The "Proverbial" Knowledge of Ireland......
Proverbs of IrelandUse your browser's find feature to search for your favorite topic...When you are done use this link to return to the main page: BACK What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Every patient is a doctor after his cure. Neither give cherries to pigs nor advice to a fool Soft words butter no parsnips but they won't harden the heart of the cabbage either. You'll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind. There are finer fish in the sea than have ever been caught A tyrone woman will never buy a rabbit without a head for fear its a cat A windy day is not the day for thatching The old pipe gives the sweetest smoke Marriages are all happy its having breakfast together that causes all the trouble A scholars ink lasts longer than a martyrs blood Take gifts with a sigh most men give to be paid A turkey never voted for an early Christmas What butter and whiskey will not cure there's no cure for The Irish forgive their great men when they are safely buried. The longest road out is the shortest road home. The older the fiddle the sweeter the tune Its no use boiling your cabbage twice There's no need to fear the wind if your haystacks are tied down. Do not mistake a goats beard for a fine stallions tail Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you fight with your neighbor.It makes you shoot at your landlord and it makes you miss him. If you lie down with dogs you'll rise with fleas. A wild goose never reared a tame gosling. A boys best friend is his mother and there's no spancel stronger than her apron string. There never was an old slipper but there was an old stocking to match it Firelight will not let you read fine stories but its warm and you wont see the dust on the floor. As the old cock crows the young cock learns. Humor to a man is like a feather pillow.It is filled with what is easy to get but gives great comfort. Many an Irish property was increased by the lace of a daughter's petticoat. The best way to keep loyalty in a man's heart is to keep money in his purse. A narrow neck keeps the bottle from being emptied in one swig. A trout in the pot is better than a salmon in the sea If the knitter is weary the baby will have no new bonnet Its for her own good that the cat purrs. Even a tin knocker will shine on a dirty door An old broom knows the dirty corners best One beetle recognizes another To the raven her own chick is white When the sky falls we'll catch larks. Any man can lose his hat in a fairy- wind. If you have one pair of good soles its better than two pairs of good uppers It s no use carrying an umbrella if your shoes are leaking It's difficult to choose between two blind goats. A silent mouth is sweet to hear It's as hard to see a woman crying as it is to see a barefooted duck He'd offer you an egg if you promised not to break the shell Its a bad hen that won't scratch herself No matter how often a pitcher goes to the water it is broken in the end There was never a scabby sheep in a flock that didn't like to have a comrade A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse The fox never found a better messenger than himself There'll be white blackbirds before an unwilling woman ties the knot Show the fatted calf but not the thing that fattened him. A buckle is a great addition to an old shoe In winter the milk goes to the cow's horns Men are like bagpipes no sound comes from them until they're full Snuff at a wake is fine if there's nobody sneezing over the snuff box You must crack the nuts before you can eat the kernel He got it from nature as the pig got the rooting in the ground. Often a cow does not take after its breed What would a young cat do but eat mice? Nature will come through the claws, and the hound will follow the hare. If you put a silk dress on a goat he is a goat still. Every bird as it is reared and the lark for the bog. What is in the marrow is hard to take out of the bone. The wood will renew the foliage it sheds. What will come from the briar but the berry The hand goes only where the leg goes. A handstaff of holly, a buailtin of hazel,a single sheaf and a clean floor.
One who is without cows must be his own dog. You never miss the water till the well has run dry. A king;s son is not nobler than his food. Keep your tongue in your jaw and your tow in your pump. Pity the man who has a stranger's spancel on him. To every cow its calf; to every book its copy Watching is a part of good play By degrees the castles are built When the apple is ripe, it will fall Patience cures many an old complaint The one who waits the fine day, will get the fine day. Patience and forbearance make a bishop of his reverence Patience can conquer desiny Patience is a plaster for all sores For what cannot be cured patience is best There is not a tree in heaven higher than the tree of patience Patience is a virtue that causes no shame Time and Patience would bring the snail to Jerusalem Everyone praises his native land. Nobody ever bought peace but the man who hadn't got it. Peace(quietness) is worth buying. The world's quiet and the pig is in the sty Least said soonest mended No matter who succeeds or fails, the peacemaker will always suffer To the fighting man peace is sure The end of a feast is better than the beginning of a fight An eye is blind in another man's corner One eye in the orner is sharper than two about the house He's more to be pitied than laughed at. Don't tell your complaint to one who has no pity A poem ought to be well made at first, for there is many a one to spoil it afterwards. It's better than it's want Have it yourself, or else do without it Better the certainty of the straddle (packsaddle) than the mere loan of a saddle Possession is nine-tenths of the law Better own a trifle than want a great deal A wren in the hand is better than a crane to be caught. Possession satisfies A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. It's beter than the loan you couldn't get Half a loaf is better than no bread A live dog is better than a dead lion A trout in the pot is better than a salmon in the sea. Put a beggar on horseback and he'll ride to hell Put a beggar on horseback and he'll go on a gallop. Poverty parts good company Many a defect is seen in the poor man It's hard to take britches off bare hips The full man does not understand the wants of the hungry A little pleases a poor man Poor men take to the sea; the rich to the mountains Poverty creates sadness Pity the man who does wrong and is poor as well There is nothing in the woorld so poor as going to hell. The thief is no danger to the beggar. Poverty is no shame. Two things that go for loss-turf on a mountain and the wisdom of a poor man. Shame is ever a part of poverty
No-one is ever poor who has the sight of his eyes and the use of his feet Poor is the church without music A smokey cabin, a handful of spuds and a flea-filled bed No stopping the force of a going wheel by hand No forcing the sea Don't county your chickens before they are hatched Don't bless the fish till it gets to the land Don't build the sty until the litter comes Praise the ripe field not the green corn Praise the ford when you have crossed it You must empty a box before you fill it again The pride of women and the pride of priests It is difficult to soothe the proud Pride comes before a fall
Pride feels no pain There is no virtue in the herb that is not got in time. A postponement till morning A postponement for ever. It is no time to go for the doctor when the patient is dead A promise is a debt Proverbs cannot be contradicted The proverb cannot be bettered Though the proverb is abandoned,it is not falsified Don't throw out the dirty water until you have the clean water in It's better to return from the centre of the ford than drown in the flood The sty before the litter If you meet a red-harird woman,you'll meet a crowd. To be red-haired is better than to be without a head To put off repentance is dangerous It's better to be sorry and stay than to be sorry and go away. It's a small thing that outlives a man Remembmber even if you loose all, keep your good name for if you loose that you are worthless. Those who get the name of rising early may lie all day When a man gets his feet in lime he cannot easily get rid of it No dealing with a revengeful man He was never good since the time a yard(of cloth) made a coat for him Don't mention him and a decent man in the one day. A sly rogue is often in good dress She would drink the cream and say the cat she had was an old rogue The horse with the most scars is the one that highest kicks his rear The person who brings a story to you will take away two from you. A story without an author is not worth listening to Leave the bad tale where you found it There is no smoke without fire When all fruits fail welcome haws When the fruit is scarcest,its taste is sweetest We have a fine day more often than a kiln-cast A soft dropping April brings milk to cows and sheep Autumn days come quickly like the running of a hound on the moor A misty winter brings a pleasant spring,a pleasant winter a misty spring Many a sudden change takes place on a spring day In winter the milk goes to the cow's horns A secret is a weapon and a friend It is no secret that is known to three Fences(ditches)have ears Don't tell your secret even to a fence Woe to the man that entrusts his secrets to a ditch The secret of an old woman scolding If it's a secret,it's binding Don't tell secrets to the children of your relatives No tree but has rotten wooe enough to burn it A man may be his own ruin A wedge from itself splits the oak tree A man has often cut a rod to beat himself It's for her own good that the cat purrs His own wound is what everyone feels soonest What is nearest the heart is nearest the mouth He who is best for me is he who shall get the best share The full stomach does not understand the empty one The man who was dividing Ireland didn't leave himself last Sense doesn't come before age After the gathering comes the scatering What would shame him would turn back a funeral A list full of gain and a village full of shame Better is the trouble that follows death than the trouble that follows shame Do not keep your toungue under your belt A man is shy in another man's corner A silent mouth is musical The silent are often guilty The silent mouth is sweet to hear When wrathful words arise a closed mouth is soothing The stars make no noise Little talk is easy to cure A closed mouth--a wise head A silent mouth never did any harm Strength is not enduring Sending the goose on a message to the fox's den Putting the fox to mind the geese You din't turn up when sense was being distributed There's neiher success nor efficiency without authority and laws Fat is not to be had without labour The windy day is not the day for thatching One man's meat is another man's poison Whoever the cap fits takes it Better sit beside him than in his place A short visit is best and that not too often The eye should be blind in the home of another It's often a man's mouth broke his nose Don't say everything hyou want to say lest you hear something hyou would not like to hear Don't let your tongue cut your throuat See not what you see and hear not what you hear Never speak to the feet while the head is alive Don't rest your eyes beyond what is your own It's bad manners to talk about ropes in the house of a man whose father was hanged A greyhound finds food in its feet The slow hound often has good qualities The bird that can sing and won't sing should be made to sing A cat between two houses, a rabbit between two holes, the two liveliest Great talk and little action Do not be talkative in an alehouse You kissed the blarney stone A spender gets the property of the hoarder Let your bargain suit your purpose Spread your cloth only as you can draw it The waiting man thinks the time long A watched kettle never poils Time is a good story-teller He who spies is the one who kills. Treachery returns There's trouble in every house and some in he street Everything troubles you and the cat breaks your heart The fox never found a better messenger than himself Never trust a spiteful man
A man with a loud laugh makes truth itself seem folly Even the truth may be bitter Thre are two tellings to every story Drnunenness and anger,'tis said tell the truth What I'm afraid to hear I'd better say first myself Trugh speaks even though the tongue were dead You can keep away from the rogue,but you cannot keep yourself safe from the liar. Trugh stands when everything else falls It is no shame to tell the truth Tell the truth and shame the devil The well-filled belly has little understanding of the empty 'Tis afterwards that everything is understood It's a bad hound that's not worth the whistling He knows how many grains to a bushel of wheat He knows the price of everything and the value of nothing He couldn't drag a herring off the coals It's just a wisp in place of a brush One pair of good soles is worth two pairs of upper leathers Withouth pressing too little or too hard, hold tight the reins for he's a fool who would not get value from a borrowed horse It's not worth a couckoo-spit Better an idle house than a bad tenant Pity him who makes his opinions a certainty he thinks that he himself is the very stone that was hurled at the castle He dotes on his midden and thinks it the moon That's a spoon ye'll sup sorrow with yet Wilful waste makes woeful want A shamefaced man seldom acquires wealth The money-maker (profiteer) is never tired The doorstep of a great house is slippery There is mosfortune only where there is wealth Sweet is the voice of the man who has wealth A hut is a palace to a poor man A heavy purse makes a light heart There's little value in the single cow A man of one cow-a man of no cow It's easy to knead when meal is at hand Wind from the east is good for neither man nor beast A kerry shower is of twenty-four hours Better April showers than the breadth of the ocean in gold Better for a man to have even a dog welcome him than a dog bark at him Going in is not the same as going out A welcome is a debtor's face Wat's al lthe world to a man when his wife is a widow A wise head keeps a shut mouth Everyoneis wise till he speaks
Food is no more important than wisdom There's no wise man without a fault He may die of wind but he'll never die of wisdom You can't put a wide head on young shoulders Wisdom is what makes a por man a king,A weak person powerful,a good generation of a bad one, a foolish man reasonable. Though wisdom is good in the beginning it is better at the end A little of anything isn't worth a pin; but a wee bit of sense is worth a lot No making of a wise man A dishonest woman can't be kept in and an honest woman won't There is no thing wickeder than a womaan of evil temper. A bad woman(wife) drinks a lot of her own bad butter-milk A foolish woman knows a foolish man's faults A whistling woman and a crowing hen will bring no luck to the house they are in Beef to the heels like a Mullingar heifer Eight lives for the men and nine for the women Wherever there are women there's tlaking, and wherever there's geese there's cackling Irishwomen have a dispensation from the pope to wear the thick ends of their legs downwards Women are shy and shame prevents them from refusing a man. Everything dear is a woman's fancy Like an Irish wolf she barks at her own shadow She wipes the plate with the cat's tail More hair than tit, like a mountain heifer Women are stronger than men, they do not die of wisdom When the old woman is hard pressed,she has to run It's difficult to trust a woman Man to the hills, woman to the shore Beat a woman with a hammer and you'll have gold 'Tis as hard to see a woman cry,as a goose go barefoot Where comes a cow the wiseman lay down(St.Colmcille), there follows a woman,and where comes a woman follows trouble Only a fool would prefer food to a woman Don't be ever in court or a castle wihout a woman to make your excuse An excuse is nearer to a woman than her apron There is nothing sharper than a woman's tongue A woman without is she who has neither pipe nor child The yellow praiseach (kale) of the fields that brings the Meath women to harm
A woman like a goose, a sharp pecking woman It is not the most beautiful woman who has the most sense A woman can beat the devil A shrew gets her wish but suffers in the getting Many a time the man with ten (cows has ovetaken the man with foryt(cows) Do it as if there was fire in your skin The seeking for one thing will find another make your hay before the fine weather leaves you Sow early and mow early The early riser gets through his business but not through early rising The slow horse reaches the mill Making the beginning is one third of the work The quiet pigs eat all the draff The sweat of one's brow is what burns everyone Everyone lays a burden on the willing horse Every little makes a mickle Sppeed and accuracy do not agree Never Put off tomorrow what you can do today I'll go there tonight for evening is speedier than morning The person of the greatest talk is the person of the least work Be there with the day and be gone with the day About evening a man is known Long churning makes bad butter Scattering is easier than gathering The labour of the crow Put it on your shoulder and say it is not a burden It's no delay to stop to edge the tool The mason who strikes often is better than the one who strikes too hard It destroys the craft not to learn it The dog that's always on the go, is better than the one that's always curled up Handfuls make a load Don't go early or late to the well A good beginning is half the work Praise the young and they will make progress Many a happy colt makes a fine horse The young shed many skins Youth likes to wander The growth of the gosling Youth cannot believe THE FOLLOWING PROVERBS ARE PRESUMED TO BE IRISH. She is like a Waterford heifer, beef to the heels. He is like a Waterford merchant, up to the a— in business. His eyes are like two burnt holes in a blanket. Full of fun and foustre, like Mooney's goose. He looks as angry as if he was vexed. 'Tis as bad as cheating the devil in the dark, and two farthingcandles for a halfpenny. A wild goose never laid a tame egg. He'd skin a louse, and send the hide and fat to market:
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