Irish New Year Blessings come in all shapes and sizes.
And, as is the case with many Irish blessings and Irish toasts, they range from funny to formal.
Below, you’ll find our favourites and there’s a mix of religious and non-religious ones to choose from!
Our favourite Irish New Year Blessings
Photos via O’Connell’s on FB
Before we get to our Irish New Years toasts below, I’d like to wise you and yours a safe and happy 2025.
It feels strange to be typing that now, several months before NYE arrives, but I hope 2025 turns out to be everything you hope it to be.
Right, let’s dive into the different Irish New Year blessings. Enjoy!
1. Start your year with joy
First up is one of the more religious Irish New Year blessings in this article and it’s full of well wishes.
It wishes the listener/reader friendship, joy and peace and it finishes with the reminder that God has touched their life in many ways.
“May your mornings bring joy and your evenings bring peace.
May your troubles grow few as your Irish blessings increase.
May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.
May your hands be forever clasped in friendship and your hearts joined forever in love.
Your lives are very special, and God has touched you in many ways.
May his blessings rest upon you and fill all your coming days.”
2. The lilt of Irish laughter
Arguably one of the more famous Irish New Years toasts, this one has plenty of Irish references packed into it.
With mentions of ‘Irish magic’ and ‘lilting Irish laughter’, it’ll suit those of you looking to add a dollop of ‘Irishness’ to your NYE wishes.
“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 favours you are owed.”
3. A blessing as old as the hills
Few traditional Irish New Years toasts are as widely known and loved as ‘May the road rise to meet you‘.
Although this one is most frequently plonked next to Irish wedding blessings, it’s very apt as an Irish New Year blessing thanks to its theme that wishes the listener a safe journey ahead.
“May the road rise up 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.”
4. To a year of happiness
Our of the 11 Irish New Years toasts in this article, this one is the one I find myself returning to. Why?
Well, it’s short, it follows a simple rhyming scheme and the final lines mention of an ‘Irish heart’ give it a nice dollop of ‘Irishness’.
“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.”
5. Blue skies and green fields ahead
This is another of several short Irish New Year blessings and you’ll often seen it sitting alongside Irish birthday blessings as it’s full of well wishes.
Short and sweet, it gets right to-the-point from the beginning and it’s easy to memorise and recite, if needed.
“May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
That pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.”
6. A blessing for each of the seasons
This is a popular positive Irish New Year blessing even those it’s also used as an Irish wedding toast.
It contains many wishes for the future, which the reader/listener will interpret as wishes for the new year ahead.
“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.”
7. Leave behind what no longer makes you happy
There are many Irish New Years toasts that follow the theme of gratitude.
You’ll see this Irish blessing framed quite a bit but it’ll work well in a card, too.
“Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad.
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.”
8. A pocket brimming with luck and laughter
Short and simple, this Irish blessing for the New Year wishes the reader/listener happiness and prosperity.
The first two lines are packed with warm sentiment while the final two add in a little humour (see more funny Irish blessings).
“May your heart be light and happy,
May your smile be big and wide,
And may your pockets always have
A coin or two inside!”
9. For sunlight after showers
If you’re on the hunt for short Irish New Year blessings that are very handy to memorise, this next verse is a great option.
It’s brimming with poetic imagery and plenty of ‘Irishness’ and it’ll suit those of you looking to add a traditional Irish New Years toast to your evening.
“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”.
10. May all your friends remember
If you’re looking for Irish blessings for the New Year that bring in a dash of ‘Irishness’ to its verse, this one should tickle your fancy.
It has mighty mentions of the ‘Mist of Irish magic’ and the ‘Lilt of Irish laughter’.
“May the lilt of Irish laughter
Lighten every load.
May the mist of Irish magic
Shorten every road…
And may all your friends remember
All the favours you are owed!”
11. Irish blessings for friends
The last of our Irish New Year toasts boasts a beautiful bit of imagery intertwined into its verse.
In this blessing, you’ll find a mix of pagan and Christian traditions. The entire verse, while short, is grounded by blessings of laughter and friendship (see more Irish friendship blessings).
“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.”
How to say happy new year in Irish
So, if you’re not keen on the Irish New Years toasts above, you could always just say happy New Years in Irish.
In the video above Dane, from LearnIrish, provides the pronunciation in the video above.
If you have any Irish New Years sayings that you’d like to recommend, let me know in the comments below and I’ll check it out!
Or, if you’d like to discover more like this, hoping into our guides to Irish proverbs, Gaelic phrases and funny Irish sayings.
FAQs about Irish blessings for New Year
We’ve had a lot of questions over the years asking about everything from ‘What’s a good Irish New Year saying?’ to ‘What blessing will work in a card?”.
In the section below, we’ve popped in the most FAQs that we’ve received. If you have a question that we haven’t tackled, ask away in the comments section below.
What is the best Irish new year wishes?
This will depend on both you and the person you’re sending it to. However, ‘May the road rise to meet you’ is an old reliable and it’s arguably one of the most appropriate Irish blessings for the New Year.
What do the Irish say at New Year’s?
If you’re looking for an ‘As Gaeilge’ Irish New Years toast, ‘Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh’ means ‘Happy New Years’ in Irish. It’s pronounced ‘Ah-vleen fwee vosh-ah gheev’.
Keith O’Hara has lived in Ireland for 35 years and has spent much of the last 13 creating what is now The Irish Road Trip guide. Over the years, the website has published thousands of meticulously researched Ireland travel guides, welcoming 40 million+ visitors along the way. In 2022, the Irish Road Trip team published the world’s largest collection of Irish Road Trip itineraries. Keith lives in Dublin with his dog Toby and finds writing in the 3rd person minus craic altogether.