Irish Drinking Toasts
Some of the best toasts in the world come from Ireland, and if you've never heard an Irish drinking toast, then you are missing out on something wonderful. To spend time with an Irishman is a fun experience, and to spend some time with the jovial and generous Irish folk while having a drink or two or three is a time you won't soon forget. They love life in general, love their drink, and salute both with their Irish drinking toasts.
Spend some time with the Irish, and you will find that as well as with their sense of fun and their steadfastness, they love to wet their whistle many times over, so it only stands to reason that there would be so many Irish drinking toasts. The more common Irish drinking toasts will tickle the funny bone of anyone within earshot, and if you happen to be partying with several Irishmen at once, don't be surprised if there is more than one toast raised.
It's not only in the pubs that you will hear many Irish drinking toasts, but more commonly, the fun and the singing and the camaraderie start the toasting at social functions.
What about weddings? Here is a perfect opportunity for the cleaner Irish drinking toasts to raise their heads, and are sung and bantered around with the traditional wedding toasts and blessings.
Most Irish drinking toasts begin with the phrase “Sl”inte” which means good health and is pronounced something like “Slawn-tche”. The Irish drinking toasts that begin this way are very often the equivalent of the proverbial “Cheers” or “Salute” in other countries. Since “Sl”inte” means “health”, it is considered most acceptable to answer a toast with it, and most Irish drinking toasts start with it and have it contained in the body of the toast itself.
But there are many other Irish drinking toasts that have nothing at all to do with health, but can be more spiritual or the laying down of blessings and wishes onto the person or persons being toasted. For example: “May the love and protection Saint Patrick can give, be yours as long as you live!” Or another might be: “May God not weaken your hand.”
Irish drinking toasts are as varied and colorful as there are occasions or reasons to toast, and because they epitomize all that is good and wholesome about the Irish, they may touch your heart and bring tears of joy to your eyes.
“Here's to a sweetheart, a bottle, and a friend. The first beautiful, the second full, and the last ever faithful.”