Irish Proverbs About Work
As an obair a thagann an fhoghlaim
Work is where Irish proverb is at its most confident. The sayings here were made by people whose living depended on doing things well (thatching, sowing, serving a trade) and they treat effort as the one investment that never embarrasses you.
The strongest of them are about the relationship between doing and knowing. As an obair a thagann an fhoghlaim (learning comes out of the work) is the tradition’s answer to every question about how to start, and Molann an obair an saor lets the finished job do the talking.
A quieter strand is about the trade itself as wealth: a fistful of skill beating a bagful of gold, and practice named as the trade’s life-blood, its neglect the trade’s enemy. For a graduation, a retirement or a workshop wall, this page is where to start.
8 sayings each with its source
- As an obair a thagann an fhoghlaimLearning comes out of the doing.
- Capall na hoibre an biaOne must eat to work.
- Den cheird an cleachtadh; namhaid don cheird gan a cleachtadhPractice makes perfect.
- Is fearr lán doirn de cheird ná lán mála d'órA handful of skill is better than a bagful of gold.
- Molann an obair an saorThe work praises the workman.
- Ní hé lá na gaoithe lá na scolbThe windy day is not the day for thatching.
- Níl bua gan duaThere is no success without effort.
- Tús maith leath na hoibreWell begun is half done.