Breithlá Sona Duit!

Happy Birthday to You!

There are two equally good ways to say “Happy Birthday!” in Irish:

• Breithlá Sona! (BREH-LAW SO-nuh)
• Lá Breithe Sona! (LAW BREH-huh SO-nuh)

Two ways to say “May you live to be 100!”

• Go maire tú an céad! (guh MA-ruh too uhn KYAYD)
• Go dté tú an céad! (guh JAY too uhn KYAYD)
• ... And a year for repentance!
  ... Agus bliain chun aithrí! (AH-guhs BLEE-ihn khoon A-hree)

Other useful expressions:

• Go maire tú an lá! (guh MA-ruh too uhn LAW) = Congratulations!   Many happy returns!
• Sláinte agus saol chugat! (SLAWN-chuh ah-guhs SEEL KHU-guht) = Health and long life to you!
• Cén aois atá tú? (KAYN EESH uh-TAW too) = How old are you?
• Tá tú an-óg fós! (TAW too AHN-OHG FOHS) = You're still very young!

The Happy Birthday Song in Irish

Here it's sung to Séamas. Just replace “a Shéamais” with your friend's name and belt it out, preferably in a public place. “Go raibh tú sona inniu” (guh REHV too SO-nuh in-YOO) literally means “May you be happy today”.

Go raibh tú sona inniu,
Go raibh tú sona inniu,
Go raibh tú sona, a Shéamais,
Go raibh tú sona inniu!

And some proverbs:

Fiche bliain ag fás. Fiche bliain faoi bhláth. Fiche bliain ag cromadh. Fiche bliain gur cuma ann nó as.	Twenty years growing. Twenty years in bloom. Twenty years declining. Twenty years when it doesn't matter whether you're there or not.
Tá onóir ag an aois agus uaisle ag an óige.	Age has honour and youth has nobility.