Daniel Kirkpatrick

The Irish word for a proverb is a seanfhocal—literally “old word.” In a single phrase, each one can convey ancient legal codes, mythic images, and social expectations across fifteen centuries, surviving longer than the sagas or statutes themselves. In this way, these ancient Irish proverbs are more than just sayings—they are windows into the origins of Irish wisdom, reflecting the mythological, legal, and bardic traditions that shaped early Irish society.

This is because – unlike a saga – a seanfhocal needs no storyteller-hero, no scroll. It can be whispered in a forge, nailed above a hearth, or tweeted from a bus stop. That portability made proverbs ideal mnemonic capsules in early Ireland, where literacy was the preserve of monks and lawyers. When a brehon warned “Ní neart go cur le chéile” (No strength without unity), he was citing an instantly recognised legal principle rather than delivering a homily. So what were these proverbs and what were their origins?

What makes a Proverb Irish?

Before we start delving into the origins of these ancient proverbs through the depths of ancient mythology or history, we need to first understand what core elements are there in Irish proverbs. For I have no doubt that anyone with an inkling of Irish heritage will be familiar with one or two of these sources of wisdom. But we rarely pause to consider what they actually are.

The below table provides a clear summary of these core elements, from brevity to symmetry. That’s likely to be no surprise. But it’s worth considering how they compare to those of other ancient cultures.

For those who’d like a more comprehensive list, you should see Dictionary of Irish Proverbs at the Royal Irish Academy.

Core elements of an Ancient Irish proverb

Comparing Irish Proverbs to Other Ancient Cultures

Within the ancient world, much more so than today, wisdom was highly valued and praised. To be wise was seen as a mark of honour and status. Which is why it should be no surprise that many of these cultures had their own wisdom currency: proverbs in their own image. And yet, just as the cultures varied, so too did their understanding of wisdom. Their proverbs are wonderful illustrations of this.

Where Irish proverbs centred around nature and kinship, many others were more subtle (like the Chinese) or more bound up with fate and destiny (like the Greeks and Norse). The Hebrew proverbs frequently focus on our relationship to God, whereas the Irish was almost exclusively about our relationship with one another. To understand why, we should turn to the historical context itself – to the bardic and brehon traditions.

What Are the Origins of Ancient Irish Proverbs?

Irish proverbs were interconnected with early Irish life and this is where we can find their origins. In a pre-literate society steeped in oral tradition, these concise sayings would have been one of the key sources of communal wisdom. Key custodians of this oral wisdom were the professional learned classes. Filí (poet-seers) and bards were trained for years to memorise Ireland’s law, history, genealogy and mythology. In the highest grade of ollamh, a fili studied for up to twelve years, mastering over 300 poetic meters, 250 sagas, and 100 secondary tales.

After the 6th century many filí were granted land and charged to “instruct the residents of the area in law (especially the ancient Brehon laws), literature, and national history”.¹ Bards (the aes dána) traveled from court to court telling tales and composing verse, and storytellers (seanchaí) passed local lore from village to village. All of these had a vested interest in preserving concise wisdom: legal textbooks themselves recorded maxims (short dicta). For example,the Brehon law-text Bechbretha asserts “no-one is obliged to give something to another for nothing,” and Bretha Crólige states “the misdeed of the guilty should not affect the innocent”. Such crisp legal statements show how Irish jurists embedded proverb-like principles in their statutes.

Many of the earliest proverbs can be found in the Brehon law tracts, digitised by the Early Irish Law Texts at University College Cork project, which preserves Ireland’s legal and literary heritage.

Triads of Ireland

Much of this knowledge was also organised mnemonically. The Irish scribes deliberately grouped wisdom into “triads” – sets of three related items – as memory aids. In the 9th-century Trecheng Breth Féne (“Triads of Ireland”), hundreds of triads group names, places and aphorisms into threes. Kuno Meyer, who edited this text in 1906, even notes its title literally means “a triadic arrangement of the sayings of Irishmen” and that it represents only “a small portion of the large number of triads” scattered in early literature.² This triadic form – common in Celtic and Indo-European oral cultures – helped bardic students recall the lore.

Therefore, Irish proverbs originally were designed to be remembered and spoken, not read. They are typically terse and alliterative, making them easy to remember. Indeed, concision was prized – some Irish proverbs consist of only two or three words – and many use rhyme or repeated sounds. For example, Tuigeann Tadhg Taidhgín (“Tadhg understands little Tadhg”) is an alliterative way to say “birds of a feather flock together”.

Their imagery is concrete, drawn from life and nature: e.g. Is binn beál ina thost (“a closed mouth is sweet,” i.e. “silence is golden”). In short, proverbs are built for oral transmission – they rhyme, alliterate and paint vivid pictures so that a listener can recall them easily. This is perhaps most evident in the Irish mythological traditions.

Proverbs in Irish Mythology and Early Society

Certain proverbs resonate strongly with episodes in Ireland’s myth cycles, reflecting the values and events of those tales. In many ways, the early Irish myths were longer-form proverbs – stories which communicated wisdom. Irish mythology is broadly divided into four cycles each with their own set of stories. These follow different periods of ancient Ireland and are covered elsewhere on my blog. But here it’s worth covering how some of our modern proverbs share echoes of these ancient myths.

Mythological Cycle

In the Mythological Cycle (the stories of the Tuatha Dé Danann and Fomorians), the proverb “An té nach bhfuil láidir ní foláir dó a bheith glic” (“He who is not strong must be cunning”) is exemplified by the warrior-god Lugh.

In Cath Maige Tuired II Lugh receives a magical spear in preparation for battle. The saga explicitly notes that “no battle was ever sustained against [the spear], or against the man who held it in his hand”. Lugh himself is not as physically imposing as the one-eyed Fomorian king Balor, but using this strategic gift and his guile he defeats Balor. Lugh’s victory shows that clever tactics (and enchanted weapons) can overcome brute strength – exactly the wisdom of this proverb.

Ulster Cycle

In the Ulster Cycle (the era of Cú Chulainn and the Ulaid), communal solidarity is a recurrent theme, echoed in the saying “Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine” (“People live in each other’s shelter”). The Ulstermen are pledged to support one another as kin and neighbours, much like the meitheal labor-bands of traditional Ireland.

In the Táin Bó Cúailnge, Conchobar mac Nessa’s armies assemble en masse to defend Ulster from Medb’s cattle-raid – an act of communal cooperation in the face of crisis. Even though a magical curse leaves only the young Cúchulainn standing to fight alone for much of the saga, the initial solidarity of Ulster’s people reflects the ideal behind the proverb.

Fenian Cycle

In the Fenian Cycle (the tales of Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Fianna), the heroes are often wanderers and storytellers themselves. This brings to mind “Bíonn siúlach scéalach” (“The wanderer has stories”). The greatest example is the saga of Fionn’s son Oisín, who travels for centuries in the Otherworld (Tír na nÓg) before returning. Oisín comes back an old man overflowing with tales of magical lands and bygone heroes – living proof that a traveler truly carries stories.

This aligns with the proverb’s message: in an oral culture like the Fianna’s, a nomadic warrior gathered experiences everywhere he went. In effect, Oisín embodies the wisdom of “Bíonn siúlach scéalach,” as his personal history illustrates why the itinerant bard or warrior is the one who holds and conveys lore.

Cycle of the Kings

Finally, in the Cycles of the Kings (legends of early High Kings and historical battles), sayings about fortune and well-being can be seen. For example, the old proverb “Is fearr an tsláinte ná an táinte” (“Health is better than wealth”) captures the perspective often implied in the stories. After bloody battles or prolonged hardships, the sagas suggest rulers who preserve their people’s lives and peace achieve greater success than those who pursue riches.

Although no single legend quotes this phrase directly, the theme recurs – after the carnage of conflicts like the Battle of Clontarf, the survival and unity of the kingdom mattered above plunder. In this way, even epics that glorify heroism often quietly affirm that the “health” (welfare) of the realm is more precious than temporary gain, echoing the proverb’s counsel.

Irish Proverbs in Mythology

Irish Proverbs Today

One of the beautiful things about ancient Irish history and culture is its remarkable enduring quality despite – perhaps even because – all the adversity it has faced. Irish proverbs are a wonderful example of this. They don’t just provide snippets of wisdom – they connect us with an ancient past, a people who lived on this land long before Irish culture even existed (at least in the form we’d recognise today).

Therefore, understanding the origins of ancient Irish proverbs shows just how enduring wisdom can be. The intimacy between the ancient Irish and the land in which we now claim should give us pause, for there’s much to say for wisdom that’s survived far beyond any modern civilisation.

Frequently Asked Questions: The Origins of Irish Proverbs

1. https://www.britannica.com/art/fili-ancient-Gaelic-poets#:~:text=After%20the%206th%20century%2C%20filid,continued%20into%20the%2017th%20century ↩︎
2. https://www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk/sengoidelc/donncha/trecheng/#:~:text=The%20original%20name%20of%20this,form%20in%20the%20following%20manuscripts ↩︎

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