Is uisce do loch insin.

Is uisce do loch insin.

(is * water * to * lake * that)

That is (like carrying) water to a lake.

Carrying water to a lake, or “coals to Newcastle” as the English saying goes, is a pointless undertaking. The phrase is found at LU 274, in a fragment of “Lebor Bretnach”. The entire sentence is “Ferta tra Pátraic do innisin dúibsi, a fhiru Hérend, is usce do loch insin.” (To tell you, men of Ireland, the miracles of Patrick, that is water to a lake.)

Topics: Proverbial Sayings