Quotes & Sayings About Gaelic

Yes ... I love how the Irish are so comfortable with paradox that they revel in it. In fact, if you took it away from them, I suspect they would start gasping like fish out of water. No wonder their land's name, now removed from its Gaelic notions of abundance in 'eire,' evokes anger, or 'ire,' and yet also the rich, cooling green of a sea-colored jewel. A 'terrible beauty' indeed. They understand oppression and repression and explosion, but they remain a culture of faith-faith that creaks and groans and pulls, but is alive and never dull. And which urges them to art, to poetry, to song-these, too, are forms of action. Of passion. Of conviction. Yes, of love. — Carolyn Weber

Silly woman," he said in Gaelic. "You have not the brain of a fly!" I caught the words for "foolish," and "clumsy," in the subsequent remarks, but quickly stopped listening. I closed my eyes and lost myself instead in the dreamy pleasure of having my hair rubbed dry and then combed out. — Diana Gabaldon

When she was small, she would wake on summer mornings to hear the chatter of her father's lawnmower underneath her window; his voice calling out in greeting to a neighbor. She had felt safe, protected, knowing he was there. More recently, she had waked at dawn and heard Jamie Fraser's voice, speaking in soft Gaelic to his horses outside, and had felt that same feeling return with a rush. No more, though. It — Diana Gabaldon

There had been a time, until 1422, when a number of both Gaelic and Anglo-Irish students attended Oxford and Cambridge in England. But fellow students had complained that Irish living together in large numbers sooner or later got noisy and violent and there was no handling them. Accordingly, the universities imposed a quota system on Irishman, and decreed that those admitted must be scattered around among non-compatriots: exclusively Irish halls of residence were banned. — Emily Hahn

Because they were, like me, Irish Catholic, their nuptials were distinguished by mediocre food, free-flowing liquor, pre-Riverdance-style step dancing, and their own peculiar strains of Gaelic piety. — Maureen Corrigan

I knew how you liked long tales," he said, giving her a wink. "There's sure to be plenty of those."
"In Gaelic," she said.
"All the better for learning it. — Margaret Mallory

Scaoileadh Me ...
'Release me.' That was what he said. No doubt about it. It was in Gaelic, but that was what the voice said.
Holy. Crap. — Sara Humphreys

The lively oral storytelling scene in Scots and Gaelic spills over into the majority English-speaking culture, imbuing it with a strong sense of narrative drive that is essential to the modern novel, screenplay and even non-fiction. — Sara Sheridan

My first language is Gaelic. — Enya

As a lad growing up in the Fifties and Sixties, I played both Gaelic football and soccer and loved them both. — Martin McGuinness

As the rain hides the stars, as the autumn mist hides the hills, as the clouds veil the blue of the sky, so the dark happenings of my lot hide the shining of Your face from me. Yet, if I may hold Your hand in the darkness, it is enough. Since I know that, though I may stumble in my going, You do not fall. (Gaelic Prayer) — Alistair MacLean

I used to go to a Gaelic class on a Saturday morning, but I never felt myself that I could speak it properly. — Johann Lamont

And so he began haltingly to speak - in Gaelic, as it was the only tongue that didn't seem to require any effort. He understood that he was to speak of what filled his heart, and so began with Scotland - and Culloden. Of grief. Of loss. Of fear. — Diana Gabaldon

Sassenach. He had called me that from the first; the Gaelic word for outlander, a stranger. An Englishman. First in jest, then in affection. — Diana Gabaldon

Some were in Gaelic and some in English, used apparently according to which language best fitted the rhythm of the words, for all of them had a beauty to the speaking, beyond the content of the tale itself. — Diana Gabaldon

For a long time I felt bad. I wondered why I didn't want to learn Japanese, why I didn't already speak Japanese, why I would rather go to Paris or Istanbul or Barcelona rather than Tokyo. But then I thought, Who cares? Did anyone ask John F. Kennedy if he spoke Gaelic and visited Dublin or if he ate potatoes every night or if he collected paintings of leprechauns? So why are we supposed to not forget our culture? Isn't my culture right here since I was born here? — Viet Thanh Nguyen

Beware the anger of a patient man. — James Patterson

Dapper closed his eyes and started to say something quietly - chanting. "Gaelic," Lincoln whispered in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. After a minute or two, the living-room wall started to move toward us, the mantelpiece splitting in the middle, opening up like two massive doors. "Open sesame," Zoe said, her voice filled with awe. Spence was grinning ear to ear. "I know, right! I'm waiting for the troll to come out and ask for a magic password." I smiled at him. Griffin didn't. He smacked Spence over the head instead. Salvatore — Jessica Shirvington

My father could swear in Gaelic and English, by the way, ladies and gentlemen. — Denis Leary

It was the stuff of legends, the Highland Rising of 1745 in support of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Sebastian had heard the stories, too, from his grandmother, Hendon's mother, who had been a Grant from Glenmoriston. Stories of unarmed clansmen dragged out of crofts and slaughtered before their screaming children. Of women and children burned alive, or turned out of their villages to die in the snow. What was done to the Highlanders after Culloden would forever be a dark stain on the English soul. Everything from the pipes to the plaids to the Gaelic language itself had been forbidden, obliterating an entire culture. — C.S. Harris

I don't know if it's a forever deal, a sheep farm in the middle of nowhere. But I want to try, for Harry's sake. And I love it all when you're here. It's like you made it new for me. You--you are my forever deal."
There it was again, that dangerous, beautiful word. In Gaelic, wilder and lovelier still. "A-chaoidh."
"Yes, forever, Nic. A-chaoidh. — Harper Fox

She read the Gaelic and her eyes misted. 'My heart is your heart. Ever and always. — Nora Roberts

I've always been quite an active person especially when I was younger. When I was in primary school, I used to play lots of sports. I was a sprinter and I did basketball and swimming and Gaelic football and things like that. So I always thought, I guess, that it would be fun to incorporate that much physical activity and work into a dramatic piece. — Saoirse Ronan

Abruptly the drumbeat softens into heartbeat. The camera becomes his eye. This was what had summoned him - a human heart beating from within a ripped-off, rolled-up tiny piece of cloth. A discarded newborn. Black. A useless, half-dead, famished, thrown-away boy. The madwoman's? No, she's beyond childbearing years. He approaches, his steps making no sound at all. When he reaches down to turn it over, the thing quivers. Suddenly Milo's brain fills with a soft cascade of men and women's voices from the past in French and English, German and Dutch, Cree and Gaelic. They gurgle and babble and blend as he stares at the unwanted infant. Is it breathing? Yes, — Nancy Huston

When I was a senior in high school, I went to Ireland to study Irish Gaelic. And after one semester at Trinity College, I went way out to the west coast of Ireland and rented a little house by myself. — Rosemary Mahoney

I can speak French, understand Gaelic and know my history. That's the training music has given me. — Eddi Reader

Now ye repeat the words as I say them," Logan said.
He murmured something in Gaelic, and she repeated the words aloud as best she could.
"Good," he praised.
Again, she warmed inside. Foolishly.
When she'd finished her part, he said something similar in return. She heard her name in the mix of Gaelic.
Then Munro stepped forward and unwound the cloth.
"What now?" Maddie asked.
"Just this." He bent his head and pressed a quick kiss to her lips.

-Logan & Maddie — Tessa Dare

Wherever it's spoken, Gaelic sounds like a combination of Swedish and Hebrew. — Howard Tomb

He linked his fingers with hers. And because he had used it when he'd hurt her, he balanced that out by using it now. "A ghra."
"Huh?" A line appeared between her brows. "Is that Gaelic again?"
"Yes." He brought their joined fingers to his lips. "Love. My love. — J.D. Robb

My father was a creature of the archaic world, really. He would have been entirely at home in a Gaelic hill-fort. His side of the family, and the houses I associate with his side of the family, belonged to a traditional rural Ireland. — Seamus Heaney

The McEvoys, for their part, apparently had two dominant founding Y chromosomes, a theory that is supported by records revealing that when the name was anglicized, two ancient families, the Mac Fhiodhbhuidhes and the Mac an Bheathas, were drawn in under the same banner and both became McEvoys. History also indicates that fully three Irish surnames - McGuiness, Neeson, and McCreesh - are all anglicizations of the same Gaelic name Mac Aonghusa (son of Angus), which DNA evidence confirms, as all three groups overlap strongly on one Y. — Christine Kenneally

He was dreaming about wee Roger, who for some reason was a grown man now, but still holding his tiny blue bear, minuscule in a broad-palmed grasp. His son was speaking to him in Gaelic, saying something urgent that he couldn't understand, and he was growing frustrated, telling Roger over and over for Christ's sake to speak English, couldn't he? — Diana Gabaldon

The work praises the man. — Charles L. Allen

Some of the males rose from the table then, making noise about a rugby rematch. MacRieve tensed, but didn't join them.
When a couple of the men said things in Gaelic, their tones taunting, she asked, "Are they trash-talking you?"
"Oh, aye. According to them, I'm the veriest pussy. Already mate-whipped. — Kresley Cole

Draiocht.
It's the Gaelic word for magic That is what you are, Ella Mae. You are Other. You are magical. — Ellery Adams

Deep Peace, Deep Peace Deep peace, deep peace of the running wave to you; Deep peace of the flowing air to you; Deep peace of the quiet earth to you; Deep peace of the shining stars to you; Deep peace of the gentle night to you; Moon and stars pour their healing light on you. Deep peace to you. Deep peace to you. - Traditional Gaelic Blessing — Adele Ryan McDowell

I haven't," I said shortly. "But I've the sense I was born with, and two ears in good working order. And whatever 'King George's health' may be in Gaelic, I doubt very much that it sounds like 'Bragh Stuart.' " He tossed back his head and laughed. "That it doesna," he agreed. "I'd tell ye the proper Gaelic for your liege lord and ruler, but it isna a word suitable for the lips of a lady, Sassenach or no. — Diana Gabaldon

Come inside."
Shelby tilted her head just enough to rest it briefly on his shoulder as they walked to the door. "I'm relying on your word that I'll walk out again in one piece at the end of the weekend."
He only grinned. "I told you my stand on playing the mediator."
"Thanks a lot." She glanced up at the door, noting the heavy brass crest that served as a door knocker. The MacGregor lion stared coolly at her with its Gaelic motto over its crowned head. "Your father isn't one to hide his light under a bushel,is he?"
"Let's just say he has a strong sense of family pride." Alan lifted the knocker, then let it fall heavily against the thick door. Shelby imagined the sound would vibrate into every nook and cranny in the house. "The Clan MacGregor," Alan began in a low rolling burr, "is one of the few permitted to use the crown in their crest.Good blood. Strong stock. — Nora Roberts

On November Eve they are at their gloomiest, for according to the old Gaelic reckoning, this is the first night of winter. This night they dance with the ghosts, and the pooka is abroad, and witches make their spells, and girls set a table with food in the name of the devil, that the fetch of their future lover may come through the window and eat of the food. After November Eve the blackberries are no longer wholesome, for the pooka has spoiled them. — W.B.Yeats

Everything that we inherit, the rain, the skies, the speech, and anybody who works in the English language in Ireland knows that there's the dead ghost of Gaelic in the language we use and listen to and that those things will reflect our Irish identity. — John McGahern

There is an oath upon her," he said to Arch, and I realized dimly that he was still speaking in Gaelic, though I understood him clearly. "She may not kill, save it is for mercy or her life. It is myself who kills for her. — Diana Gabaldon

Fort of the Dane,
Garrison of the Saxon,
Augustan capital
Of a Gaelic nation,
Appropriating all
The alien brought,
You give me time for thought. — Louis MacNeice

The Italians even have a word for the mark left on a table by a moist glass (culacino) while the Gaelic speakers of Scotland, not to be outdone, have a word for the itchiness that overcomes the upper lip just before taking a sip of whiskey. (Wouldn't they just?) It's sgriob. — Bill Bryson

James Joyce's English was based on the rhythm of the Irish language. He wrote things that shocked English language speakers but he was thinking in Gaelic. I've sung songs that if they were in English, would have been banned too. The psyche of the Irish language is completely different to the English-speaking world. — Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh

He thought of the grammar of Gaelic, in which you did not say you were in love withsomeone, but that you "had love toward" her, as if itwere a physical thing you could present and hold - a bundle of tulips, a golden ring, a parcel of tenderness. — Jodi Picoult

I have always loved Scottish music - all sorts of Celtic, Gaelic music. — Carter Burwell

Tears and laughter, they are so much Gaelic to me. — Samuel Beckett

In Manhasset you were either Yankees or Mets, rich or poor, sober or drunk ... You were 'Gaelic' or 'garlic, as one schoolmate told me, and I couldn't admit, to him or myself, that I had both Irish and Italian ancestors. — J.R. Moehringer

If he is strong, then we'll have to be quick and clever," she said in a cheerful tone."A bit of trickery may be needed as well."
"Ach, ye sound like a Highlander," he said. "In Gaelic we say, an ten ach mbionn laidir ni follair do bheith glic." He who is not strong must be cunning. — Margaret Mallory

When I was a kid, if you didn't speak Irish, you really wanted to. And you played Gaelic games and you didn't pay any attention to what was happening in the outside world, because really, Ireland was the center of the universe. And I don't think that's the case anymore. Although, admittedly, it is the center of the universe. — Roddy Doyle

Conchar is an ancient Gaelic term for those who admire the king of all hunters: the wolf.
To some, the wolf is a magnificent beast, the pinnacle of predatory evolution. To others, the wolf is a thing of nightmare. — Matt Hilton

The Gaelic language itself depends very much on ear and rhythm, and when those who are thinking in Gaelic speak in English, they get the same rhythm. — Lady Gregory

Sorcha," he whispered, and realized that he had called her so a moment before. Now, that was odd; no wonder she had been surprised. It was her name in the Gaelic, but he never called her by it. He liked the strangeness of her, the Englishness. She was his Claire, his Sassenach. — Diana Gabaldon

A local butcher offered me money to put in my next book a portrayal of a customer he didn't like that would make him ashamed to show his face in the town. It was like the tradition of the Gaelic poets, who were paid money to write in derision about people. — John McGahern

What did you call me?"
"Ah. A chuisle. Gaelic. 'My darling'. I prefer the proper translation, mind you."
"Which is?"
He gave a bashful smile. "My pulse. — Tabitha McGowan

Singing in Gaelic is very, very natural to do. I think lends itself very much so to being sung. — Enya

He turned to face the assembled clansmen, raised his arms and greeted them with a ringing shout. "Tulach Ard!" "Tulach Ard!" the clansmen gave back in a roar. The woman next to me shivered. There was a short speech next, given in Gaelic. This was greeted with periodic roars of approval, and then the oath-taking proper commenced. — Diana Gabaldon

Sometimes, however, the Gaelic blood asserts itself. The Frenchmen will then attack. But the French attacking spirit is like bottled lemonade. It lacks tenacity. The Englishmen, on the other hand, one notices that they are of Germanic blood. Sportsmen easily take to flying, and Englishmen see in flying nothing but a sport. — Manfred Von Richthofen

It wasn't so long ago that it was not popular to speak Gaelic in Ireland because the areas that Gaelic is spoken in were much poorer areas. — Enya

I think the poetry that came out of Belfast, and especially the Queen's University set, in the 1970s and '80s - you know, Paul Muldoon and Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon and Ciaran Carson - that was probably the finest body of work since the Gaelic renaissance, up there with the work of Yeats and Synge and Lady Gregory. — Adrian McKinty

Gaelic football...may seem like a primitive, violent, mindless exercise in unspeakable brutality. However, to the initiated enthusiast, it is all this and more. — Arthur Mathews

I glanced upward once, to see Brianna glowing, still smiling from ear to ear. Jamie was behind her, also smiling, his cheeks wet with tears. He said something to her in husky Gaelic, and brushing the hair away from her neck, leaned forward and kissed her gently, just behind the ear — Diana Gabaldon

Do you speak Gaelic Noah? she suddenly asked.
His heart clenched. It actually hurt, as though spikes of steel had been dug into it.
should I?
Maybe not ... — Lora Leigh

Maud Gonne was - excuse me, Maud Gonne was central to the Gaelic literature revival. She wrote plays, and she sang. — Derrick Jensen

The Gaelic League is founded not upon hatred of England, but upon love of Ireland. Hatred is a negative passion; it is powerful - a very powerful destroyer; but it is useless for building up. Love, on the other hand, is like faith; it can move mountains, and faith, we have mountains to move. — Douglas Hyde

But listen well. In Tir na nOg, because there is no sorrow, there is no joy.
Do you hear the meaning of the seachain's song? — Alexandra Ripley

My kids are Irish; I want them to grow up playing Gaelic football and learning Irish. — Shane Filan

The position is: the Gaelic language is no longer the native language; it is dead, yet food is being brought to the graveyard. — Patrick Kavanagh

I grew up watching my Dad, Uncles Ciaran Murray and Brendan Murray, and cousin, Aedin Murray, who were all national caliber Gaelic football players in Ireland. I try to watch as much Gaelic football as I can, it is my first love. I bleed Green, White, and Orange. Gaelic football players don't get paid to play, you play to represent your county that is more important than earning money. — Patrick Murray

I'm a multi-lingual Kundalini-dancing shapeshifter to the 69th degree.
I know French, Italian, Arabic, Egyptian Arabic, Greek, Latin, Gaelic, Scottish, English, and American English.
I'm cunninglingual. — Sienna McQuillen

Dubh is do?" I was incredulous. It was no wonder I hadn't been able to find the stupid word. "Should I be
calling pubs poos?"
"Dubh is Gaelic, Ms. Lane. Pub is not. — Karen Marie Moning

The politicians in Ireland speak Gaelic the way the Real Housewives of Orange County speak French. — Michael Lewis

I heard it stated that, on one occasion, during one of Alastair's visits to his friend "Mr Lachlan," the famous divine requested the bard to compose a poem on the "Resurrection of Christ." To this he demurred and told Mr Lachlan in Gaelic that "he knew more about such matters himself, and should try his own hand — Various

Although, of course, my definition of evil is not everybody else's. Evil is being involved in the glamour and charm of material existence, glamour in its old Gaelic sense meaning enchantment with the look of things, rather than the soul of things. — Kenneth Anger

God's help is nearer than the door. — William Gurney Benham

I speak some French, Spanish, a little German and Gaelic. — Terry Wogan