The best (or worst?) Irish jokes for a hearty chuckle this St. Patrick's Day

The Irish sense of humor and wit is renowned around the world.

These are our picks of the best, or maybe worst, Irish jokes.

There is nothing the Irish like more than sitting around a cup of tea, or a pint and telling stories or a good joke. 

The Irish sense of humor and wit is renowned around the world and here's our pick of the best, or maybe worst depending on how you look at it, of Irish jokes.

St. Patrick’s Day engagement

An Irishman, by the name of O'Malley, proposed to his girl on St. Patrick's Day. He gave her a ring with a synthetic diamond. The excited young lass showed it to her father, a jeweler. He took one look at it and saw it wasn't real.

The young lass on learning it wasn't real, returned to her future husband. She protested vehemently about his cheapness.

"It was in honor of St. Patrick's Day," he smiled.

"I gave you a sham rock."

What is an Irishman?

An Irishman is a man who ...

May not believe there is a God but is darn sure of the infallibility of the Pope.

Has great respect for the truth, he uses in emergencies. 

Sees things not as they are but the way they never will be. 

Cries at sad movies, but cheers in battle. 

Gets more Irish the further he gets from Ireland. 

Believes in civil rights, but not in his neighborhood. 

Believes to forgive is divine, therefore doesn't exercise it himself. 

Loves religion for its own sake, but also because it makes it so inconvenient for his neighbors. 

Scorns money, but worships those who have it. 

Considers any Irishman who achieves success to be a traitor. 

Learn a foreign language

A Swiss man, on holiday in Dublin, needed directions. He was standing outside Davy Byrne's pub when he saw two youths walking by so he stopped and asked them, "Entschuldigung, koennen Sie Deutsch sprechen?"

The two lads looked at each other blankly and then stared back at him.

"Excusez-moi, parlez vous Français ?'" he tries.

The two continue to stare.

"Parlare Italiano?" Still absolutely no response from the two lads.

"Hablan ustedes Espanol?" The Dublin lads remain totally silent.

The Swiss guy walks off, disappointed.  One of the boys turned to the second and said, "Y'know, maybe we should learn a foreign language!"

"Why?" says the other youth, "That guy knew four languages, and look what good it did him!"

Texan farmer

A Texan rancher comes to Ireland and meets a Kerry farmer.

The Texan says: "Takes me a whole day to drive from one side of my ranch to the other."

The Kerry farmer says: "Ah sure, I know, sir. We have tractors like that over here too."

A system

Two paddies were working for the city public works department. One would dig a hole and the other would follow behind him and fill the hole in. They worked up one side of the street, then down the other, then moved on to the next street, working furiously all day without rest, one man digging a hole, the other filling it in again.

An onlooker was amazed at their hard work, but couldn't understand what they were doing. So he asked the hole digger, "I'm impressed by the effort you two are putting into your work, but I don't get it: why do you dig a hole, only to have your partner follow behind and fill it up again?"

The hole digger wiped his brow and sighed, "Well, I suppose it probably looks odd because we're normally a three-person team. But today the lad who plants the trees called in sick."

Job interview

While being interviewed for a job, the personnel manager said to the Maguire brothers: "We're going to give you a written examination. Ten questions. Whoever gets most right we'll hire."

Papers were produced and the boys set to work answering the general knowledge questions. When the time was up the personnel manager collected and marked the papers.

"Well," said he, "you've both got nine out often, but I'm giving Mick the job."

"Why's that?" asked Pat.

"Well," said the manager, "you both got the same question wrong but he had 'I don't know this,' and you had 'Neither do I!'"

Baby on board

A woman gets on a bus with her baby. As she pays for her ticket, the bus driver says: "That's the ugliest baby I've ever seen. Ugh!"

The woman sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: "The driver just insulted me!"

The man says: "You shouldn't take that. You tell him off, go ahead, I'll hold your monkey."

Bridge delivery

Paddy was driving his lorry when he saw a bridge with a sign saying 10-foot max. headroom. He slowed down wondering if he could drive under it or not.

"Ah sure I'll give it a go," he thought only to find that his lorry got stuck underneath it.

Paddy sat back in his seat, poured out a cup of tea, and lit a cigarette. A policeman arrived a short time later and knocked on the cab door which Paddy then opened.

"What do you think you are doing?" asked the policeman in a sharp tone.

"Sure I'm having me tea break," replied Paddy. '

"And what do you work at?" asked the policeman.

"Agh sure I deliver bridges!" smiled Paddy!

Question

An American lawyer asked, "Paddy, why is it that whenever you ask an Irishman a question, he answers with another question?

"Who told you that?" asked Paddy.

Petshop

Jimmy-Joe went to a pet shop and asked how many budgies were in stock.

"We have 99," replied the shop owner.

"Give us the lot," said the Jimmy-Joe, paid for them, and left. He went to a tailor's shop and had 99 pockets sewn into a jacket, put a budgie in each pocket, went up to the Post Office Tower and jumped off.

He hit the ground with an almighty smack and lay there groaning until a passer-by came and asked him what had happened.

"I don't know sir," he replied, "but that's the last time I try that budgie jumping."

* Originally published in 2011. Updated in March 2024.