How to Say Merry Christmas in Irish

Merry Christmas in Irish is Nollaig Shona Duit when you’re wishing it to one person, and Nollaig Shona Daoibh when you’re wishing it to more than one. Shortened to Nollaig Shona, it works for anyone. In past years it has greeted Christmas shoppers at the entrance to Grafton Street in Dublin, and it makes an easy first line of Irish in a card home.

Nollaig Shona Duit, word by word

• Nollaig means Christmas. It comes from an older Irish form, Notlaic, borrowed from the Latin for “birth”.
• Shona means happy. Its dictionary form is sona; it changes to shona because Nollaig is a feminine noun. (A masculine noun keeps sona.)
• Duit means “to you” when “you” is one person.

So the whole greeting is “Christmas happy to you”. In Irish the adjective comes after the noun, the reverse of English.

Duit or daoibh: one person or several

Irish, unlike modern English, has a separate “you” for one person and for several, and Christmas greetings show it:

• Nollaig Shona Duit: to one person (your mother, a friend, a colleague).
• Nollaig Shona Daoibh: to two or more people (a couple, a household, the whole family).

On a card to “everyone at home”, daoibh is the right choice. If someone wishes you Nollaig Shona first, the reply is Nollaig Shona Duitse to one person or Nollaig Shona Daoibhse to several: the -se ending puts the stress on “you”, as in “and to you”.

Duit or dhuit?

You’ll also see Nollaig Shona Dhuit, with an h. Both spellings are in use: the Royal Irish Academy quotes the Grafton Street sign as Nollaig Shona Duit, while the de Bhaldraithe English–Irish dictionary gives Nollaig shona dhuit in its example. Either is fine in a card; just keep the same choice throughout.

We don’t write out pronunciations on this page. English respellings of Irish sounds are more often wrong than right, and a grandparent or a teacher who speaks Irish will do it far better.

Irish or Gaelic?

Searches for “merry Christmas in Gaelic” usually mean Irish, but the word is worth a moment’s thought. In Ireland, the language is normally called Irish in English and Gaeilge in Irish. “Gaelic” is a common name for it outside Ireland, yet it can also mean Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig), a related but separate language spoken in Scotland. The Scottish greeting is different: Nollaig Chridheil for “Merry Christmas”, and Bliadhna Mhath Ùr for “Happy New Year”. If your family comes from the Highlands or the Hebrides rather than Ireland, those are the words you want.

Other Irish phrases for a Christmas card

Greetings

• Bíodh Nollaig mhaith agaibh: “Have a good Christmas”, to several people.
• Nollaig faoi shéan agus faoi mhaise: a longer, more elaborate way of wishing someone a happy Christmas.
• Beannachtaí na Féile: “Season’s Greetings”.

Adding the New Year

• Athbhliain faoi mhaise duit (to one person) or daoibh (to several): “Happy New Year”. Our guide to New Year greetings in Irish covers it, and the other ways of saying it, in more detail.

Opening and signing off

• A chara: “Dear friend”, the usual opening of a letter in Irish. Before a name, a is added and the first letter often softens: Seán becomes a Sheáin, Siobhán becomes a Shiobhán.
• A stór or a chroí: “my dear”, “darling”. Warm terms for someone close.
• Le grá ó: “With love from”, followed by your name. Grá mór is “lots of love”.
• Le grá mór ó Mham: “With all my love, Mam”. Note that Mam softens to Mham after ó.

Family words

• Mamó: granny. Daideo: grandad.
• Daidí na Nollag: Father Christmas.
• Cárta Nollag: a Christmas card.

How to write it in a card: bilingual examples

You don’t need to write the whole card in Irish. An Irish greeting, your news in English and an Irish sign-off reads naturally. Under each example is what the Irish part means.

1. To a grandmother

Nollaig Shona Duit, a Mhamó! The candle’s in our window in Boston, same as yours. I’ll ring you after Mass.

Le grá ó Aoife

Irish parts: “Happy Christmas to you, Granny!” and “With love from Aoife”.

2. To the whole family at home

Nollaig Shona Daoibh! Save me a slice of the cake and a seat by the range. Home for Easter, I promise.

Grá mór, Ciarán

Irish parts: “Happy Christmas to you all!” and “Lots of love”.

3. From a mother to a son or daughter abroad

Nollaig Shona Duit, a stór. The house is too quiet without you. We’ll keep the tree up until you can see it on the video call.

Le grá mór ó Mham

Irish parts: “Happy Christmas to you, darling” and “With all my love, Mam”.

4. To a couple you’re close to

Bíodh Nollaig mhaith agaibh! Thank you both for a year of Sunday dinners and long walks. Same again next year?

Irish part: “Have a good Christmas!” (to more than one person).

5. A card to colleagues or a club

Beannachtaí na Féile from all of us in the New York branch. Thank you for a brilliant year.

Irish part: “Season’s Greetings”.

6. A traditional wish to an older relative

Nollaig faoi shéan agus faoi mhaise! We think of you every time we pass a thatched roof, which in New Jersey is not often.

Irish part: a longer way of saying “Happy Christmas!”

7. To an old friend

A chara,

Nollaig Shona Duit agus athbhliain faoi mhaise duit. Next time you’re home, the first pint is on me.

Irish parts: “Dear friend, Happy Christmas to you and a Happy New Year to you”.

When the Irish greeting is used

Nollaig Shona carries you through the whole season: Christmas Eve is Oíche Nollag, Christmas Day is Lá Nollag, and Nollaig na mBan, “Women’s Christmas”, on 6 January, traditionally marks the end of it. December itself is Mí na Nollag, “the month of Christmas”. Ireland’s Christmas customs, from the candle in the window onwards, have their own guide: see Christmas customs in Ireland, and our page on Women’s Christmas on 6 January.

For Welsh, German, Polish and more, see our Christmas greetings in the other languages we cover.

Checked by a native speaker

The Irish greetings on this page were checked by a native Irish speaker before publication.

Cards to carry your Nollaig Shona

Every card in our collection of cards from Ireland carries its greeting in Irish, set as text rather than painted in, so you can choose duit or daoibh when you write the card and add your own message underneath. Send it by email or text, or schedule it to arrive on Christmas morning.