Twelve Days of Irish Words and Phrases: Send Love with Cártaí Nollag
Written by Ciaran on Dec 02, 2024 | 0 Comments
We are on day two of our Twelve Days of Irish Christmas. Inspired by that traditional carol, and the funny Irish version, Christmas Countdown, we're bringing you Twelve Days of Irish Christmas (Words).
Photo Credit: Annie Spratt on Unsplash
1. Send Love with a Cártaí Nollag
We LOVE sending Christmas cards here in Ireland, or cártaí nollag in Irish. Over 1 million cards will go through An Post, the Irish postal service, in the week running up to Christmas alone. This may not sound like a lot but we are only a country of 5.2 million!
Over 75% of Irish adults believe sending cards is an "important and worthwhile tradition." So, if you agree with them, here are a few Irish words that you might like to use in your own Christmas Cards.
It's still very common to receive cards with greetings "as Gaeilge", even though many of us wouldn't use Irish daily. Building on the phrases from Day 1, here are a few adaptations for addressing specific loved ones in a cárta:
If you wanted to address your wife, you could say - Nollaig shona duit mo bhean chéile (Null-ig Hun-ah ditch Muh vyan khay-leh).
For your husband, you would say - Nollaig shona duit m'fhear céile (Null-ig Hun-ah ditch M'yar kay-leh).
Nollaig shona duit a mham (Null-ig Hun-ah ditch a Wawm) uses the more relaxed term for Mother (Máthair in Irish) to wish your mam a happy Christmas.
Nollaig shona duit a dhaid (Null-ig Hun-ah ditch a yad). Like the phrase above for mam, we've gone for the more relaxed term for father (Athair in Irish) to say "Happy Christmas, Dad".
For your daughter, you would say Nollaig shona duit m'iníon (Null-ig Hun-ah ditch M'in-een) which sounds very cute to our ears.
And for your son, you would say Nollaig shona duit a mhac (Null-ig Hun-ah ditch uh wak).
And if none of the above fits, you could also roll with Nollaig shona duit a chara (Null-ig Hun-ah ditch uh kharra). Translated to English, this is a sort of strange-sounding Happy Christmas, Friend. But trust us, this works in Irish and is a multipurpose phrase you can use for a man or woman. It's for anyone to whom you wish to show warmth and respect.
My Irish Cárta
If you are shopping with us this holiday season, you may be interested to know that we also have gorgeous handmade cards or cártaí. Just add it at checkout for gifting made easy!
And if you don't fancy chancing the Irish yourself, we can even write the card for you... just leave us a note on the order.
What's Next?
Check back in with us tomorrow for Day 3 of our Twelve Days of Irish Christmas, or open door number 2 of our 12 Days of Christmas offers! And, of course, if you need any help selecting a gift for yourself or a loved one, please do get in touch.
Christmas Gifts to treasure
Our fine Celtic and Irish jewelry is a gift they will always remember and treasure forever.
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Ciaran
My Irish Jeweler
Born in Co. Antrim and reared in Dublin, I was fascinated with Gaelic culture from an early age. I suppose it's not surprising given my mother inherited a grá for the Irish language from my grandfather, an Irish school headmaster. And that grá continues! My brother and sister are now Gaelic teachers here in Ireland, my niece is an award winning Irish dancer, and I proudly work to share Irish culture through our Irish and Celtic Jewelry at My Irish Jeweler!
I love researching and reading about the history of Irish design. It's at the core of what we do here at My Irish Jeweler. I find much of it so interesting that I have to share what I find. I hope you enjoy it!
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