A common way to say “Happy St. Patrick’s Day” in Irish is “Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit,” pronounced “Lah fay-luh Paw-drig sun-uh gwitch.”
That’s if you’re saying it to just one person – how you say it to more than one person differs.
Here are are a mix of casual and formal St. Patrick’s Day greetings.
1. Saying happy St. Patrick’s Day in Irish to one person
Arguably the most common way to say happy St. Patrick’s Day in Irish is ‘Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit’.
This can be used when you’re speaking directly to one person.
- The phrase: Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you
- In Irish: Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit
- Use it when: You’re directing the greeting to one person
- How to pronounce it: ‘Lah leh Pah-drig Sun-uh gw-itch’
2. Saying happy St. Patrick’s Day in Gaelic to a group
If you’d like to say happy St. Patrick’s Day in Gaelic to a group of two or more, say ‘Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhaoibh’.
It’s a fairly straightforward greeting. Here’s everything you need to know:
- The phrase: Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you (two people or more)
- In Irish: Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhaoibh
- Use it when: You’re directing the greeting to a number of people
- How to pronounce it: ‘Lah leh Pah-drig Sun-uh Yee-uvh’
3. A traditional happy St. Patrick’s Day in the Irish language to one person
If you’re looking for a more traditional greeting to give one person, you can add a blessing into it with ‘Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig dhuit’.
This is a little tougher to pronounce that the previous one. Here’s everything you need to know:
- The phrase: St. Patrick’s Day blessings to you
- In Irish: Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig dhuit
- Use it when: You’re directing the greeting to one person
- How to pronounce it: ‘Ban-ach-tee nuh Fae-leh Pah-drig gw-itch
4. A traditional happy St. Patrick’s Day in Irish to a group
One of the more traditional ways to say happy St. Patrick’s Day in Gaelic to a group of two or more people is ‘Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh’.
As was the case with the singular version above, it adds a blessing to the the greeting.
- The phrase: St. Patrick’s Day blessings to you (two people or more)
- In Irish: Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh
- Use it when: You’re directing the greeting to one person
- How to pronounce it: ‘Ban-ach-tee nuh Fae-leh Pah-drig ur-ivh
5. More casual and formal St. Patrick’s Day greetings
So, I started with the most common way of saying “Happy St. Patrick’s Day” in Irish – now it’s time for some other greetings:
A toast to health
An Irish toast for the big day is “Sláinte is táinte”, which means “Health and Wealth”. It’s pronounced “slawn-chah iss tan-chah”.
Blessings
An Irish blessing for the big day is “Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig ort!”, which means “St. Patrick’s Day Blessing on You” (singular). It’s pronounced “Ban-ick-tee na fay-lah pwad-rig ort”.
The plural version of the above is “Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!”, which means “St. Patrick’s Day Blessing on You”. It’s pronounced “Ban-ick-tee na fay-lah pwad-rig or-iv”.