St. Patrick’s Week: The Best Irish Teeshirts to Wear on St. Patrick’s Day (if you want to impress Irish people)

teeshirt by Hairy Baby. Hairstyle by … bed

By Niall McArdle

Disclaimer: I don’t work for Hairy Baby Clothing Company or have any association with them. I just like their teehsirts.

With less than a month to St. Patrick’s Day, it’s time to decide what to wear. You won’t impress anybody from Ireland this St. Patrick’s Day if you walk into the pub wearing this:

Or this

No self-respecting Irish person would be caught dead in such a thing. It smacks just a little too much of this.

Expats: If you really want to show your Irishness, or if you are a wannabe Irish trying to impress an Irish person on the big day, you could do worse than visit Hairy Baby Clothing Company. The Irish company has been making Irish-themed teeshirts for people who “get it”, meaning the references are peculiarly Irish and may well mystify the rest of the world. With slogans such as “The crack was 90”, “langer”, “you’ll never guess who’s dead”, as well as celebrations of such Irish wonders as Bosco and Father Ted, the company makes tee-shirts that any Irish expat would be proud to wear.

Here is a selection.

The question many an Irish teenager was asked by their parents on Sundays. It was often followed by a Spanish Inquisition style interrogation about the sermon. It’s almost as if parents didn’t believe their kids went to Mass. Imagine.

Visitors to the Emerald Isle continue to be bemused at the mysteries of the Irish house

You don’t see this slogan too much anymore in Ireland. It was a staple of my childhood, adorning everything from school exercise books to cereal boxes.

This is Bosco, an androgynous puppet who sprang out of a box, speaking cupla focail, scarring many an Irish childhood.

Universal phrase of approval; can be used for people, places, pets, pubs, pints. The Irish pound, of course, no longer exists, but ‘sound as a euro’ just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

A reference to one of the most famous scenes from the brilliant Father Ted:

Another Father Ted teeshirt.

Neil Hannon of Irish band The Divine Comedy had a hand in writing the fictional Eurovision Song Contest entry

Yet another Father Ted tee, in honour of Father Jack

A brilliant punning tee that works on many levels that I’m almost loath to explain. The Jax (or jacks) is slang for what in polite society is called ‘the powder room’. Bean (pronounced BAN) is Gaeilge for ‘woman’. BANJAXED is also slang for ‘broken’.

See, when you try to explain it, it sounds silly, but I’m telling you: wear this teeshirt on St. Patrick’s day and you’ll get a smile out of any Irish people around.

You can get ready for St. Patrick’s Day by ordering your Hairy Baby teeshirt here.

If Father Ted or Bosco aren’t your thing, you could also show your support for a recently-anointed Irish icon, Miss Panti Bliss, by wearing this:

You’ll be sure to turn a few heads with that, especially if you’re marching in the New York Saint Patrick’s Day Parade.