad you found these pronunciations helpful. Thanks so much for stipping by.
Best wishes,
Mairéad
Molly Dennehy
I picked up an antique red leather book at a yard sale here- The travels of William Makepeace Thackeray- as I am an art teacher, I found his drawings exquisite. Since
I lived in Tralee for a time I went right to the chapter on this village. Here Thackeray
had a spiritual experience- visiting a church in the dark, candle lit and fervent praying
going on and in spite of his cynicism of the peasants, the poor he was moved. My own late Irish husband I must say disliked the British, so hard to forgive, but he and I had the most lovely stay at the Eccles hotel in Glengariff, where Thackeray had stayed, little did I think I would ever be there. Food was fantastic and Maureen O'Hare was still with us, a regular for meals. The saying I most remember hearing often in Ireland was "God is Good" perhaps it is not an Irish proverb these days but there are plenty more in the good book too.
God Bless and stay safe MOLLY of PA.
Irish American Mom
Hi Molly - What a wonderful find. Thackeray's sketches in Ireland give us good insights into what life was like in pre-Famine Ireland. His book can also be found online so I'm going to add a link here if any reader is interested in taking a look at his work.
https://archive.org/details/irishsketchbooko00thac/mode/2up
I love Glengariff. I remember going to Garnish Island as a child and a few years back I took my children there. They were thrilled to see all the seals basking in the sun on seal island. I often heard my granny saying "God is good." Another one she would say when we were rushing too much is, "when God made time, he made plenty of it."
Thanks so much for stopping by.
All the best,
Mairéad
Mary Dineen
Lovely post Thank you
Irish American Mom
Hi Mary - I'm so happy you liked this post. There is so much wisdom in our old Irish sayings, I think it's important to try and categorize them for sharing.
Thanks for stopping by today.
All the best,
Mairéad