Next:
Valentine's Day Irish Phrases
Lá Fhéile Vailintín
Valentine's Day is called "Lá Fhéile Vailintín" in Irish. The phrase to know first is "Tá grá agam duit" (I love you).
Valentine's Day is Lá Fhéile Vailintín in Irish. The phrase most people want is "I love you", and Irish has more than one way to say it. Below are the declarations, a card sign-off and the words for the day.
Greetings
Tá grá agam duit
I love you
The everyday way to say it. Grá means love; literally "I have love for you".
Tá grá agam ort
I love you
The same, with ort, "on you". The dictionaries give both.
Tá mé i ngrá leat
I'm in love with you
I ngrá le means "in love with".
Grá mo chroí thú
You are the love of my heart
A warmer, more poetic declaration.
Mo ghrá thú
I love you
Literally "you are my love". Short enough for a card.
For cards and messages
Le grá ó
Love from
Put your name after it to sign a card.
Useful words
cárta Lá Fhéile Vailintín
Valentine's card
Also cárta vailintín.
vailintín
valentine (sweetheart)
The person you send the card to.
The history of Lá Fhéile Vailintín
Valentine's Day is celebrated every year on 14 February. It began as a Christian feast day honouring a martyr named Valentine, and later folk traditions made it a celebration of romance, commitment and love. The Irish name follows the pattern of other feast days: Lá Fhéile Vailintín, "the day of the feast of Valentine", like Lá Fhéile Pádraig and Lá Fhéile Bríde.
Common questions
How do you say I love you in Irish?
Tá grá agam duit or Tá grá agam ort. Both mean "I love you". Mo ghrá thú, "you are my love", is shorter.
Valentine's Day in the other Celtic languages
Further reading
Go beyond the phrases
blas. teaches Irish with spaced repetition, vocabulary, mutations, grammar, reading, and conversation. Not just for Valentine's Day, but for life. Free to start.
Start learning IrishIrish phrases for the year ahead
Irish phrases for everyday occasions
Sources
Every phrase and fact on this page was checked against the sources below. Last checked 2026-10-20.
- Wikipedia
- New English–Irish Dictionary (focloir.ie, Foras na Gaeilge)
- Ó Dónaill, Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (teanglann.ie, Foras na Gaeilge)
- New English–Irish Dictionary (focloir.ie, Foras na Gaeilge)
- blas. course data
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Ó Dónaill, Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (teanglann.ie, Foras na Gaeilge)
Credit: Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.