Slán abhaile

{{Short description|Irish expression, bidding someone farewell}}

{{Use dmy dates |date=April 2022 }}

{{Use Hiberno-English |date=March 2019 }}

{{DISPLAYTITLE:{{lang|ga|Slán abhaile|nocat=y}}}}

File:Unidentified irish mural.jpg in Belfast celebrating the impending end of Operation Banner as a result of the Northern Ireland peace process, 1995. The mural references The Yomper, an iconic photograph of the Falklands War.]]

{{lang|ga|Slán abhaile}} ({{IPA|ga|ˌsˠl̪ˠaːnˠ əˈwalʲə|lang}}) is an Irish language phrase used to bid goodbye to someone who is travelling home. A literal translation of the phrase is "safe home", which is used in the same way in Hiberno-English.{{cite book|author=Terence Patrick Dolan|title=A Dictionary of Hiberno-English: The Irish Use of English |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RN0p1uienWMC&pg=PA1|accessdate=22 April 2012 |year=2006 |publisher=Terence Patrick Dolan |isbn=978-0-7171-4039-8 |pages=1–}} {{lang|ga|Slán}} ('safe') is used in many Irish-language farewell formulas; {{lang|ga|abhaile}} means 'homeward'.

In the Republic of Ireland, "{{lang|ga|slán abhaile}}" frequently appears on road signs placed alongside roads which are leaving a town or village.{{cite book |author=B. Gerad O'Brien |title=Dreamin' Dreams: A Collection of Short Irish Stories |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RAGsdjwtDe8C&pg=PA104 |accessdate=22 April 2012 |date=1 September 2003 |publisher=iUniverse |pages=104– |isbn=978-0-595-29057-4 }}

In Northern Ireland, the phrase was also used on murals drawn by Irish republicans which celebrated the end of Operation Banner, the deployment of the British Armed Forces to the region during the Troubles, as a result of the Northern Ireland peace process that culminated in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.{{cite book |author=Neil Jarman |title=Material Conflicts: Parades and Visual Displays in Northern Ireland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=olvqRQHov40C&pg=PA246 |accessdate=22 April 2012 |date=1 May 1997 |publisher=Berg |isbn=978-1-85973-129-1 |pages=246–}}

File:Slán Abhaile, N21 at Croagh - geograph.org.uk - 6321498.jpg

References