Irish blessings

Posted by Shae on March 16, 2005

In Reply to: Irish blessings posted by ESC on March 16, 2005

: May you have food and raiment,
: A soft pillow for your head,
: May you be forty years in heaven
: Before the devil knows you're dead!

: ***

: May you have warm words
: on a cold evening.
: A full moon on a dark night,
: And the road downhill all the way
: to your door.

: ***

: May you live to be
: a hundred years old
: with one extra year to repent.

: (From "The Big Little Book of Irish Wit & Wisdom," Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, New York, 1993.)

: May you live to comb gray hair.

Nice ones, ESC. I'm so glad you didn't include 'May the road rise to meet you.' Being met by a rising road is very painful and causes lots of potholes. The expression is a very litteral translation of 'Go n'eirigh an bothar leat' which, in Irish, has lots of 'well-wish' meanings. Some examples: 'May your journey be safe; May your venture succeed; May your wish come true.'