Religion And Irish Language Prayers

Irish Language Prayers 🙏🏻: Do you have any idea about Ireland’s religious background in the past and present? And when we talk about religion, we also talk about prayers; do you know some prayers in the Irish language? In this blog, we will talk all about that. Continue reading this blog to learn more.

I have talked about a lot of Irish topics such as poetry, schools and universities. But today, I want to talk about another topic.

Quite frankly, I was and still am not all that religious. I do pray every evening, but I only do so because my parents ingrained that practice to me. I cannot get a full night’s rest if I don’t give 5-10 minutes of my time praying! However, I fully respect those that closely observe their religious practices and wish them the best. Truthfully, I even find their prayers beautiful and religion interesting.

As I write this blog, I wondered if our readers knew in particular the history of religion in Ireland. I also wondered if some of our religious Irish learners got curious and tried to learn prayers in the Irish language.

As a result, we are going to cover Irish language prayers and a little bit of background on the history of religion in Ireland. Stay tuned and read on to learn more! Fan le do thoil agus léigh ar aghaidh chun níos mó a fhoghlaim!

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All about Irish language prayers and religion

Fast forward to today, there are a number of prayers written in the Irish language. But before sharing some examples, let us first talk about religion in Ireland.

Today, Roman Catholicism dominates religion in Ireland. Additionally, it also played a significant role when it came to politics and society as a whole since the 12th century. With that said, there is no official and required religion in Ireland. If you live there, you can rest assured that you have religious freedom granted by the Constitution. In layman’s terms, you can pick any religion you want to practice!

Before Christianity came in the 5th century, those who lived in Ireland had the Celtic religion as something to believe in. As mentioned by Britannica,

The Celtic religion had a major influence on Ireland long before the adoption of Christianity in the 5th century. Its precise rituals and beliefs remain somewhat obscure, but the names of hundreds of Celtic gods have survived, and elements of the religion—particularly the cults of Mary (an echo of Danu, the Earth Mother goddess whom the Celts worshiped) and St. Brigid (one of Ireland’s patron saints) and several seasonal festivals—carried into the Christian period.

Nearly 4/5 of people in Ireland nowadays are Catholic, with a minority composed of other religions such as Protestants, Muslim, Orthodox Christians and Jews.

Now… the Irish language prayers

Now that I have given you a bit of a background about Ireland’s religions, let us now take a look at some Gaelic prayers. Of course, as a predominantly Roman Catholic country, expect to find some Catholic prayers translated to Irish.

First, we have the Lord’s prayer – in its English and Irish form, respectively:

Ár nAthair

Ár nAthair atá ar neamh,
go naofar d’ainm
Go dtaga do ríocht
Go ndéantar do thoil
ar an talamh mar a dhéantar ar neamh.
ár n-arán laethúil tabhair dúinn inniu
Agus maith dúinn ár bhfiacha
Mar a mhaithimidne ár bhféichiúnaithe féin
Agus ná lig sinn i gcathú
ach saor sinn ó olc. ( Amen ).

óir is leatsa an ríocht
agus an chumhacht agus an ghlóir
Trí shaol na saol. Amen.

Our Father

Our Father who art in heaven,
may your name be hallowed.
May your kingdom come.
May your will be done.
on the earth as it is done in heaven.
Our daily bread give to us today
and forgive us our debts
As we forgive our own debtors
And lead us us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil. ( Amen ).

For yours is the kingdom
and the power and the glory
For ever and ever. Amen.

Another example is the Hail Mary:

An tÁivé Máiria

‘Sé do bheatha, a Mhuire, atá lán de ghrásta,
tá an Tiarna leat.
Is beannaithe thú idir mná
Agus is beannaithe toradh do bhroinne, íosa.
A Naomh-Mhuire, a Mháthair Dé,
guigh orainn na peacaigh,
Anois agus ar uair ár mbáis. Amen.

The Hail Mary

Hail Mary, who is full of grace,

the Lord is with you

You are blessed among women

And the fruit of your womb, Jesus, is blessed.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us, the sinners

Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Another prayer

Lastly, we have the Apostle’s Creed. Just like the two mentioned above, this prayer also has its Irish language version.

CRÉ NA nASPAL

Creidim i nDia, an tAthair uilechumhachtach,
cruthaitheoir neimhe agus talún;
agus in Íosa Críost,
a aon mhacsan, ár dTiarna,
a gabhadh on Spiorad Naomh,
a rugadh ó Mhuire Ógh;
a d’fhulaing páis faoi Phontius Píoláit,
a céasadh ar chrois, a fuair bás agus a adhlacadh;
a chuaigh síos go hifreann,
a d’éirigh an treas lá ó mhairbh;
a chuaigh suas ar neamh;
atá ina shuí ar dheis Dé,
an tAthair uilechumhachtach ;
as sin tiocfaidh sé chun breithiúnas a thabhairt
ar bheo agus ar mhairbh.
Creidim sa Spiorad Naomh,
sa NaomhEaglais Chaitliceach,
i gcomaoin na naomh;
i maithiúnas na bpeacaí,
in aiséirí na colainne,
agus sa bheatha shíoraí. Amen.

THE APOSTLES CREED

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ,
His only Son, our Lord
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day He rose again,
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand
of God the Father Almighty.
He will come again to judge
the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Catholic Church,
the Communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting. Amen.

Learn Irish through Fluentirish

Now that I have shared with you readers the history of religion in Ireland and prayers in Irish language, we want to discuss how we can help you in everything Irish-related.

ba mhaith linn plé leat freisin conas is féidir linn cabhrú leat i ngach rud a bhaineann leis an nGaeilge.

If you can understand simple Irish, you will want to improve. Fluentirish is here for you. Listen every day to get on with Irish.

Má tá tú ábalta Gaeilge shimplí a thuiscint – beidh tú ag iarraidh biseach a dhéanamh. Tá Fluentirish anseo faoi do choinne. Bí ag éisteacht gach aon lá chun a bheith ag gabháil ar aghaidh i nGaeilge.

We provide informative blogs and helpful podcasts that can help in your quest to learn the Irish language.

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