How to Say Happy Birthday in Irish

Celebrating an Irish birthday? Here's how to say Happy Birthday to somebody in Irish.

Part 1
Part 1 of 2:

Saying Happy Birthday

  1. Image titled Say Happy Birthday in Irish Step 1
    1
    Be aware that it is possible to use one of two ways to say Happy Birthday to others. In Irish, you can use two different words for "birthday":[1]
    • Lá breithe; or
    • Breithlá.
  2. Image titled Say Happy Birthday in Irish Step 2
    2
    Learn how to say Happy Birthday using the two different methods:[2]
    • Say "Lá breithe shona duit" - Happy birthday to you - Law breh-ha shun-ah ditch
    • Say "Breithlá shona duit" - Happy birthday to you - Breh-law shun-ah ditch.
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Part 2
Part 2 of 2:

Singing the Birthday Song

  1. Image titled Say Happy Birthday in Irish Step 3
    1
    Learn the Irish version of the Happy Birthday song. Here's how the song goes:[3]
    • Lá breithe shona duit, lá breithe shona duit, lá breithe shona [name], lá breithe shona duit.[4]
  2. Image titled Say Happy Birthday in Irish Step 4
    2
    Here's the pronunciation:[5]
    • Law breh-ha hun-ah ditch - Lá breithe shona duit
    • Law breh-ha hun-ah [name] - Lá breithe shona [name]
  3. Image titled Say Happy Birthday in Irish Step 5
    3
    Learn other relevant exclamations. For example:
    • Hip-Hip Hooray! - Heip-heip abú! - Hep hep aboo.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    How do I say, "Happy birthday, Patrick!" in Gaelic?
    Keelan
    Keelan
    Community Answer
    Translation: "Lá breithe shona duit, a Phádraig!"
  • Question
    It's "La breithe sona", not "shona" because la is masculine. If that were correct, I'd use this resource in my class.
    Bookwormara
    Bookwormara
    Community Answer
    We will change this article to reflect your suggestions. Thanks for your input!
  • Question
    How do I say, "Happy Birthday, my Irish Love"?
    Keelan
    Keelan
    Community Answer
    Lá breithe shona duit, a chroí Ghaelach.
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References

  1. ↑ http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaeilge/donncha/focal/features/birthday.html
  2. ↑ https://omniglot.com/language/phrases/irish.php
  3. ↑ https://www.gaelicmatters.com/irish-birthday-toast.html
  4. ↑ https://www.letsgoireland.com/happy-birthday-in-irish/
  5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnvYuDEqyro

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 11 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 152,337 times.
93 votes - 77%
Co-authors: 11
Updated: September 27, 2022
Views: 152,337
Categories: World Languages | Birthdays
Article SummaryX

There are 2 ways to say happy birthday in Irish. You can either say, “Lá breithe” or “Breithlá.” To say “Happy birthday to you,” say, “Lá breithe shona duit,” or “Breithlá shona duit.” For more tips, including how to sing the birthday song in Irish, read on!

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