Choosing a boat name is often a very personal experience for people. You want something that captures a sense of who you are and what boating in general means to you. For some people this can be done with a really funny boat name that keeps things light hearted. Others want a cool boat names and badass boat name. Boat names that reflect or represent the owner’s heritage and history are also really popular.

For those of us with Irish roots, it can be a lot of fun to dig into that for a potential boat name. Whether that means looking at the Irish Gaelic language, or bits of Irish history and culture, there are plenty of potential names to choose from. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular as well as a few fun, unique takes on the idea of Irish boat names.

Popular Irish Boat Names

Many of these are general purpose names that would work as fishing boat names or even pontoon boat names. Some are Irish phrases but most just reference popular aspects of Irish culture and history to have a little fun with the idea of your Irish heritage. 

  • Luck of the Irish
  • Fionn MacCool or Finn McCool: a well-known character and folk hero from irish history
  • The Emerald Isle: This is a traditional nickname for Ireland.
  • Emerald Eyes
  • Emerald Envy
  • Irish Rose
  • Give it a Lash: This is a phrase that means something like “give it a try”
  • Shenanigans: Most of us know this word but it may come from the Irish “Sionnachuighim” which means “I play the fox” which would also be a pretty cool name for a boat. 
  • Banjaxed Dreams: This means “broken dreams” and is either a little depressing or just a little goofy, depending on your perspective.
  • Shamrock of the Sea 
  • Pint of Gat: This refers to a pint of Guinness beer
  • The Four Stroke Clover: This one is a pun I’ve seen on a few Irish-themed boats making reference to a four-stroke engine and a four leaf clover.
  • Irish Yoke: This one is a bit of a joke as “yoke” is a slang term you might use when you can’t think of the real world. 
  • The Irish Hammer
  • Feck: So this one is on the vulgar side and is essentially the F-word, but a little less offensive looking to most of us.
  • Stall the Ball: This Irish saying basically means “hold up” or “give me a minute.”
  • The Paddy Wagon
  • Paddy O’Lanterns
  • The Celtic Star
  • Celtic Moon
  • Up to 90: This is a common Irish phrase that means something is really extreme or intense. Solid name for a boat.
  • Murphy’s Lure
  • Story Horse: This slang expression means “what’s up?”
  • Minus Craic: This one is touted as an option a lot but I’d recommend just using “Craic” as the name of a boat since Craic means “a good time” or something like that and is a pretty common term in Ireland. However, Minus Craic means the opposite, so you’d use that to describe something you don’t like. Why you’d want to call your boat boring or crappy, I don’t know, but that’s what Minus Craic means.
  • Princess Boudicca: This is another famous person from Irish history
  • Sucking Diesel: This is a term that basically means you’re enjoying some good luck.
  • Faith and Begorrah
  • Irish Gombeen: Gombeen is a slang term for a shady person always looking to run a scam.
  • The Blarney Stone
  • The Black Stuff: This is another Guinness reference
  • Acting the Maggot: Sounds odd but it basically means “getting up to trouble”
  • On Me Tod: This is a solid choice for a boat and means “on my own.”

Irish Boat Names Relating to Magic and Faeries

For better or worse, Ireland is strongly associated with its own folklore and that means fairy folk. That has led to a lot of names that reference Irish folklore and fairy tales as a result.

  • The Lucky Leprechaun
  • The Banshee
  • The Merrow: This is a good one for a boat as a merrow is essentially a kind of mermaid-like creature
  • Pixie Dust
  • The Abhartach: This is basically an Irish vampire
  • The Muckie: This is somewhat analogous to the Loch Ness Monster, in that it’s a lake monster from Killarney
  • The Green Fairy
  • The Faerie Queen
  • Queen Mab
  • Will O’ the Wisp: A will o’ the wisp is usually depicted as being nothing more than a floating light so it has a very mysterious quality to it and would be a good name for something like a sailboat.
  • Leanan Sídhe: Said to be a beautiful woman but also one of the fairy folk
  • Away with the Fairies: This is a saying that means someone has their head in the clouds. 
  • The Fey Lady
  • The Oilliphéist: This monster from folklore is a massive, dark, dragon-like beast
  • Fire and Fey
  • The Puca (or Pooka)
  • Sea Sprite
  • The Dearg Due: If you want your boat to have a badass name that’s also female, the Dearg Due means “red bloodsucker” and she’s sort of a vampire creature.
  • Kelpie
  • Maid of the Mist
  • The Fomorian: A Fomorian is a kind of giant
  • The Bog Witch
  • The Washer at the Ford: This is a figure from folklore that is something like a banshee and usually depicted as a woman washing blood from some clothing in a river. She’s often considered a dark omen.
  • The Emerald Dragon

Irish Gaelic Boat Names

Gaelic can be a hard language to master in terms of both spelling and pronunciation. Gaelic pronunciation does not follow the phonetic rules that you would expect in English so sounding the names out will rarely work for English speakers. Take a name like Siobhan, for instance. It’s pronounced like “Shivon” but you’d never guess that if you’re a native English speaker with little exposure to Gaelic. That said, the language does offer a lot of unique sounds that can be very appealing as boat names. If you’re not sure on how to say any of these, Google can help in many cases. 

  • Saoirse: This is the Irish Gaelic word for “Freedom”
  • Suaimhneas Síoraí: This means “Serenity”
  • Síocháin: This translates to “Peace”
  • Mo Bhád: This one is a little bit of fun and just means “My Boat”
  • Péarla Dubh: If you’re a Pirates of the Caribbean fan, this means “Black Pearl”
  • An Saol Maith: This means “The Good Life”
  • An Dara Gaoithe: This one means “Second Wind”
  • Ramhar Spor Bean: This one gets recommended a lot, ostensibly to fans of Queen, but it means “Fat Bottomed Girl.”
  • Fanann Eachtraíochta: This translates to “Adventure Awaits”
  • Cúrsáil: An appropriate name, this translates to “Cruising”
  • Bád seoil: This one means “Sailboat”
  • Grásta: If you like the name “Grace,” which is quite popular with boaters, this is the Gaelic twist.
  • Iolar na Mara: Also sometimes just “Iolar Mara” and both are variations on an eagle. Iolar na Mara means something close to “sea eagle” and is a popular boat name while Iolar Mara is essentially the same thing. 
  • Brígh: Means “Strength” or sometimes “Power”
  • Odaisé: This is how you translate “Odyssey”
  • Díothú: Meaning “Absolution”
  • An Faoilean: Means “seagull”
  • Gealach Gorm: Do you like the name “Blue Moon?” This is the Gaelic translation.
  • Aisling: This word translates to “Dream.” From there you can also do “Fíodóir Aisling” or “Dream Weaver” and the old standby of “Wet Dream” which is “Aisling Fhliuch.”
  • Tir na Nog: This is the name of a magical realm in Irish folklore.
  • Biddy Met: This translates as “strong wind”
  • Claddagh: You may have seen a Claddagh ring before which features two hands holding a heart adorned with a crown. This is a traditional Irish symbol that means love, loyalty and friendship.
  • Sláinte: In both Irish and Scottish Gaelic people will say this as a toast and it means “Health.” Consider it like saying “cheers.”
  • Oíche Mhaith: This phrase means “Goodnight.”
  • Maidin Mhaith: Alternatively, this one means “Good Morning.”
  • Slán Agat: This is a way of saying goodbye in Gaelic that literally means “have safety.”
  • An Bradan Feasa: This Irish phrase means “The Salmon of Knowledge” which comes from folklore.
  • Leoithne Farraige: Can be translated  “sea breeze”

The Bottom Line

Looking at Irish culture and heritage can offer up a lot of choices for boat names, especially when you roll the Irish Gaelic language into the mix. Just make sure you know the pronunciations before you commit to anything and if you’re having it applied to a boat, double check about the spelling and location/type of accents that may be needed over certain letters.

The Irish have a long history of seafaring and fishing though they may not be as well known for it as the Vikings and other cultures. But the land and the seas provide plenty of opportunities to get creative with naming your boat.

One more thing! If you’re looking to make any reference to St. Patrick and you want to abbreviate it, always go with “St. Paddy” and not “St. Patty.” An Irish boat owner would always go with “St. Paddy” while “St. Patty” is much more North American.