Go n-éirí do bhóthar leat
Written for English speakers and editorial rather than sourced. It will get you close enough to be understood, and it is not a substitute for a native speaker. Recorded audio is planned; see About.
When to use it The dictionary-attested road blessing: the safe choice for an engraving or anything permanent.
About this saying
This is the road blessing as the dictionaries actually print it. de Bhaldraithe’s 1959 English–Irish dictionary gives it under the entry for God-speed, and the verb construction it uses is the ordinary Irish idiom for succeeding at something, a road that “rises with you” in Irish is simply going well, the way a business takes off in English.
The world-famous English version (“may the road rise to meet you”) reads that idiom literally, and the definite-article Irish that circulates with it, Go n-éirí an bóthar leat, is a form no dictionary we have checked prints. Both have records here, each page saying exactly how it is sourced.
Provenance
Where this wording comes from. We publish nothing we cannot point at.
- Dictionaryde Bhaldraithe, English–Irish Dictionary (1959)s.v. God-speed
Where this belongs
Related sayings
- Go n-éirí an bóthar leatMay the road rise to meet you.
- Go n-éirí an bóthar leat Go raibh an ghaoth go brách ag do chúl Go lonraí an ghrian go te ar d'aghaidh Go dtite an bháisteach go mín ar do pháirceanna Agus go mbuailimid le chéile arís, Go gcoinní Dia i mbos A láimhe thú.May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.