This blessing is traditionally vocalized at St. Patrick’s Day, here the States anyway, but in Irish culture, it is simply a wish that is wished to loved ones and friends all through the year.

I wish this for myself and all of you at Christmas time and all the year through........

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always 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 hollow of His hand.

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

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad.
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

Always remember to forget
The troubles that passed away.
But never forget to remember
The blessings that come each day.

May the saddest day of your future be no worse
Than the happiest day of your past.

May the roof above us never fall in.
And may the friends gathered below it never fall out.

May you have warm words on a cold evening,
A full moon on a dark night,
And the road downhill all the way to your door.

May there be a generation of children
On the children of your children.

May you live to be a hundred years,
With one extra year to repent!

May the Lord keep you in His hand
And never close His fist too tight.
May your neighbors respect you,
Trouble neglect you, The angels protect you
And heaven accept you.

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 your pockets be heavy and your heart be light
May good luck pursue you each morning and night.

May you have walls for the wind,
And a roof for the rain,
And drinks beside the fire -
Laughter to cheer you
And those you love near you,
And all that your heart may desire!

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.

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.

May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

Merry Christmas my friends.............

Trish

You can hear the same proclamation in South Boston. It is not uttered, it is Proclaimed.
After all the next parish over is Dingle.

froggy12

May you be a half-hour in heaven,
before the devil knows you're dead.

Aaah, my birthstone is Ireland, never been there but true Irish blood in my veins.
I gotta take the ferry next year to find out my true roots.

Good luck ta ya!

ste

Nobby,

That's one of my favorite Irish quips, er uh, toasts and boy oh boy do I hope it works!

Ste, get over there! My Mom still has relatives in Ireland which makes me want to go even more. She, my Dad and youngest brother went about 20 years ago and said it was the most wonderful vacation. My b/f is of Irish heritage too sooooooo, maybe a honeymoon? We'll probably be doing the wheelchair tour by then, oh well.

Trish

Ireland is a magical place to me. This is a great blessing, Trish.

Thanks, Merry Christmas to you too.

Though I am of greek decent, I've been mistaken for Irish, or Black-Irish on a few ocassions. A nice thought.

Mark

Merry Christmas and God bless.

I have read that first verse somewhere I think.
also if you dont believe in god you can also just replace it with something/someone else.
It's nice, Trish. :-)

Stefan

Merry christmas to you too, Trish.
I was in Ireland before, but never heard that poem. Its a very nice one indeed. Could you tell me who wrote it?

John23

Hi John,

I wish I had a clue. I've been hearing various versus throughout my life and just a few years ago, I googled the first 2 lines and discovered the whole thing. It is beautiful and I'd love to give credit where credit is due, but I just don't know.

Trish