The literal English phrase "our day will come" has been used in various contexts. In the context of Irish literature, James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, features the nationalist Michael Davin saying Irish freedom fighters "died for their ideals, Stevie. Our day will come yet, believe me." The Irish phrase tiocfaidh ár lá is attributed to Provisional IRA prisoner Bobby Sands, who uses it in several writings smuggled out of the Maze Prison. It is the last sentence of One Day in my Life, the diary he kept of the 1981 hunger strike in which he died, published in 1983. Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost antedates this to a pamphlet published 1975–77 by Gerry Adams of his experiences in the Maze. Many republicans learned Irish in prison, and conversed regularly with each other through Irish, both for cultural reasons and to keep secrets from the wardens. The Irish language revival movement has often overlapped with Irish nationalism, particularly in Northern Ireland. Tiocfaidh ár lá has been called "the battle cry of the blanketmen". The upsurge in republican consciousness in the wake of the hunger strikes also increased awareness of the Irish language in republican areas.
Use
The slogan has been used by Sinn Féin representatives, appeared on graffiti and political murals, and been shouted by Provisional IRA defendants being convicted in British and Irish courts, and by their supporters in the public gallery. Patrick Magee said it after being sentenced in 1986 for the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing. At the 2018 Sinn Féin ard fheis, new party leaderMary Lou McDonald concluded her speech with "tiocfaidh ár lá". The phrase, which was not on the script circulated in advance, was criticised by politicians from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Ulster Unionist Party. Loyalist paramilitary Michael Stone got past the republican security cordon to commit the 1988 Milltown Cemetery attack by saying "tiocfaidh ár lá". The 1992 and 1993 editions of Macmillan's The Student Book: The Indispensable Applicant's Guide to UK Colleges, Polytechnics and Universities advised potential University of Ulster students that "Tiocfaioh ar la" was a common greeting on campus and meant "pleased to meet you". This error, suspected to be the result of a prank, was expunged from the 1994 edition. Gearóid Mac Lochlainn, a Belfast-born Irish-language poet, uses the phrase in a 2002 poem, 'Ag Siopadóireacht', characterised by Mac Giolla Chríost as "the voice of youthful rebellion,... of hip-hop". In Mac Lochlainn's own English translation of his poem, Tiocfaidh ár lá is left untranslated. Tiocfaidh Ár Lá is the name of a fanzine for Celtic F.C.'s Irish republican ultras. It was established in 1991, at which time Celtic was enduring a period of prolonged inferiority to Rangers F.C., its Old Firm rivals, giving "our day will come" an extra resonance. is an album published in 2005 by The LeperKhanz.
Legal cases
The 2007 arrest of Irish-language activist Máire Nic an Bhaird in Belfast was allegedly in part for saying "tiocfaidh ár lá" to Police Service of Northern Ireland officers, although she claimed to have said "tiocfaidh bhur lá". In 2017, the Fair Employment Tribunal awarded damages to a Catholic employee who had been dismissed after taking sick leave in response to a Protestant manager shouting "Tiocfaidh ár lá" at her.
Variants
Similar slogans include: ;Beidh an lá linn : literally translates as "the day will be with us". Some Irish-language speakers, including Ciarán Carson, contend that tiocfaidh ár lá is a less idiomatic expression, reflecting English-language conventions. Mac Giolla Chríost disputes this, on the basis that Tiocfaidh an lá is standard Irish. The hybrid form beidh ár lá linn is also found among Republicans. ;Beidh lá eile ag an bPaorach! : were the last words from the gallows of Edmund Power of Dungarvan, executed for his part in the Wexford Rebellion of 1798. The phrase was often cited by Éamon de Valera. It occurs in the play An Giall, by Brendan Behan; his English translation, The Hostage, renders it "we'll have another day". It is echoed in There will be another day, the title of republican Peadar O'Donnell's 1963 memoir. The slogan is not exclusively a political slogan, and may simply mean "another chance will come". Parodies of tiocfaidh ár lá include: ;Chucky: an English-language pronunciation spelling of tiocfaidh, it is slang for an Irish Republican. ;"Tiocfaidh Armani": mocking Sinn Féin's move towards respectability from the peace process ;"Tiocfaidh Ar La La": on T-shirts depicting the eponymous Teletubby as an IRA member.
