Collection: Irish Proverb / Seanfhocal Prints

A seanfhocal is literally an old word. Not a saying invented to be printed — a piece of speech that survived because it was compressed enough to carry, and true enough to keep being said.

The eight in this collection

• Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin — there is no hearth like your own hearth. The English gives it as "no place like home", which loses the fire.
• Ní neart go cur le chéile — there is no strength without unity. Still quoted at union meetings and in GAA dressing rooms.
• Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí — praise the young and they will flourish.
• Is maith an scéalaí an aimsir — time is a good storyteller. The nearest English is "time will tell", which is flatter.
• Is fearr Gaeilge bhriste ná Béarla cliste — broken Irish is better than clever English. An argument about who the language belongs to, in seven words.
• Is maith an scáthán súil charad — a friend's eye is a good mirror.
• Is fearr an tsláinte ná na táinte — health is better than herds. The old measure of wealth was cattle, and the proverb still uses it.
• Your feet will bring you where your heart is — the one most often given as a leaving present.

Set in type, not decorated

Each is typeset in both Irish and English and printed with pigment inks on 250gsm archival matte paper — acid-free and uncoated. Framed in solid wood with shatterproof glazing and a hanging kit, or unframed for your own framer. Made to order, free worldwide shipping.

What each one means, where it is still said, and the three-word demonstration of why the fada matters, is in Irish words and phrases as Gaeilge.

Hanging them as a set

A seanfhocal is, literally, an old word — speech that survived because it was compressed enough to carry. Set at one size on one grid, these line up as a row, which is how proverbs were always kept: one beside the next, each correcting the last. Three across a kitchen wall is the arrangement; two over a door is the other.

More in Irish Language Prints — As Gaeilge, or the full Irish Art Prints collection.