Irish Prayer for the Dead: Traditional Prayers and Blessings

The most common Irish prayer for the dead is a single line still said all over Ireland when someone dies, “Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam,” “May his soul be at the right hand of God” (“a hanam” for a woman); and Irish country people kept longer prayers for the dead in Irish, such as one recorded on Clare Island in County Mayo and published in English by Douglas Hyde in 1906, which prays for “the soul of every poor creature who has, himself, no one to pray on his behalf.” Below is that traditional prayer, the Eternal Rest prayer said at every Irish funeral, Irish blessings for the dead, and the Irish Catholic customs of praying for the dead, from the wake to the Month’s Mind Mass and the November Dead List.

A traditional Irish prayer for the dead

Written down by Miss Borthwick from Patrick O’Toole of Clare Island, County Mayo, and translated from the Irish by Douglas Hyde in The Religious Songs of Connacht (1906). It begins with the custom of saying three Our Fathers, three Hail Marys and the Creed for the dead:

Three Paters, three Ave Marias and a creed,
For the Souls of the Dead,
For the soul of every person from whom we have gained
Either little or much,
[Either] with our knowledge or without our knowledge,
Or openly and publicly.
If God see a remainder of Confession [unsaid],
Or, of penance [unfulfilled] on their souls
[We pray him]
To increase their glories,
And to diminish their pains;
And to grant them forgiveness of their sins,
And [a prayer] for the soul of every poor creature
Who has, himself, no one
To pray on his behalf.

Eternal Rest

The prayer said at every Irish wake, funeral and grave, often after each decade of the Rosary in November. Its Irish form begins Suaimhneas síoraí, “eternal rest.”

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

See the Eternal Rest prayer.

Irish blessings for the dead

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam (ar desh DAY guh rev uh AH-num): “May his soul be at the right hand of God.” For a woman, a hanam; for several people, a n-anamacha. It is said on hearing of a death, at the wake and in death notices, often shortened to “ar dheis Dé.”
Go ndéana Dia trócaire ar a anam: “May God have mercy on his soul.”
Solas na bhFlaitheas dá anam: “The light of heaven to his soul.”
The well-known Irish blessing beginning “May the road rise up to meet you” is a blessing for the living, but it is often read at Irish funerals as a farewell.

Irish customs of praying for the dead

The wake: the body is waked at home or in a funeral home for a night or two; neighbors come to pray the Rosary, offer condolences (“Sorry for your trouble”) and share stories.
Keening: in the past, women sang the caoineadh, a lament for the dead, at the wake and the graveside.
The Month’s Mind: a Mass offered about a month after the death, followed by an anniversary Mass each year.
The November Dead List: in November, families give the parish the names of their deceased, who are remembered at Masses throughout the month of the Holy Souls.
Cemetery Sunday: many parishes hold an annual blessing of graves, when families tidy and decorate the graves of their relatives.

Scripture

2 Machabees 12:46 (Douay-Rheims):

It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.

Frequently asked questions

What do the Irish say when someone dies?

“Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam,” “May his soul be at the right hand of God,” and “Sorry for your trouble” to the family.

What is a Month’s Mind?

A Mass offered for the deceased about one month after the death or funeral.

Is there an Irish prayer for a funeral?

Eternal Rest is said at every Irish funeral, and families often choose Irish blessings or the traditional prayer above for the funeral Mass booklet.

More prayers for the dead

Texts and sources

Douglas Hyde, The Religious Songs of Connacht, vol. 2 (London and Dublin, 1906), “For the Dead,” English translation, public domain (archive.org).
Eternal Rest: Charles J. Callan and John A. McHugh, Blessed Be God (1925), public domain; given in the plural.
2 Machabees 12:46 (Douay-Rheims).