Welcome to our collection of Ireland quotes, where the beauty, culture, and charm of the Emerald Isle are captured in words. Ireland, with its rich history, stunning landscapes, and vibrant traditions, has inspired writers, poets, and travelers for centuries. From the rolling green hills of the countryside to the lively streets of Dublin, Ireland’s allure is undeniable, beckoning all who visit to fall under its spell.
In this curated compilation, we bring you a selection of quotes that encapsulate the essence of Ireland, its people, and its way of life. Whether you’re seeking inspiration for a travel adventure, looking to connect with your Irish roots, or simply wish to immerse yourself in the poetic musings of this enchanting land, you’ll find a treasure trove of sentiments that evoke the spirit of Ireland. So, join us as we journey through the lyrical landscape of Ireland through the words of writers, poets, and thinkers who have been captivated by its magic.
Dublin university contains the cream of Ireland: Rich and thick. Samuel Beckett
The thing that started the peace movement in Ireland was anger – my anger. It wasn’t anger; it was fury. Betty Williams
On my mum Marie’s side, my nana was from the Republic of Ireland, and my granddad was from the north. Lots of families in Manchester have strong Irish connections, but it never occurred to me to play for anyone other than England. Paul Scholes
The most brilliant satire of all time was ‘A Modest Proposal’ by Jonathan Swift. You’ll notice how everything got straightened out in Ireland within days of that coming out. P. J. O’Rourke
I think of the bog as a feminine goddess-ridden ground, rather like the territory of Ireland itself. Seamus Heaney
My father was totally Irish, and so I went to Ireland once. I found it to be very much like New York, for it was a beautiful country, and both the women and men were good-looking. James Cagney
My siblings, along with my parents Chris and Kath, are the reason that I am successful. Whether I wanted to become an elementary school teacher, enter and win Alternative Miss Ireland, enroll to do a Ph.D., or visit the White House to speak about fashion and disability, they supported me. Sinead Burke
We really need to come behind and press for marriage equality in Northern Ireland. Leo Varadkar
I would say that something important for me and for my generation in Northern Ireland was the 1947 Education Act, which allowed students who won scholarships to go on to secondary schools and thence to university. Seamus Heaney
When I was growing up, Belfast City Hall was surrounded by security, and we had no access to it. But now, people come in and out of it all the time. On a nice day, office workers and students sit on the lawn outside and have lunch. It’s great to see how Northern Ireland has changed. To be part of that is fantastic. James Nesbitt
When I told the people of Northern Ireland that I was an atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said, ‘Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don’t believe? Quentin Crisp
Geographically, Ireland is a medium-sized rural island that is slowly but steadily being consumed by sheep. Dave Barry
We recognised from the start that we couldn’t just stay in the U.K. and Ireland markets. We have always looked to the products of the future. I’ve always said, ‘If you don’t innovate, you’ll evaporate.’ Martin Naughton
I am a proud product of Irish golf and the Golfing Union of Ireland and am hugely honoured to have come from very rich Irish sporting roots… I am also a proud Ulsterman who grew up in Northern Ireland. That is my background and always will be. Rory McIlroy
At home in Ireland, there’s a habit of avoidance, an ironical attitude towards the authority figure. Seamus Heaney
I was a lonely child. My brother Tony and I were never very close, neither as children nor as adults, but I was tightly bound to him. We were forced to be together because we were really quite alone. We were in the middle of the Irish countryside, in County Galway, in the West of Ireland, and we didn’t see many other kids. Anjelica Huston
My dad was a keen actor when he was young; my auntie is heavily involved in amateur dramatics back in Northern Ireland, and my great aunt was a woman called Greer Garson. Jamie Dornan
Love is never defeated, and I could add, the history of Ireland proves it. Pope John Paul II
I sure love Ireland. The first trip I ever made was last year when I did this record in Dublin. Michael W. Smith
I’ve been all over the world. I’ve been to Japan, Africa, Morocco, everywhere. Heck yeah, I would go to Ireland. Why not? Donald Cerrone
I love our shared island, our shared Ireland and its core decency. I love it for its imagination and its celebration of the endless possibilities for our people. Michael D. Higgins
We have to face up to the fact that without the armed uprising in 1916 Britain would not have withdrawn from southern Ireland. John McDonnell
I pledge as Taoiseach to use my office, for as long as I hold it, to advance the cause of LGBT rights, to press for marriage equality across Ireland, to speak up for LGBT rights around the world where they are under attack, and to push for the implementation of the sexual health strategy here at home at a time when it is more important than ever. Leo Varadkar
I served 18 months in Northern Ireland and that was very scary. I remember when we were told do you want the good news or the bad news first. We wanted the good news – we’re going to Cyprus. The bad news? We’re going to Northern Ireland first. All the black blokes looked at each other and thought, ‘that’s really funny.’ Nigel Benn
The part which American friendship played in helping us to win the freedom we enjoy in this part of Ireland has been gratefully recognized and acknowledged by our people. Eamon de Valera
Why should Ireland be treated as a geographical fragment of England – Ireland is not a geographical fragment, but a nation. Charles Stewart Parnell
Out of Ireland have we come, great hatred, little room, maimed us at the start. I carry from my mother’s womb a fanatic heart. William Butler Yeats
I remember my dad came from Ireland and Scotland, and so he carried with him the fear of poverty. So when I wanted to break loose, it kind of made him very nervous. Robert Redford
I can’t say enough about Ireland. I can’t. I’d move there. Jeffrey Dean Morgan
I have my older daughter Ireland and my wife Hilaria, and I have Carmen and Rafael. Alec Baldwin
The people of Northern Ireland have sorted out my whole life. George Best
If Ireland is to become a new Ireland she must first become European. James Joyce
I feel more and more the time wasted that is not spent in Ireland. Lady Gregory
From space, the earth appears predominantly blue; the clouds are brilliant white. Surprisingly, you don’t see much green, although Ireland looks green, and so do Scandinavia and New Zealand. The deserts are brick red and really stand out. Helen Sharman
One of the first major programming projects that I worked on when I was growing up in Ireland, back just coding by myself, was a programming language. Then I spent a bunch of time working on a new web framer. Just back-end things to make it easier to go in and build things on top of, do other development. Patrick Collison
I feel like the luckiest child in the world because I got to grow up in Ireland. In summer is when you really grow up. During the year, I would go back to the States, and all year long really couldn’t wait to get back to Ardmore. Olivia Wilde
I love Ireland. I feel very at peace there. It’s just magical and beautiful. Eva Green
I always went to Ireland as a child. I remember trips to Dundalk, Wexford, Cork and Dublin. My gran was born in Dublin, and we had a lot of Irish friends, so we’d stay on their farms and go fishing. They were fantastic holidays – being outdoors all day and coming home to a really warm welcome in the evenings. Vinnie Jones
Ireland is such an amazing country, and I have this little dream in the back of my head that someday I’ll end up living there. When I’ve established myself in America and I don’t need to live near the action, so to speak, and if you’re good, the work will come to you. I feel very Irish; maybe that’s why I’ve been so lucky with my career. Anne Hathaway
I came to Ireland 20 years ago as a student, hitch-hiking round for a week and staying in Dublin. Greta Scacchi
I know now that gang warfare is not the Middle East or Northern Ireland. There is violence in gang violence, but there is no conflict. It is not ‘about something.’ It is the language of the despondent and traumatized. Greg Boyle
Time flies. It seems like just yesterday I was playing my first game against Ireland, when I came off the bench, full of energy and flying into tackles, even though I couldn’t tackle back then. Beauden Barrett
By adopting the ‘free trade,’ or British, system, we place ourselves side by side with the men who have ruined Ireland and India, and are now poisoning and enslaving the Chinese people. Henry Charles Carey
In Northern Ireland, helicopters are not usually used to promote poetry. Seamus Heaney
I call on everyone of goodwill both in Ireland and abroad to join now in ensuring that the beginning of peace becomes a reality, before this year is out. Let us together open a new era in our history. Albert Reynolds
There is not a single injustice in Northern Ireland that is worth the loss of a single British soldier or a single Irish citizen either. James Callaghan
Ireland sober is Ireland stiff. James Joyce
The reality is that no Brexit deal can be achieved if Northern Ireland is never allowed to leave the Customs Union. Penny Mordaunt
When I’ve traveled to London and Ireland, people don’t seem to take themselves so seriously, and it’s not just having a sense of humor about what’s around you but having a sense of humor about yourself, and that’s the healthiest sense of humor. Catherine O’Hara
Home will always be Northern Ireland but my schedule means for the next few years I won’t be there as much. I can’t do the same things that I did a year ago. That is I’m something conscious of, but I’m not sad about it. It’s fine. Rory McIlroy
Among the best traitors Ireland has ever had, Mother Church ranks at the very top, a massive obstacle in the path to equality and freedom. She has been a force for conservatism… to ward off threats to her own security and influence. Bernadette Devlin
We come bulletproof in Ireland. We’re reared tough, and we fight. Conor McGregor
Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow. James Joyce
What the Danes left in Ireland were hens and weasels. And when the cock crows in the morning, the country people will always say ‘It is for Denmark they are crowing. Crowing they are to be back in Denmark.’ Lady Gregory
There was a lot of politics going on, and Ireland were denied an Olympic gold medal in 2008. Tyson Fury
I absolutely love Ireland. It’s one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and I have strong ties here. Both my grandmothers are from Ireland, and I have spent every summer in Bantry since my father, who is an artist, had the romantic idea 20 years ago to buy an old farmhouse on the west coast and renovate it. Emily Ratajkowski
I grew up in Ireland, so I do not have a lot of respect for most politicians. Jasmine Guinness
I find that I sent wolves not shepherds to govern Ireland, for they have left me nothing but ashes and carcasses to reign over! Elizabeth I
What were once only hopes for the future have now come to pass; it is almost exactly 13 years since the overwhelming majority of people in Ireland and Northern Ireland voted in favour of the agreement signed on Good Friday 1998, paving the way for Northern Ireland to become the exciting and inspirational place that it is today. Queen Elizabeth II
I’ll always be somebody who spends a lot of time in a lot of places; that’s just always going to be the way. But I try to spend as much time in Ireland as I can, because it’s lovely, and it feels like a release. Robert Sheehan
I traveled to Ireland to research ‘Sandcastles,’ to visit the coastline where my ancestors looked toward America, the tiny town they once loved so much, and the docks from which they sailed toward their dreams of building a better life for their family. The answers I found on that journey are woven through the novel. Luanne Rice
We are bound to lose Ireland in consequence of years of cruelty, stupidity and misgovernment and I would rather lose her as a friend than as a foe. William E. Gladstone
We’re nondenominational. I come from Northern Ireland, and we’ve had religious wars for years. I didn’t want to create an illusion that my God is better than your God. So our show is a spiritual show, not a religious show. Roma Downey
I grew up in Ireland, in the Wicklow Mountains just behind Dublin, and got a job in a Volkswagen garage when I was 14. I did it in the summer for about five weeks. My father thought it would be a great idea because I was really into bikes. Charley Boorman
I played hockey, as most girls who go to convent schools in Ireland do, as well as table tennis and badminton – all the rock ‘n’ roll sports. Laura Whitmore
On my Wikipedia page, it used to say I was born in Belfast, Ireland, then it said Belfast, Northern Ireland, and then it said Belfast, U.K. So there was a little war going on about where Belfast is located. Adrian McKinty
Moral training in Ireland is severe and lasts until marriage. Even in childhood, we are taught by the pious clergy to battle against bad thoughts so that we may preserve our holy purity. Austin Clarke
‘Vikings’ has been a great experience. You get so many great friends. And I love Ireland and the people and crew. It’s a beautiful place. Travis Fimmel
We may have bad weather in Ireland, but the sun shines in the hearts of the people and that keeps us all warm. Marianne Williamson
I hope the unionist parties, for example, who would be keen to protect and preserve the Union would see that it’s much easier to do that if the U.K. stays within the Customs Union and the Single Market, because that would take away the need for any special arrangement, or bespoke solution, for Northern Ireland. Leo Varadkar
In 1975, no State or Church guidelines existed in the Republic of Ireland to assist those responding to an allegation of abuse against a minor. No training was given to priests, teachers, police officers or others who worked regularly with children about how to respond appropriately should such allegations be made. Sean Brady
You can take a man out of Ireland, but you can’t take the Irishness out of the man. Tyson Fury
There’s never going to be a united Ireland, you know. Seamus Heaney
I don’t hate redheads! The millionaire men – wealthy men – never pick them. Every time I offer them they say no. I could say the most gorgeous redhead in the world and they’ll say no, they don’t want it. Now if you ask an Irish guy in Ireland, he says ‘yes,’ because that’s indigenous to that country. Patti Stanger
Loyalism, or Unionism, or Protestantism, or whatever you want to call it, in Northern Ireland – it operates not as a class system, but a caste system. Seamus Heaney
My mum’s parents were from Ireland, my dad’s mum was American-Irish. Dominic West
I put all my eggs in one basket and invested in property. I didn’t do anything internationally – it was all in Ireland. Shane Filan
Ireland never lacked the capacity to feed its people. During the entire ‘great famine,’ the island continued to produce massive amounts of beef and grain. The Irish just couldn’t afford to buy any of it due to the enforcement of rack-renting, high taxation, and suppression of manufactures. Robert Zubrin
My dad grew up in Banbridge, Northern Ireland, desperate to get to London. I grew up in London, so I don’t know what it’s like to yearn for the big city from a small town. Daniel Radcliffe
Growing up in Ireland, there never seemed to be the notion that children should be seen and not heard. We all looked forward to mealtimes when we’d sit around the table and talk about our days. Storytelling and long, rambling conversations were considered good things. Maeve Binchy
The nineteenth century, especially the second half of it, was a time of restatement in Ireland. After the famine, after the failed rebellions of the Forties and Sixties, the cultural and political desires for self-determination began to shape each other in a series of riffs on independence and identity. Eavan Boland
I hope that at the end of the seven years, people will say that I have been of some inspirational value to them at home in terms of inclusiveness and abroad, I look forward to representing Ireland. Michael D. Higgins
Ireland was a place for the renewal of hope and I still see it like that. Daniel Day-Lewis
My sights have always been on acting, on the creative process, never the lifestyle. Growing up in Northern Ireland when I did, everything was against you if you wanted to do something like that. But I was determined. Colin Morgan
The fact is, I’ve always felt more British than Irish. Maybe it was the way I was brought up, I don’t know, but I have always felt more of a connection with the U.K. than with Ireland. Rory McIlroy
I hadn’t realized quite how extraordinary Charles Lindbergh’s achievement was in flying the Atlantic alone. He had never flown over open water before, but he flew straight to Dingle Bay in Ireland and then on to Paris, exactly as planned. Bill Bryson
That feeds anger, and I mean when we went and at last thank heavens got towards peace in Northern Ireland we went for justice within Northern Ireland as well as using security well, as well as a political settlement, but surely that is the lesson. Clare Short
I am not in the business of pointing fingers or making excuses. However, recent history has shown that I, like thousands of others in Ireland, incorrectly relied upon the persons who guided Anglo and who wrongfully sought to portray a ‘blue chip’ Irish banking sector. Sean Quinn
My little sister Debbie was born at Aldergrove, and my nan is from southern Ireland, so I do try and get over quite a bit. Ricky Whittle
For over 30 years, the IRA showed that the British government could not rule Ireland on its own terms. Gerry Adams
Growing up in Ireland, there are a lot of aspects of God that hang in the air. And my music reflects that. Hozier
Populist promises to reverse every tough decision are nothing but empty rhetoric, irresponsible leadership, and bad politics. They are not the solution to Ireland’s problems. Enda Kenny
I’d love to live in Ireland but I’d like to live as me, not what someone thinks I am. People don’t understand – I lived there before I was famous. Van Morrison
I’m just a kid that defied the odds. I’m just a kid that ignored the doubt. I’m just a kid from a little place in Dublin, Ireland, that went all the way, and I’m going to continue to go all the way. Conor McGregor
We don’t believe that winning elections and winning any amount of votes will win freedom in Ireland. At the end of the day, it will be the cutting edge of the IRA which will bring freedom. Martin McGuinness
This is the great thing about Northern Ireland. I walk down the street and people stop me and say things like, ‘I know you. You’re that wee golfer, aren’t you?’ I say, ‘Yeah, that’s me.’ They say, ‘Keep it up, wee man.’ It’s very funny and that’s why I want to stay here as long as possible. Rory McIlroy
We’ve seen a lot of dirty politics in Ireland. Ciaran Hinds
My ultimate dream would be for Derry City to become champions of an all-Ireland league in a united Ireland. Martin McGuinness
My father was a creature of the archaic world, really. He would have been entirely at home in a Gaelic hill-fort. His side of the family, and the houses I associate with his side of the family, belonged to a traditional rural Ireland. Seamus Heaney
I went to Paris, I went to France, I went to England, I went to Ireland. In my mind, I can go wherever I wanted to go. I left death row every day. Anthony Ray Hinton
