Nollaig shona dhuit! (Happy Christmas!/Merry Christmas!)
Pronounce it something like /Null-eg hunna ghwitch/
There you go, I have just wished you a happy Christmas.
Do you prefer to hear that being said? Take our Christmas Irish lesson. Bitesize Irish members have access to this full lesson, with pronunciation recordings. Check out all our Nollaig / Christmas resouces for the Irish language.
The “dhuit” literally translates to “to you”. It’s like we’re wishing a happy Christmas ‘towards you’.
That’s for speaking with one person, but to address two or more people in the Irish language:
Nollaig
This little word “Nollaig” means Christmas.
If you have signed up for our online lessons, this word may already look familiar.
In Lesson: Seasons and months you’ll learn that Nollaig is also used to mean December.
You’ll often see “Month of December” written in Irish:
(If you noticed the missing “i” from “Nollaig”, that’s not a mistake. It’s due to grammar.)
Before moving to the next Irish expression, do you want to learn how to wish someone a Happy Christmas? Check out this pronunciation video!
How To Say – Happy Christmas in Irish Gaelic
How to say Happy Christmas – VIDEO
Happy New Year
Here’s how to say Happy New Year:
Athbhliain faoi mhaise dhuit (Happy New Year)
/Ah-vleen fwee vosh-ah ghwitch/
That’s when you’re speaking with one person. To wish two or more people a happy new year in Irish Gaelic, you can say:
Athbhliain faoi mhaise dhaoibh (Happy New Year)
/Ah-vleen fwee vosh-ah gheev/
Bitesize Irish Gaelic members can access these lessons for learning how to count in Irish:
- Lesson: Numbers to 20
- Lesson: Numbers over 20 Part 1 and Part 2
Wrap up (or unwrap?)
Nollaig shona dhuit, agus athbhliain faoi mhaise dhuit
/Null-eg hunna ghwitch, ogg-us ah-vleen fwee vosh-ah ghwitch/
= Happy Christmas, and a Happy New Year.
And may we take this chance to wish you and your family Nollaig shona, from Bitesize Irish!
Nollaig – Irish language Christmas resources with free ebook.
7 thoughts on “Phrases for an Irish Gaelic Christmas”
Thank you this fantastic.
Thanks so much, Eoin! Sharing the link over at IWK and hoping lots of people find their way to you!
Your Christmas blog came just in time for our annual Christmas party at the Irish Cultural Center of New England! Very cool.
Go raibh mile maith agat!
Siobhan O Leannachain
Bain taithneamh as! Enjoy it.
There’s a teacher here, an Irish teacher, called Tom Doyle, he is a very kind person… and now I’ll be able to say NOLLAIG SHONA DHUIT, AGUS ATHBHLIAIN FAOI MHAISE DHUIT! Well, I’ll try… Lots of letters which are not pronounced…. The thing is that I’m learning something new!!. Regards, Alma
If you’re confused by the spelling, do consider learning the rules with our cheatsheets: http://www.bitesizeirishgaelic.com/ebooks/pronunciation/
I’m quite interested in learning this difficult and beautiful language!! I´m Mexican, my name is Alma Rosa (alma means “soul” and Rosa means “pink”)… I´m an English teacher and I live in a small town called Cuernavaca in the state of Morelos (50 mins from Mexico City). I was born in Mexico City, I love big cities!! but now I have to be here…
I love culture so I think we’ve to expand our knowledge, don’t you think? Thank you for this opportunity! Best regards, Alma