Irish New Home Gift Blessings
A housewarming gift with Irish on it has one obvious candidate and a set of better-kept secrets. The obvious one is the hearth proverb everyone half-knows; the secrets are the blessing said when something new is handed over, and the doorstep proverbs that are funnier than greeting-card Irish is allowed to be.
The hearth (an tinteán) is worth keeping literal. Where English says home, Irish says the fireplace, and a print that says so is being accurate, not quaint.
6 sayings each with its source, and its job
- Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féinThere is no place like home.The ancestor of "no place like home", and the obvious housewarming print. The literal hearth is the point.See it as a print
- Go maire tú is go gcaithe tú éMay you live to enjoy it and wear it.The traditional words for handing over anything new. Said freely of a house.See it as a print
- Go gcuire Dia rath ortMay God prosper you.A blessing of prosperity on the household. Short, real, and pronounceable at a door.See it as a print
- Is teann gach madra ag a dhoras féinEvery dog is bold at his own door.Every dog is bold at his own door. For the friend whose new house has gone slightly to their head.See it as a print
- Tús maith leath na hoibreWell begun is half done.For the move itself, a good start is half the work, which anyone mid-unpacking needs to hear.See it as a print
- Go maire sibh bhur saol nuaMay you enjoy your new life together.For a couple starting out in a first home: the new-life blessing fits the house as well as the wedding.See it as a print
Not the occasion you meant? Start from the chooser: or browse every sourced saying.