St. Patrick’s Day, the day of Ireland’s patron saint, when people enjoy themselves and wear green, falls on March 17th every year.
The day, which falls on a Friday this year, marks a celebration of Irish culture with parades, festive cuisine, music, dancing and drinking.
The revelers often wear green clothes or bring green balloons, posters and other accessories of that color.
news week contains everything you need to know about the origins of St. Patrick’s Day and how to wish others a “happy St. Patrick’s Day” in Irish.
Saint Patrick is Ireland’s most prominent patron saint and has become synonymous with the country thanks to St Patrick’s Day celebrations taking place around the world, not just in the Irish diaspora.
Although historical records of Patrick’s life are not definitive, most scholars assume he lived in the 5th century and worked as a missionary in Ireland. He is credited with helping Ireland transform from a pagan nation to a Christian one.
How to say Happy St. Patrick’s Day in Irish
Ronan Connolly of LetsLearnIrish.com, the online community for learners worldwide, suggests that St Patrick’s Day is the perfect time to start speaking Irish Gaelic.
He said news week: “Ireland’s National Day is celebrated every March 17th… and wouldn’t it be great to greet someone on St. Patrick’s Day with an Irish phrase or two?”
There are a few different ways to say Happy St. Patrick’s Day in Irish Gaelic, so news week contacted some experts to get their opinions.
According to Malachy Ó Néill, Professor of Irish at Ulster University, Northern Ireland, the basic way of communicating “a happy St Patrick’s Day” is to use the word “beannachtái” (blessing or greetings) next to “féile” (feast) to use or festival) and “Pádraig” (Saint Patrick).
Together they add up to ‘Beannachta na Féile Pádraig’, pronounced ‘ban-acty na fay-la pad-rig’.
Ó Neill told news week: “Depending on who you are addressing, you can end your sentence with ort (‘on you’ – singular; pronounced ‘ort’) or oraibh (‘on you’ – plural; pronounced ‘or-iv’). You can also opt for duit/daoibh (“for you” – singular/plural; pronounced “ditch/deev”) or leat/libh (“with you” – singular/plural; pronounced “lat/liv”).”
Connolly offered a slight variation, saying, “To wish someone a happy St. Patrick’s Day, you can say ‘Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit!’ (pronounced ‘law ay-luh paw-drig dun-uh ditch’).
He added that “Lá Féile Pádraig” means “St. Patrick’s Day” in English and “sona” means “happy”.
Also, Connolly spoke news week about an alternative phrase to be used on March 17th.
He said: “You can also use the greeting ‘Lá Féile Pádraig fo máise duit’ (pronounced ‘law ayla paw-drig fwee washa ditch’), which translates to ‘A blessed St. Patrick’s Day’.”
“Once the celebrations are underway and you want to toast in Irish, you can use the word ‘sláinte!’ use. what ‘Good health!’ means,” they added.
