Saint Patrick's day: Meanings of Irish Proverbs & Sayings

Well its getting closer to SaintPatrick's day . With all the planning for festivities and stocking up on the corned beef and cabbage, I began thinking of an old Irish saying I have heard. "The luck of the Irish" - what does that exactly mean? Does that mean the Irish are extraordinarily lucky? Or does it mean they have no luck at all? Could it be a bit of irony?

 I then became more curious about other Irish saying's that I have heard in the past. Have you ever heard of the Irish saying "An Irishman is never drunk as long as he can hold on to one blade of grass and not fall off the face of the earth." I am not positive but I think it may mean that an Irishman can hold his liquor and it doesn't matter how much he drinks he will not be considered drunk in his eyes.

Here is an Irish blessing that I thought was very nice. "May your neighbors respect you, trouble neglect you, and heaven accept you."                        -Irish Blessing

Here is an Irish Prayer that I thought I would share with you.  - "May those that love us, love us, and those that don't love us, may God turn their hearts, and if he doesn't turn their hearts, may he turn there ankles, so we'll know them by their limp."              -Irish Prayer

Here is another Irish saying that I want to throw in for your enjoyment.  -  "The Devil does a nice job for such a lousy location."     I am going to assume this means that, the Devil really starts a lot of problems on earth even though he's in such a bad location.

Here are some Irish Proverbs  -  "Hunger is the best sauce."    Which means, If your hungry, everything tastes good.           -Irish Proverb

"Dead with tea and dead without it."    Which means, Some people are never happy with what they have. -Irish Proverb

"Never burn a penny candle while looking for a half penny."    Which means, Don't spend more for something then its worth.     -Irish Proverb

"Breeding will break out in the eyes of a cat"    Which means, The true nature of someone's Character is revealed through their eyes.     -Irish proverb

"A silent mouth is sweet."    Which means, silence is golden.     -Irish proverb

Have a very happy Saint Patrick's day, I hope you enjoyed the information.

Slainte !!!     Slainte "means to good health

 I thought , I would ask my friend for her take on this since she's Irish, she may know a thing or two about this saying. She said "the Irish people suffered many bouts of misfortune and whenever something goes good for an Irishman its called "The luck of the Irish." Which would be considered a miracle of a some sorts, because they suffered so much. So if something ever goes good for an Irish person it must be luck, because nothing should ever go right for an Irish person. I am satisfied with that answer, sounds about right to me. The Irish have suffered through many trying times. For an instance the potato famine. Millions of Irish people starved to death and caused millions to flee the country.