I am hoping to find someone who can translate the phrase, "in memory of the souls of loved ones called home" into Irish Gaelic. If it doesn't translate directly, is there a way to say something similar? I am hoping to put a memorial piece together for a relative who passed away recently. Any help anyone can give is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Patrick

A Phadraig,

My condolences on the loss of your relative. This is a terribly difficult time, I'm sure, especially given the Holiday season.

I can't do this translation off the top of my head, but I'll get in the books and see what I come up with. I just didn't want you to think your request was going un-answered. I noticed you had posted on another thread, as well.

Give me a day or two and if no one else has responded, we'll get something that will suffice.

Le meas,

James

Thank you, James

A Phádraig, a chara,

James' mail hit home here and woke me from slumber and sloth. Leaba i measc na Naomh acu - May they rest in peace.

I go for the spirit of your memorial phrase as I would put it in place myself in a similar situation.
In doing so, words like 'souls' doesn't appear and 'loved ones' is half carried by 'loving' memory/ndilchuimhne and 'ngaolta'/relatives. 'Romhainn' appears in the Irish phrase while an equivilent in English doesn't. Such is translation. A preposition 'ar', similarly, doesn't appear after 'ndilchuimhne'.


In memory of the souls of loved ones called home :

I ndilchuimhne ár ngaolta romhainn ar shlí na fírinne

Thank you very much.

A Phádraig, a chara,

Seosamh is one of the most credible contributors to this site. You can rest assured that his translation is accurate in grammar and context. In other words, it will have that "feel" of being right to a native ear.

Le meas,

James

While thanking James for the assuring words on the standard of translation, I might just add, a Phádraig, that if you want to narrow the range of relativity, while strenghtening the feeling of family togetherness, you may like to use the word, 'muintire' in place of 'ngaolta' which I posted earlier. This shall give you :

I ndilchuimhne ár muintire romhainn ar shlí na fírinne


Beir bua agus beannacht.

James and Seosamh,

Thank you very much for all your help. It is greatly appreciated.

Patrick

Dia daoibh,

What follows as Gaeilge is a neophyte's attempt to translate the following:

"We praise you, O Lord, for all your works are wonderful;
We praise you, O Lord; forever is your love."

Molaim thú, a Tiarna' de bhrí go is iontach do gríomhartha;
Molaim thú, a Tiarna; is marthanach do ghrá.

Can anyone tell me how near to or how far I am from the mark?

Buíochas,
Pádraig

Molaimid thú, a Thiarna, mar is iontach do gníomhartha

Molaimid thú, a Thiarna, tá do ghrá sioraí

But if, as I suspect, this is a quote from scripture, perhaps you could give the source and I'll look in an elegant translation (An Biobla Naofa)

Aonghus

Aonghus, A Chara,

Many thanks for your help. I'm familiar with An Bíobla Naofa, and am only just beginning to appreciate what you refer to as an "elegant" translation. The passage I asked about is not a direct, scriptural quotation. Rather, it's from a hymn I recall singing at Mass as a child. I believe the first line is based on Íseáia 25:1. Thinking thus, I went to the Irish and found:

A Thiara, ...Móraim thú agus ceiliúraim d'ainm mar chuir tú do bheartaíocht iontach i gcrich.

That really knocked my socks off. Compared to the NIV (English) "I exalt you and praise your name...for you have done marvelous things," -- well, there is no comparison. I was especially struck by the choice of "ceiliúraim" where the NIV employs "praise."

I think "elegant" is an understatement.

Beannacht,
Pádraig

Yes well.
An Bíobla Naofa was translated by a group of scholars who had excellent Latin, Greek etc. as well as Irish, and a deep sense of History to help them. Translation is a difficult art, requiring immersion in both the source and the target language, not to mention a good reason for the translation

beir bua

Aonghus