Beannacht Dé lena hanam
When to use it The plainest thing to write in sympathy for a woman. The counterpart of the masculine form.
Word by word
Each headword links to its entry in Ó Dónaill’s Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (1977) on teanglann.ie; the glosses are quoted from it.
| In the saying | Headword | Dictionary gloss | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beannacht | beannacht | blessing | feminine noun; Ó Dónaill prints the masculine of this phrase at the entry. The feminine differs by one letter. |
| Dé | Dia | God | the genitive form Dé: “of God”. |
| lena | le | with | le combines with the possessive a to give lena. Here “with her”. |
| hanam | anam | soul | the h is the grammar of “her”: the possessive a (her) prefixes h to a vowel-initial noun, a hanam, her soul. Its absence would say “his”. |
How to use it
This is the form for remembering a woman. The single letter h before anam is what says so. Irish marks “his” and “her” not in the possessive word itself, which is a in both cases, but in what happens to the next word. For a man, use Beannacht Dé lena anam.
For more than one person remembered together, the attested prayer is Go ndéana Dia trócaire orthu. For a woman’s memorial where the better-known graveside wording is wanted, Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam carries the same feminine h.
It belongs in a sympathy card after your own message, in a death notice after the name, or spoken at a wake. Because the gendered forms differ by one quiet letter, check the record against the person being remembered before anything is printed, stitched or carved.
Where it comes from
The feminine form is attested not in the dictionaries but in living use: a page of the Schools’ Collection: the Irish Folklore Commission’s 1937–39 gathering of household lore through schoolchildren. Carries it from Lansdowne school in Co. Kerry, where the writer sets down a saying “my mother heard said” and adds this blessing for her in the same breath. The manuscript’s pre-standard spelling was modernised for this record after the reading was confirmed against the page image, and the citation records both.
The masculine form is the one the dictionaries happen to print, Ó Dónaill has “Beannacht Dé lena anam, God rest his soul” s.v. beannacht, and the feminine is the same phrase governed by the possessive a (her), which prefixes h to a vowel: ordinary, regular Irish grammar.
The earliest attestation we can point at for this feminine wording is that Kerry manuscript of 1937–39; we found no older written source.
About this saying
Recorded in the Schools’ Collection of 1937–39, on page 256 of volume 464, from Lansdowne school in Co. Kerry: the writer sets down a saying “my mother heard said”, and adds this blessing for her in the same breath, in the manuscript spelling of the day. The masculine form, Beannacht Dé lena anam, is the one the dictionaries happen to print; the manuscripts show the feminine was always beside it in living use.
For the same occasion
- Beannacht Dé lena anamGod rest his soul.God rest his soul: the plainest of the prayers, in the form for a man. Choose it when in doubt; it is what Irish speakers actually write in sympathy.
- Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anamMay he rest at God’s right hand.The best-known graveside prayer, asking that the soul be at God’s right hand. The form for a man. Choose it when the familiar wording matters most; its page states the one open scholarly question honestly.
- Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanamMay she rest at God’s right hand.At God’s right hand: the form for a woman. Choose it over the plainer blessing when the piece should carry the wording said at the graveside.
- Go ndéana Dia trócaire orthuMay God have mercy on them.May God have mercy on them: said of the dead collectively. Choose it when more than one person is remembered; it is the plural the other prayers lack.
On a card, a speech, a print
On a memorial card the phrase usually closes the text, after the name and dates. If it is to be engraved, the proof needs two checks: the fada on Dé, and the h on hanam. The letter that makes it hers.
Questions people ask
Why is there an h in this one and not in the other?
Because Irish marks “his” and “her” in what follows the possessive: a (his) leaves a vowel-initial noun alone, a (her) prefixes h. So lena anam is “with his soul” and lena hanam “with her soul”. One letter, doing all the work.
The dictionary only prints the masculine, is the feminine still correct?
Yes. The feminine is the same phrase under a completely regular grammar rule, and it is attested in living use: a Schools’ Collection manuscript from Kerry (1937–39) records it said of the writer’s own mother. This page cites that manuscript.
Can I write this for a man?
No: the h makes it the form for a woman. For a man use Beannacht Dé lena anam.
What was the manuscript spelling?
The schoolchild wrote the phrase in the pre-standard spelling of the day; our record modernises it, says so in its note, and the reading was confirmed against the manuscript page image before publication. The citation carries the archive reference.
Provenance
Where this wording comes from. We publish nothing we cannot point at.
- Folklore archiveNational Folklore Collection: duchas.ieThe Schools' CollectionCBÉS 0464:256, Lansdowne (Cuas na gCoileach) school, Co. Kerry; collector Eibhlín Bean Uí Shúilleabháin; manuscript spelling modernised
Sources checked 2026-08-30; page last reviewed 2026-08-31. How we source and review is on the About page.