Irish Proverbs and Sayings le Padraic O’ Farrell

Padraic O’Farrell gathered a rich harvest of wise sayings from the Irish countryside, from the lips of great men – such as Shaw, Wilde, Synge and Swift – and from the unspoilt fount of Irish folklore and legend. Some are humorous, others are wise, but all are worth knowing.

Whenever Irish people congregate, however long removed from a rural environment, gems of wisdom are to be heard in their conversation.

This appealing new hardback edition will be popular with tourists and locals alike, who are looking for a pithy statement such as:

• The wrath of God has nothing on the wrath of an Irishman outbid for land, a horse or a woman.
• A hair on the head is worth two on the brush.
• The family that has no skeleton in the cupboard has buried it instead.
• Dead men tell no tales but there’s many a thing learned in a wake-house.
• Put an Irishman on a spit and you’ll soon have two Irish men turning him.
• If you dig a grave for others you might fall into it yourself.