Ancient Phrases
In the west of Ireland, gaeltacht, or Irish language is common in speech and on signs. There are a few words that you will find important, (such as those telling which is the men’s room and which is the ladies room) or you may just wish to try out a few Gaelic phrases to respond to those who greet you.
Guarda is the short form of garda síochána, the "guardians of peace". These are the Irish police.
An Lár Literally means "the center" and is used on signs to denote the town center as destination.
Seirbhís/ As Seirbhís Pronounced "service" and means the same thing. The opposite is as seirbhís or "out of service".
Craic Irish nightlife, or a good night out might be referred to as 'great craic' (pronounced 'crack'). A greeting may be 'what’s the craic?' Or you may hear people ask “where’s the craic?” They are not looking for drugs, just great music.
Ní thuigim (nee higimm) ”I don’t understand”. Those in the west who speak Irish certainly also speak English but this is a useful phrase in any language.
Mná is not a misspelling of "man" but the Irish word for "women". Because it is used on toilet doors, (mainly in the West), the similarity of mná and “man” can lead to some very embarrassing situations.
Fir, is the word for ‘Men’ found on toilet doors in the West of Ireland.
Slán abhaile (slawn aWHILEyuh) is a phrase that you may here when departing a shop, meaning ‘Safe home’.
Irish Greetings
Dia Duit (JEE-a Gwitch) = Hello
Conas atá tú? (CUNN-us a TAW too) = How are you?
Go raibh maith agat (GURRA mah agg-utt) = Thank you
Slán (Slawn) = Goodbye
Sláinte! (Slawn-cha or Sloin-cha) = Health! (Cheers!)
Amadán = Eejit = Idiot
Glic (Glick) = Cute, Clever, Smartass
Fáilte (fall-sha)=Welcome You may see the phrase ’Cead Mile Fáilte’=One hundred thousand welcomes or see reference to the ‘Bord Fáilte’: the National Tourism Development Authority.
Scéal The Irish word for "story" is 'scéal' (pronounced 'Shkale') so someone looking for information might ask - "What's the sceal with that?".
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| Give Way - an Irish Yield sign |
If you are renting a car, (and driving on the LEFT side of the road) you will find road signs in both English and Irish - usually.
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| Irish Wit |
The Irish are well known for their sarcasm and their wit. One friend, traveling in Ireland asked a man if he had lived in that town all of his life. His response? “Not yet...“
Of course, there are curses as well (which should be referred to with care in any language.)
Here’s a doozy: Go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat
“May the cat eat you, and may the cat be eaten by the devil.”
If you would like to hear the way many of these words are pronounced, you can listen online.
