My grandfather use to say a phrase often to his son Jimmy. He learned it from his grandparents and he thought it meant "James is a bad boy". I'm not entirely sure on how to pronounce it or write it in Gaeilge.

It is prounounced like
Shay-mish dah bish-(or vish) dah bay-hah.
or something close to that.

My great-great grandparents were from the Foxford region of County Mayo and came to America during the late 1800's.
I'm not sure what dialect they spoke and how much the language would have changed since then. The thing that is troubling me is that the phrase contains no verbs that I can tell, nor does it have the word for boy or bad. I thought when I first started learning the language that this could mean bad boy James, but now I'm not sure what it means, how it's spelled in Geailge, or if it means anything at all. Can anyone help me?

Tá Séamus buachaill olc. - is this "James is a bad boy"?

Thanks

Is buachaill olc é Séamas means Seamas/Seamus/James is bad, as in actually bad, evil kind of, burns down children's homes etc. Is buachaill dána é Séamas would be Seamas is a bold boy, as in, Seamas is a messer.

I have no idea what the phrase says, my apologies, the only thing I can comprehend is Shay-mish being Seamas, but I guess you already knew that. Perhaps 'bish' is bís, meaning excitement, he could've been saying 'curb you're excitement, James'. But, really, I don't know.

Séamas dalba would be "bad James", it may be that with another adjective strung along for company.

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dalba [aidiacht den tríú díochlaonadh]
dána, gránna; nimhneach sa teanga; ceanndána.

There are many, many descriptive adjectives in Irish for types of people - pages of them in an Béal beo - but many have passed out of normal speech.

Peadar is our resident expert on Mayo, he may chip in something very useful!

In answer to Aonghus
I don't suppose
'Shay-mish dah bish-(or vish) dah bay-hah.' could be
‘Sé mise do bhí dobhéasach.
It's me that was bad mannered. ?

could the end of it be a mishearing or misremembering of uisce beatha?

Catríona, I suppose it could, but since the assumed meaning is "James is a bad boy" I don't think it's likely.

I've never heard dobhéasach being used - droch bhéasach is what I've heard.

Since my grandfather wasn't fluent in Gaeilge the phrase could mean anything. I am positive that it had nothing to do with whiskey. It could be Sé mise do bhí dobhéasach. How would you pronounce this.

Would it be

Shay misha da vee da-vee-shah.

Thanks

It'd be closer to Shay-misha-du-vee-da-vay-sok
But it's a guess. Parents and grandparents used to say such things to kids to get them to admit they were wrong. Aonghus is right of course. Drochbhéasach is more commonly used and that would make it Shay-misha-du-vee-dru_-vay-sok (rough approximation of sounds). I can't think of anything else closer but if I do I'll post again:)