May the Sun Be Ever at Your Back

A Complete Guide to Irish Blessings

Throughout history, Ireland has always had a strong (if sometimes complicated) relationship with religion. Until relatively recently the church had a large influence over many aspects of Irish life.

Even our most popular national holiday, St. Patrick's Day, is in honour of the man who brought Christianity to Ireland all the way back to the 5th century.

You'll still hear people uttering 'please God' or 'thank God' out of habit in normal conversation. For some, exclaiming 'Jesus, Mary and Saint Joseph!' is still a relatively common reaction to any shocking event.

Another long-held perception of the Irish is that we are a welcoming nation. While the Irish and our attitudes as a society have evolved, we are still considered to be among one of the most welcoming and hospitable nationalities in the world. Enter any Irish household and you will a cup of tea forced on you whether you'd like one or not.

We also have a long held love affair with the spoken and written word. Many of the world's most acclaimed writers were Irish with the likes of Oscar Wilde, James Joyce and W.B Yeats to name just three. This love of words and talent for poetry and song combined with our deep seated links to Christianity and religion, has resulted in something quite unique; an endless tome of Irish blessings.

Irish blessings are commonly used in wedding ceremonies, family gatherings and at other such special occasions. So many blessings have emerged over the centuries that there is now an Irish blessings to cover almost every life event.

The general theme of most Irish blessings is seeing the positive side of a bad situation, or celebrating the best parts of happy one. Today, everyone is aware of the importance of a positive mindset on both our mental and physical health. We think you'll agree, many of these Irish blessings were doing this well before their time.

Here are 10 of the most beautiful and uplifting Irish Blessings we could find. We hope you enjoy them!!!

Popular Irish Blessings

Travel Blessings

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

May good luck be with you Wherever you go, and your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow.

May your days be many and your troubles be few, May all God's blessings descend upon you, May peace be within you, May your heart be strong, May you find what you're seeking wherever you roam.

May you have the hindsight to know where you've been
the foresight to know where you're going
and the insight to know when you're going too far.

Wedding Blessings

May you have love that never ends,
lots of money, and lots of friends.
Health be yours, whatever you do,
and may God send many blessings to you!

May God be with you and bless you.
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness.
From this day forward.

By the power that Christ brought from heaven, mayst thou love me.
As the sun follows its course, mayst thou follow me.
As light to the eye,
as bread to the hungry,
as joy to the heart,
may thy presence be with me,
oh one that I love,
'til death comes to part us asunder.

May your joys be as bright as the morning, and your sorrows merely be shadows that fade in the sunlight of love.

May you have enough happiness to keep you sweet, enough trials to keep you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to keep you happy, enough failure to keep you humble, enough success to keep you eager, enough friends to give you comfort, enough faith and courage in yourself to banish sadness, enough wealth to meet your needs and one thing more; Enough determination to make each day a more wonderful day than the one before.

See beautiful Irish sentiments, engraved in script and Ogham lettering on our Irish Jewelry Collection

The most popular Irish blessing comes from – guess who – Saint Patrick himself, and was said to be engraved on his breastplate. It's a fairly long poem, so either Patrick was a giant or it was never written on a breastplate at all; in fact the breastplate idea is probably more of a phrase to express the fact that these were the ideals he held close to his heart.

There is no evidence that Patrick actually wrote this poem himself, but it certainly includes his teachings and ideology. Most people usually quote the second last verse of the poem, but here it is in its entirety;

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In the predictions of prophets,
In the preaching of apostles,
In the faith of confessors,
In the innocence of holy virgins,
In the deeds of righteous men.

I arise today, through
The strength of heaven,
The light of the sun,
The radiance of the moon,
The splendor of fire,
The speed of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of the sea,
The stability of the earth,
The firmness of rock.

I arise today, through
God's strength to pilot me,
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptation of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
afar and near.

I summon today
All these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel and merciless power
that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul;
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.

Another popular blessing that can be used on all occasions is this one – it's also much easier to remember than St. Patrick's breastplate!

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

Blessings for the Home

May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.

May joy and peace surround you,
Contentment latch your door,
And happiness be with you now,
And bless you evermore.

Bless you and yours
As well as the cottage you live in.
May the roof overhead be well thatched
And those inside be well matched.

May your neighbors respect you,
Trouble neglect you,
The angels protect you,
And heaven accept you.

Friendship Blessings

Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers—
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours—
Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends
Each day your whole life through!

May God give you…
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer.

May the friendships you make,
Be those which endure,
And all of your grey clouds
Be small ones for sure.
And trusting in Him
To Whom we all pray,
May a song fill your heart,
Every step of the way.

May your home always be too small to hold all your friends.

Good Luck Blessings

May the blessing of light be on you—
light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you
and warm your heart
till it glows like a great peat fire.

May your home be filled with laughter
May your pockets be filled with gold
And may you have all the happiness
Your Irish heart can hold.

May your blessings outnumber
The Shamrocks that grow
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.

May luck be a friend to ye,
And be with ye in all yer days,
And may trouble be to ye,
A stranger, always

May the lilt of Irish laughter lighten every load, may the mist of Irish magic shorten every road, may you taste the sweetest pleasures that fortune ere bestowed, and may all your friends remember all the favors you are owed

Blessings about Ireland

Hills as green as emeralds
Cover the countryside
Lakes as blue as sapphires-
And Ireland's special pride
And rivers that shine like silver
Make Ireland look so fair-
But the friendliness of her people
Is the richest treasure there.

May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you

May the enemies of Ireland never meet a friend.

May luck be our companion
May friends stand by our side
May history remind us all
Of Ireland's faith and pride.

Blessings for Children

Lucky stars above you,
Sunshine on your way,
Many friends to love you,
Joy in work and play-
Laughter to outweigh each care,
In your heart a song-
And gladness waiting everywhere
All your whole life long!

May you have:
A world of wishes at your command.
God and his angels close to hand.
Friends and family their love impart,
and Irish blessings in your heart!

May God grant you always a sunbeam to warm you, a moonbeam to charm you, a sheltering Angel so nothing can harm you. Laughter to cheer you, faithful friends near you And whenever you pray, Heaven to hear you.

O Thou, to whom to love and be are one,
Hear my faith cry for them

Who are more thine than mine.
Give each of them what is best for each.
I cannot tell what it is.
But Thou knowest.
I only ask Thou love them and keep them
With the loving and keeping Thou didst
Show to Mary's Son and Thine.

Long Life Blessings

May you live as long as you want,
And never want as long as you live.

May you live to be a hundred years, with one extra year to repent.

May God grant you many years to live,
For sure He must be knowing
The earth has angels all too few
And heaven is overflowing.

Here's to a long life and a merry one
A quick death and an easy one
A pretty girl and an honest one
A cold beer and another one!

If you liked this post you may also appreciate the beautiful sentiments inscribed on our handcrafted Irish pendants in Irish (Gaelic) and ancient Ogham writing

May the Sun Be Ever at Your Back

Source: https://www.claddaghdesign.com/history/guide-to-irish-blessings/

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